Brands Paying in Exposure

As someone who has spent almost a decade as both BRAND + CREATOR, I get both sides. So let me share a message for both of you:

BRAND: I know, budgets are tight but you know the money would either be spent on social media ads or a production team. Let’s say you’re at the company size where you have little to no marketing budget anyway, then lean into RELATIONSHIP CAPITAL and connect with creators who are willing to support your brand naturally and on their own terms since no formal compensation is involved. Invite them to try your product, encourage them to produce an organic review if they like it, engage in gifting, etc.

CREATORS: know your dang worth. And get comfortable saying NO when the ask doesn’t match YOUR worth (screenshot last few seconds for a way you can say this to brands). And if there’s a BUSINESS reason why you’re doing something without pay — example: building your portfolio of brand work, early stages of growing your community, the product or experience trade value matches what you would’ve charged anyway — then make it clear to the brand on why you’ve said yes. This way, we stop perpetuating the idea that some influencers “work for free.”

THOUGHTS? QUESTIONS? LET’S HEAR ‘EM

PS: I shared more about my thoughts about this on my reel here