Set up shoutouts

A shoutout is a short personalized video you record for a fan — a happy birthday, a pep talk before a game, a congrats on signing day. Fans book and pay through your NILify marketplace page, you record on your phone, and we handle delivery + payouts.

• You pick the price — most athletes price between $15 and $75 to start.
• You pick the deadline — 24, 48, or 72 hours after the order.
• Platform fee is 20% — the rest is yours (paid out via Stripe, or to your parent if you're under 18).
• No inventory, no shipping — it's just your phone and 30–60 seconds.

Have these ready so you can finish in one sitting:

• A quiet spot with decent lighting and a charged phone.
• A 15–30 second intro clip already recorded (or be ready to record one).
• Your profile is published and parent approval is done if you're under 18.
• A connected payout account (Stripe for 18+, or parent payouts if under 18) — you can do this after, but you can't go Live without it.

From your dashboard, open Marketplace → Setup → Shoutouts, or jump directly to /marketplace/setup/shoutouts.

You'll see a single page with everything you need to configure: an intro video, response time, languages, categories, and packages. A Live / Off switch sits in the top-right — leave it Off until everything is filled in.

Tip: the switch will block you from going Live if you have no active packages. That's on purpose — fans need something to buy.

The intro plays at the top of your shoutout page. It's the single biggest thing that decides whether a fan books or bounces. Keep it short and energetic.

A good intro covers:

• Your name, sport, and school — "What's up, I'm Jordan, I play QB at State."
• What kinds of videos you'll record — "I'll do birthdays, hype videos, recruiting advice."
• One line of personality — a catchphrase, a smile, a fast cut.

Tap Upload video, pick the file from your phone or laptop, and it uploads to your private storage bucket. Max size is 100 MB. You can replace it any time — fans will see the new version on the next page load.

The dropdown lets you commit to 24, 48, or 72 hours. This is the deadline shown to fans when they check out, and it's what we'll hold you to.

• 24h — best for conversion, but only pick it if you can actually deliver every day.
• 48h — the sweet spot most athletes start at.
• 72h — good during heavy travel weeks or in-season.

Missing your deadline drops your response score and can trigger automatic refunds — pick a window you can hit on your worst day, not your best.

These two sections control how fans find you in marketplace search. Tap a badge to toggle it on or off — they save instantly.

Languages — every language you're genuinely comfortable recording in. Don't add Spanish if your Spanish is "two semesters in high school."

Categories — the occasions you'll record for:

• Birthday, Motivation, Good Luck, Congratulations, Pep Talk, Shoutout to Team, Recruiting Advice.
• Pick at least 3. Skipping one is the same as saying "no thanks" to that whole filter on the directory.

Packages are the tiers fans buy. Most athletes ship with two or three: a fast/cheap option, a standard, and a premium "anything goes" tier.

Tap Add and you'll get a row with:

• Emoji + name — e.g. ⚡ Quick Shoutout.
• Duration — 15, 30, 60 seconds. The fan sees this when they book.
• Price — in USD. Type the dollars; we convert to cents under the hood.
• Description — one or two sentences. Tell the fan exactly what they're getting.
• Live toggle — turn a package off temporarily without deleting it.

Edits save when you click out of the field (on blur). The trash icon is permanent — use the toggle if you might want it back.

You keep 80% of every order. The other 20% covers payment processing, fulfillment, and the platform.

A simple starter ladder that works for most athletes:

• ⚡ Quick — 30s — $25  → you keep $20
• 🎬 Standard — 60s — $50  → you keep $40
• 🔥 Premium — 90s — $100  → you keep $80

Don't price too low. If your time isn't worth $20 a video, you'll burn out before the first payout. You can always run a promo later — you can't easily walk a price back up.

Once you've got an intro video, at least one active package, and your payout account is connected, toggle the Live switch in the top-right.

• Your shoutout card appears in the public marketplace directory.
• A "Book a Shoutout" button shows up on your link-in-bio profile.
• Search filters now match you on sport, language, category, and price range.

If the switch refuses to flip and you see "Add at least one active package before going live", scroll down — one of your packages is toggled off.

When an order comes in, you'll get a push + email. Open it from Marketplace → Deliverables:

• Read the instructions — recipient name, occasion, what to say.
• Record on your phone, in portrait, in good light. Say the recipient's name at least once.
• Upload the video from the deliverable page. We send it to the fan, mark it complete, and queue the payout.

Money lands in your connected payout account on Stripe's normal schedule (typically 2–5 business days after delivery). Under-18 athletes get paid through their parent's payout account — same flow, parent sees the deposit.

You're live. Two quick wins to compound from here:

• Share your shoutout link in your Instagram bio and one story. First sales almost always come from people who already follow you.
• Ask buyers to leave a review — the directory ranks heavily on rating + completion count.
• Set up mentoring next so you have two products on your page, not one.