What Brands Will and Will Not Pay Creators For #287

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Welcome to influencer confidential by sidewalker daily.

My name is Nina Zeta and I will be your host.

I love working with brands and influencers

on all things business strategy.

Are you ready to learn what it takes to work

in this influencer industry and see behind the curtain?

Well, let's jump in.

I feel like I'm in such a good position

to help you as a creator because I have

this brand side experience and knowledge.

And I can be very clear with you

what I think brands are going to pay for

and what they're not going to pay you for, right?

So there's a list of things that I think

are totally reasonable ask.

And then there's things that I'm like, come on you guys.

Really, you're really going to try and charge a brand for that.

Can we make this a win-win or can we not?

So what I want to cover today is a little bit more

about what brands are going to pay you guys for

as a creator that are doing sponsorships, brand deals,

UGC, and what I think is kind of out of the question.

Now, I do just want to state for anyone that's new here

to our channel, maybe you're listening to our podcast.

My name is Nina Zeta.

I'm the founder of Sidewalker Daily.

We built this amazing creator community.

We have brand side experience.

I'm the one that was managing budgets

and paying creators and influencers.

So I have been on both sides of the negotiation table,

negotiating against the creator, negotiating against the brand.

And I share this to say that win-win partnerships

are very important to me.

Like I don't like when the brand feels taken advantage of.

I don't like when the creator feels taken advantage of.

I want business to feel like, okay,

this feels good for both of us.

And sometimes I'm not going to lie,

like working with creators.

I see creators taking advantage of brands.

I do.

The same way I see brands taking advantage of creators,

it kind of has gone both ways.

So what I kind of want to do in today's episode

is set the expectation of, you know,

what are standard things that we should be charging for.

And then like really,

and then we're really going to talk about some things

that maybe are a little extra.

However, you know, it's your business.

You've got to decide how you want to run it, right?

How are you running?

What's the energy?

Customer service, what's the vibe?

Do you want to nickel and dime people?

Do you want to include it in your pricing?

I mean, these are all like strategy things,

but I do think that the pendulum has swung a little bit.

So let's talk about what you should be charging for

or what you can kind of get away with and what is it.

So the first things first, you're an influencer, okay?

You have influence.

The brand is coming to you and saying,

hey, I want to pay you to do a sponsored post.

I want you to create content.

I want it to live on your page influencer.

Now, I have seen cases when the brand wants the creator

to collaborate with the brand.

And very recently, I had creators being like,

well, if they want to collaborate with me,

I'm going to charge extra for that.

And I just don't know how to feel about this.

So I want to share the creator's perspective.

She was like, I'm really big.

This is a small brand.

Why should they leverage meat?

Why should they use meat?

And my head, I was like, but they're paying you

for the sponsorship and they want to tie into your likeness.

So here's how we can battle this.

If you want to charge extra for it,

just have it bundled into your price already.

Like have that bundled in.

Deliver a concierge style of service where it's like,

hey, you're going to get this sponsored real

and also it includes a collaboration feature.

So if you'd like to opt into that, you can.

I mean, I feel like that's how I would word it

versus like, oh, collaboration,

if you want to do that, that's an extra fee, right?

These are things.

It's not that you shouldn't charge for it.

It's more just like, how do you charge for it?

How do you communicate that to a brand partner?

Is it extra on top as an add-on or as a built-in?

Things to consider.

I think a standard thing too is that like,

if the brand is paying you for the content,

you know, it's understood that it's like

a one-time social post, right?

So what does that mean?

You make a video and let's just say

part of the contract is the brand can also post it

on their page.

So let's just say they're not looking to collaborate,

but part of the agreement is like, okay, influencer,

I also want to be able to post this video on my page.

It's one time.

They can post one time.

They cannot be posting that video multiple times.

So again, that's something that you do have to talk about

in the contract.

And to me, that is a no-no on the brand side.

It's like, okay, I made the video.

You can post it once and anything.

Also, we're gonna keep posting my face

and keep posting my content.

You need to run that by me.

Similarly, when we talk about like,

charging and what will a brand pay for

and what will they not pay for it.

This is why getting on a call with a brand is so important

because you're able to understand,

like, do they want a TikTok video?

Oh, and do you also want it on my YouTube

and on my Instagram and on my Pinterest

and on my LinkedIn?

Uh, yeah, sure.

Like, or they're like, actually, no.

Like, we're really just focusing on TikTok.

Having some sort of system,

whether it's getting on calls or a quick form

or something that allows you to learn more

allows you to decide how you want to charge that brand.

So, funny enough, this brand was like,

oh, we want a, you know, short form video.

They did not say Instagram.

They said short form.

And this is where things got lost in translation.

The brand said short form.

