Your first clipping championship: a checklist from sign-up to first approval
Almost every video that fails to count in a first championship loses to a skipped step, not a bad clip. This is the checklist in the right order, from sign-up to withdrawal: connected accounts, CPF, entry review, content library, tags, checking and review.
Your first clipping championship: a checklist from sign-up to first approval
For your first clipping championship to count, you need a Cut.Pro account with TikTok, Instagram or Facebook connected, an approved entry with your CPF, and a video posted after that approval, cut from the content library, with the exact tag from the rules in the description. Joining is free. After that, you check on the championship page that the video got in, follow the review and withdraw the prize via PIX, with no minimum amount and one withdrawal every 7 days.
I work at Cut.Pro and see a lot of beginner clippers lose their first championship to a skipped step, not a bad clip. This checklist exists for that. Note that signing up on the website asks for a CPF (Brazilian taxpayer ID) and payouts go through PIX, Brazil's instant payment system.
The checklist, in order
Before you clip
- Create your Cut.Pro account. It is free, and it holds your entry, your videos and your wallet.
- Connect your networks. TikTok, Instagram and Facebook are measured through your connected account, with an official read from the network. Without the connected account, videos from those networks do not reach the championship. Each social profile scores for a single Cut.Pro account: the first one that connected it. If you connect your profile to a test account, that is the account that gets the points.
- Pick a championship. Open ones are at cut.pro/en/championships. For your first, prefer a per-thousand-views one: you earn from what each video delivers, without having to beat anyone.
- Read the rules end to end. Write down five things: prize model, scoring networks, required tag on each network, video requirements and limits (max videos, cap per video, cap per participant, whether Instagram collabs count).
- Sign up with your CPF. When you join on the website, your CPF is required. By joining, you accept the rules, and they include a license: the organizer can repost your clips on their channels, monetized ones included, while the video remains yours.
- Wait for approval if your entry is under review. Some entries are reviewed by Cut.Pro (for example, when there are signs of a duplicate account). Nothing counts before approval, and only posts published after it are valid. Do not post your best clip while the entry is under review.
Clipping and posting
- Clip from the content library. The organizer lists what can be clipped: YouTube videos and channels, Twitch, Kick, a Drive file, a brief, Discord. Whatever you clip on Cut.Pro from that library is free during the championship. A clip from outside the library can be rejected and reported.
- Meet the video requirements. If the rules ask for a minimum length, on-screen text, caption text, a link in bio, a logo or people who must appear, check each one before posting.
- Write the exact tag in the description. The video enters the championship through its description. Add #cutpro (required in every championship), copy the organizer's hashtags letter by letter (at most 2 per network) and tag profiles with the @. The profile name typed as plain text, without the @, does not count. On TikTok and Facebook, tagging through the app's picker swaps the @ for the profile's display name; the organizer can enter that name in the championship, but if in doubt, check that the tag ended up the way the rules ask. Forgot the tag on TikTok, Instagram or Facebook? Edit the description, no need to repost. Just do not remove the tag later: once removed, the video leaves the championship. More on this in clipping championship hashtags.
- On YouTube and Kwai, submit the link. Those networks come in through the public video link you submit. Submit each link only once: the same link twice gets disqualified.
- Do not post an Instagram collab if the rules do not accept it. By default, collab videos do not count and are removed automatically.
After posting
- Check on the championship page that the video got in. Do not assume. If it does not show up among your videos, go back to steps 2, 6, 9 and 10: the problem is almost always in one of them.
- Follow the review. The organizer approves or rejects each video, with a reason. You can see how long your video has been waiting.
- Appeal if you disagree with a rejection. You can appeal until the championship ends, once per rejection. A video that has already scored cannot be appealed. I wrote about how to appeal and when it is worth it.
- Do not delete the video. A video deleted on the network becomes unavailable and stops counting.
- Withdraw the prize. Cash prizes land as balance in your wallet. Withdrawals go out via PIX, checked by the team before they leave, with no minimum amount and a limit of one withdrawal every 7 days. Each account has one PIX key, and changing the key adds a 24-hour wait before you can withdraw. Credit prizes go straight to your account. Withdrawal timing is explained in how to withdraw a clipping championship prize.
How do you pick your first championship?
Step 3 deserves more than one line, because the wrong pick discourages people before their first withdrawal. What I would look at, in this order:
- Networks you already have. If the championship only scores on YouTube and you only have TikTok, it is not your first. Start where your account already has some history.
- Per thousand views, with a low minimum per video. Each video earns on its own for every full 1,000 views, and you see the result of your work without depending on the ranking. Remember that 900 views on a video are worth zero and that views from different videos do not add up.
- A big content library. Many hours of material mean fewer people clipping the same moment.
- Few requirements. The tag and, at most, one or two requirements. A logo, people on screen and required text are easy to forget at the start.
- Date and prize. In per thousand views, the championship closes when the prize runs out, even before the end date. Joining early matters.
A pure ranking, with a prize only for the top places, is great for people with practice. For a first one, it usually teaches more frustration than method.
What can go wrong and what to do
| If this happens | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Entry under review | Cut.Pro is checking the entry | Wait; post only after approval |
| Video does not show up in the championship | Tag, account or link did not match | Check #cutpro, hashtags, the @, connected account and submitted link; a forgotten tag is fixed by editing the description |
| Video rejected | The organizer saw a reason (duplicate, outside the period, rules violation, among others) | Read the reason; appeal if you disagree |
| Video unavailable | The video was deleted or taken down on the network | Do not delete an entered video |
| Proof-of-reach request | Strong sign of artificial views on a video that earns money | Answer in time with the proof requested; your balance for that championship is held until you do |
About the last row: if you did not buy views, do not worry about it. When the network shows a real audience that matches, the request is not even sent. But know that failing to prove it in time disqualifies the video, and repeat offenses can ban a person from championships.
What is allowed and scares beginners
- Using several of your own accounts, including several on the same network.
- Posting the same video on all of them. What disqualifies is reposting the same video on the same account.
- Clipping the same moment as someone else, as long as your video is not a 100% identical copy of theirs. A new edit, card, text or layout already makes it a different video.
Where to start
Do steps 1 to 6 today, even without a video ready: getting the entry approved is what delays beginners most. Then pick three moments from the content library and post with the tag checked twice.
If a video did not count, I listed the seven most common reasons a video did not count. To climb the ranking after your first, see how to win a clipping championship. And when the prize lands, the tax side for Brazil is explained in clipper taxes in Brazil.
Sources: Open championships on Cut.Pro
