When I first started working with brands as a creator, the industry was so new, I knew NOTHING and had no reference at all of what to do. This led to so much free work and chances that could jeopardize my brand long-term, unknowingly.

So over the last 5 years, I’ve certainly learned my lessons the hard way.

But I’ve made it to the other side. I know better now.

I don’t want the same things to happen to you.

This post is really important because I don’t want you to overlook these things as you are working with brands (but also, it’s obviously a good way to increase your profits!). (biggest lesson: always have a contract to ensure payment!)

I cover everything you need to charge for when working with brands as a creator or influencer in this guide. These are all things that are usually included in the contract between you and the brand! I also have a full youtube video going over all these things, so you can click here to watch the video!

10 Things you NEED to charge for when working with brands

1. Exclusivity

This is potential revenue lost – if you can’t work with any other brands in the same industry for 30-90 days, you could lose out on deals. Basically, charge the same price for a posting per month of exclusivity.

2. Whitelisting & Blacklisting

This is when the brand promotes your content as an ad under your handle or theirs (it’s not a post on your page) – this also needs to be charged based on how long the ad’s run. It’d be weird if you had an ad floating around for months with one skincare brand’s cleanser and then you do a post for another skincare brand’s cleanser while some of your followers are probably seeing that ad running…. it’s associating you with the brand for as long as the ad runs, so keep this in mind!

3. Usage Rights & Licensing

Charging for a post on your page or for a UGC video is not inclusive of the brand being able to share the content on their own channels (the content belongs to you!) or through different methods (on their website, on their social page, or on a billboard). You need to charge (or it’s included in the contract) about the brand being able to repost and how long they can use it to promote.

4. Your exposure cost

The industry standard is $100 per 10,000 followers for Instagram and it’s about $50 for Tiktok. This is all negotiable though, but a great place to start when figuring out your rate.

5. Your base content creation cost

This is how much it costs you to create BEFORE you add exposure cost. How many hours is the content going to take? Are you needed to travel to create the content? Do you need to spend a night in a luxury hotel to shoot in their gorgeous bathroom to properly display the product on brand? Maybe it only takes you 30 minutes and it’s in your backyard. This all depends on the brief and the brand’s requirements for the campaign, but take this into account. What is your hourly rate? So build this into your overall base rate.

6. Brand association cost

Okay I never see anyone discuss this, but the more followers and clout you have, the more your brand costs to work with. It’s not the same as exposure cost, as this is use for content creation and UGC content (content you don’t post to your audience).  If target posts a video that features Kylie Jenner shopping at Target as part of a campaign is very different than someone else.  There is a brand association cost of using someone in their content with a bigger audience. So keep this in mind for your content creation rates.

7. Attendance fees

You can totally charge to attend events (or to post about them) for a brand or business. This is location-dependent, but not something to overlook (this is more work and time than a brand sending you the product to shoot at home!!)

8. Rush fees

If a brand needs the deliverables for a campaign within a week, charge a rush fee.  This is VERY normal in many industries like media and advertising.

9. Link in Bio

This is prime real estate! If you put a link at the top of your link list or as the only link in your bio, this is a huge opportunity for exposure and conversions for brands.

10. Engagement Rate

If you have an average engagement rate that is higher than industry standard (the average is 1% to 5% of your following size), you can charge MORE per post you share. The other side of this is you can also negotiate reach terms on Instagram Reels & Tiktoks – like if your post reaches over X amount, an additional fee for added reach and engagement.

How do you bring these up to a brand you are pitching & negotiating a deal with?

These things come up as you are negotiating a collaboration after a brand has already said yes to working together. This is the part where you figure out all the details and specifics.

Generally, you go over these details and line items once you’re at the contract phase of the negotiation. ALWAYS read every part of your contract with a brand because a lot of these things will be “hidden” in the contract and not on the outline of deliverables and rates. For instance, the contract will state they have 3 months exclusivity and you cannot work with any of their competitors in that time under an EXCLUSIVITY section. This is when you kindly mention that it is an additional fee for exclusivity and ask if they have budget for this.

Another example is after you’ve gone over all the deliverables of a collaboration and your rates, they then say they will need it due in 2 days (not 2 weeks) so you’ll need to include a rush fee. Sometimes they will let you know the timeline is very tight, so you can just include the rush fee upfront in the discussion.

Making sure to include and charge for these items will not only increase your overall rates and brand deal pay, but it will ensure you aren’t being taken advantage of either! Remember, every collaboration is a negotiation and a conversation where you and the brand are simply trying to figure out how you guys can work together that is mutually beneficial. But don’t forget to stand up for yourself as well!

Watch the full video on my youtube for even more tips and explanations. I’ve included everything I’ve mentioned above as part of contracts with brands for campaigns and content creation, so I’m speaking from personal experience (or even SEEING it in contracts for the first time and then learning about it!). So don’t overlook your contract details, and these terms are always good things to bring up when negotiating a campaign!

I can’t wait to see you working with more brands and making more money from it!

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