The creator, like, assumed Instagram

because that was her biggest platform.

But they're like, no, we wanted it on your TikTok

and your YouTube too.

And this created friction.

So again, it's not that the creator should not be charging

extra for distribution because I do think

that the creator should.

However, it's how you say it.

I personally would be like, hey,

I'm happy to create a short form video for you.

And it's going to live on these three platforms.

Like, I would include that verbiage as part of my pitch.

And if that brand doesn't want that,

then we can negotiate it down.

That's why it's so important in pricing

and pitching to add these sort of buffers in your rates

so that you have a place to land

in case they negotiate you.

Now, this is where it gets really funny.

And it's kind of like that collaboration situation.

Are you going to charge a brand to, you know,

have the link in your bio?

What standard?

What's not?

Is it 14 days link in bio?

Is it 30 days link in bio?

Is it seven days link in bio?

And then are we charging for extra?

So again, for me, it's like when you think about your business,

it's all about putting packages together

and having it as an included thing.

So like, I'm happy to include a link of your choice in our bio.

And that fee is going to be bundled into your top level rate

versus charging like a la carte

at a menu item style.

I'm not into the menu item style stuff.

So I think that, again, if a brand

wants something that's more than a typical 14-day window,

then maybe that's something that you're like,

okay, I charge like a monthly fee after 30 days

or after 14 days.

I'm happy to keep your link in my bio for this fee monthly

or if you buy a six-month link in bio package,

like I'm happy to take this amount off the top.

You see what I'm doing here?

Like we're doing things that feel good and complimentary

but then we're like, okay, after a certain amount of time,

you gotta pay up.

I think that's fair, right?

Like if you're promoting a brand

and you're like sign up for them,

but then they're not in the link in bio

because you're charging extra for that.

Like how does a brand win?

How do you win?

How do you get results, right?

So it's creating win-win spaces

where you guys are working together.

They are your partner.

You want the content to do good.

You want them to make sales

because you want to pitch them again.

So how do we create a space where it's win-win

but they're not taking advantage of you

and you're not taking advantage of them?

Similarly, this came up with a pinned post.

The brand wanted the creator to pin it to their feed

for I think 30 days.

And the creator was like, I've never asked that.

And I asked her straight up like,

well, do you have anything else that you need to pin?

Do you want to charge extra for this?

Like what are your thoughts?

Because a big part is understanding what you should do

but then what you want to do, right?

And the creator ended up being like,

well, like literally I feel like pins

is not a big strategy for me.

So I'm happy to include it as like a one time,

you know, 30 day run.

And that's how she ran her business.

Nothing wrong with that.

Another girl was like, my pin things,

I can only have three pins.

They are very strategic and I charge way extra for that.

That should not be included.

That's why the negotiation process is so fundamental

because this is where you're negotiating

what goes in, what goes out.

And you'll find obviously all of this in the contract.

Again, I'm not a nickel and dime type of gal.

It depends how much money is on the line.

If we're talking to $10,000 brand deal

and they want you to pin it for 14 days,

you have to decide in your gut as a business owner,

how do you want to do business?

Do you want to ask extra or do you want to include that

because it's a premium client and you're happy to do so

with the intent of, you know, maybe performing well,

going back to them and pitching again.

Now, I do think that there are going to be times

that the brand will keep asking and asking and asking.

And as a business owner,

I think you just need to kind of have that boundary

and that threshold, like what is okay for you.

So maybe you're like, okay,

I'm good with 14 days in combined and I'm good

for like a three day or four day or a week pin.

Anything after that, I want to charge for it.

You have to decide that.

You know how do you want to operate your business

and what do you feel like is too much or too little?

Something I've also seen creators charge for as an add-on

is like a featured highlight.

You'll be a featured highlight on my feed

for a three month run and they've added that to their packages

to make it really attractive for their client.

This typically works really well

when the partnership has like lots of stories

so that way we can pin it to our highlight feed on Instagram.

Again, she used that as a really beautiful way

in her proposal to help her get that high-paying job.

But then, you know, if a brand is asking you to do that

and you have like a small partnership

and you just feel like that is unfair

because you're already like working with them

and they're struggling to pay you and all of that,

then again, this may be something that you need to then

discuss with your partner.

Like, yes, I'm happy to do so.

I'll include it to the invoice, right?

And being able to advocate and justify for that.

So this is gonna be a little controversial

and I have to watch my words on how I say this

because I don't wanna offend anyone.

But like, at the end of the day,

there's a cap on how much you can charge for production, right?

So it may take me like 30 hours at a YouTube video, truly.

I'm gonna charge my hourly rate for editing a video

when we all know that that is something

that may not be worth as high as I charge per hour.

So, you know, when we talk about hourly rates and production,

you also wanna think about like what's reasonable, right?

Like, is the brand paying you for your time?

Is the brand paying you to like learn and figure it out?

People who are experienced, like maybe their work product

takes them longer because there's some, you know,

quality things that go into it

or maybe they've been able to figure out the flow

and they're able to move faster.

Like, I was talking to one of my girls,

she charged 20k, her real, and she is like, yeah,

but like, I'm not charging 20k for this real.

I'm charging for like the 10 years it took me

to build my audience to show up when I'm not sick,

to learn how to edit a video in under two hours.

She's like, I had to learn that.

So, you know, pricing is a funny thing,

but however, you know, if you're taking 20 hours,

I don't think that's necessarily what the brand

is looking to pay for, right?

They're looking for this end result.

You're not necessarily having the brand only pay you

just for production, you know,

you want to take into account, like,

is this skill set worth that fee

or is there a way that you as a business owner

can trim that down?

I think it's all understood that brands should

and will pay for usage, right?

Anytime they take your content,

wanna run ads to it, that should be like just a standard thing.

We are seeing brands pay for usage,

but again, being very clear on what they're paying for.

We're seeing brands pay for exclusivity, again,

but very clear, what is that exclusivity?

They're not just paying for exclusivity.

It's a time of window, maybe it's a category of exclusivity,

maybe it's a geography or zone,

or maybe saying you cannot work with these three competitors.

The more clear you are and what it is

that you're charging for,

the more brand is willing to pay for that

because it's not vague, it is very clear what they're getting.

Now when it comes to like rush turnarounds and like rush fees,

what is a rush fee?

For me, that means like the content needs to be expedited

in terms of your delivery time.

So if it usually takes you two weeks

to deliver a piece of content,

and they need it done in a week, then of course,

it makes sense for you to add that rush fee.

I think anyone would understand

like if the brand has urgent timelines

and that's why it's so important

when you are working with a brand to talk about delivery

and turn around time.

So they have that expectation.

So if they need it sooner and they need it super quick,

that is something that you can charge for.

And brands are willing to pay that.

I think brands love flexibility

and they're willing to pay for it.

So if you're basically like, listen,

this content can be reused on multiple platforms.

There is, you know, this fee has been already included

in my package.

Brands love that because now like they don't have to pick,

like, oh, can I?

They just have the right to use it on multiple platforms.

So it's not like only on TikTok or only on Instagram

or only on this.

Again, that nickel and dime, they want flexibility.

So increase your prices to reflect that.

Again, ultimately at the end of the day,

brands are willing to pay for extras.

If you guys are clear about those extras,

and then you as a creator and as a business owner,

you need to figure out like what type of business

do you want to run?

Do you want to create like a all-inclusive luxury

concierge service where things are included

but the price reflects that?

Or do you want to be more discounted brand

and have different things that add on

and things of that nature?

Those are decisions that you need to make for your business.

And of course, I'm happy to jump in there with you

and help you with these decisions

and help you build your packages

and help you decide your rates and help you pitch

and all of that.

So if that's something that you're looking for you guys,

get on a call with our Success Manager.

She'll tell you how you can work with me,

how I can support you, how I can get in your biz with you,

and help you set these fundamental decisions

of how you want to run so that you feel you can go to brands

and have a lot of clarity in your pricing

and in your offers because once you do

and once you have these packages set up,

you will be set to fly.

Especially if you're already getting paid as a creator

or you want to start getting paid as a creator,

I think the strategies that I can help you with

on a one-on-one, once I know you, once I know your biz,

once I know what you're into can be really life-changing.

We have an entire page dedicated to our success stories.

Our company is fully run on testimonials.

We don't run any ads.

Our business thrives because you thrive.

So if you're interested to seeing some of our results

as well, I'll include that success stories link below.

So you can take a look at the students that we help

and the type of creators we help,

whether you're just starting out,

you're more advanced, I've seen it all.

I've been a part of all of it

and I'm excited to work with you

so you guys can go ahead and check that out.

I hope you enjoyed today's episode.

If you did, make sure to rate, review,

and subscribe to our show and visit sidewalkerdaley.com

for more resources on all things influence

or marketing and social media.

Until next time.

Guys, it's no use putting it off.

The best time for an underwear refreshes now.

Tommy John underwear is designed for a perfect fit

that stays put all day.

There's zero shape thanks to four times more stretch

than competing brands.

And their innovative horizontal quick draw fly

is a game changer.

With over 30 million pair sold,

there are thousands of men out there

more comfortable than you.

Don't settle for less.

Go to TommyJohn.com today for 25% off your first order

with Code Comfort.

That's TommyJohn.com Code Comfort.

Tommy John.

Comfort, perfected.

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