Latest / Influencer Confidential / 10 Things Killing Your Paid Brand Deals Income (And You Don’t Even Realize It) #274

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10 Things Killing Your Paid Brand Deals Income (And You Don’t Even Realize It) #274 · Influencer Confidential

0:00
Speaker 1: Welcome to Influencer Confidential by Sidewalker Daily. My name is
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Speaker 1: Nina Zeta and I will be your host. I love
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Speaker 1: working with brands and influencers on all things business strategy.
0:11
Speaker 1: Are you ready to learn what it takes to work
0:13
Speaker 1: in this influencer industry and see behind the curtain? Well,
0:16
Speaker 1: let's jump in. You may be doing things in your
0:23
Speaker 1: creator business that are killing your shot of getting paid
0:26
Speaker 1: brand deals, and you may not even realize you're doing it.
0:28
Speaker 1: As someone who's worked on the brand side, managed hundreds
0:31
Speaker 1: of thousands of dollars a budget, has a creator community, y'all,
0:34
Speaker 1: I get to see it all, and I get to
0:36
Speaker 1: see it from a lot of different perspectives. And in
0:38
Speaker 1: today's episode, where you're going to dive into these hidden
0:41
Speaker 1: things that you're probably doing in your business that is
0:44
Speaker 1: legit hurting you and I'm hoping you can break these
0:47
Speaker 1: nasty habits so that you can really lock in and
0:50
Speaker 1: get those brand deals that you deserve. So the first
0:53
Speaker 1: thing you're probably doing without even realizing it is using
0:56
Speaker 1: the awful sword collaborate. I know you guys been trained
1:00
Speaker 1: to use this word. I'd love to collaborate with you.
1:03
Speaker 1: Let's collaborate. You know what collaborate gives off. It gives
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Speaker 1: off free, it gives off barter, it gives off gifted collabse.
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Speaker 1: In my humble opinion, when you tell a brand you
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Speaker 1: want to collaborate with them, it's very different than saying
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Speaker 1: I'd love to work with you or I'd love to
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Speaker 1: work together. The word work feels paid, the word collaborate
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Speaker 1: feels free. So make sure you're not using this in
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Speaker 1: your pitches. Make sure you're not using this in your
1:29
Speaker 1: responses or in your negotiations unless you see it as
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Speaker 1: a collaboration. Because if you're like i'll scratch your back,
1:35
Speaker 1: you scratch my back, and it is a true collaboration
1:38
Speaker 1: where it's win win, then that's a different story. But again,
1:41
Speaker 1: I think it's all about how you present yourself. And
1:44
Speaker 1: if you in a pitch decide to say something very
1:46
Speaker 1: strong like i'd love to work together, I think you're
1:49
Speaker 1: giving off a very professional feeling versus i'd love to
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Speaker 1: collaborate with you. That's just something that I believe in.
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Speaker 1: I know my pitching students and inner circle students, you
1:57
Speaker 1: guys hear me say this all the time. Remove the
2:00
Speaker 1: C word from your pitching vocabulary. The second thing that
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Speaker 1: you may be doing that's hurting your chances of thriving
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Speaker 1: in the space is not having certain materials ready. Momentum
2:10
Speaker 1: is your friend, and brands don't want to wait for you.
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Speaker 1: Not having your media kit ready or not having some
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Speaker 1: sort of proposal document ready, or not having your portfolio ready,
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Speaker 1: this is going to stall the deal. And guess what,
2:20
Speaker 1: they probably pitched you and like ten other people that day,
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Speaker 1: whoever has their materials ready and acts swiftly, those are
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Speaker 1: the people that tend to get the work. So if
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Speaker 1: a brand hits you up and you're like, mana, I
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Speaker 1: don't have a media kit. I don't have a media kit,
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Speaker 1: and you spend the next three days making one and
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Speaker 1: second guessing it and feeling stressed and then responding to
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Speaker 1: them on day four and sending your media kit like
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Speaker 1: you're losing time. So have these materials ready, you guys,
2:45
Speaker 1: have this done ahead of time so that you feel confident,
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Speaker 1: because there's nothing worse than a brand coming to you
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Speaker 1: and then being like, I don't have this right. So,
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Speaker 1: if you're listening, you know, ask yourself this hard question.
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Speaker 1: Do you have a media kit that you love? Do
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Speaker 1: you have a posal document ready, do you have your
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Speaker 1: portfolio ready, do you have like a potential rate card?
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Speaker 1: Whatever you think they're going to ask of you as
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Speaker 1: a business. If you don't have these things, they could
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Speaker 1: hurt you in the long term with your money. Now,
3:11
Speaker 1: if you're somebody that wants to see inside media kits
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Speaker 1: or understand a little bit more about this process, like
3:16
Speaker 1: from a pitching perspective, I do have a free training
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Speaker 1: so you guys can always click the link below. It's
3:21
Speaker 1: my hat to land paid brain deals training. It is free,
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Speaker 1: It is amazing, and we actually go over the media
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Speaker 1: kit part and show you guys some examples so that
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Speaker 1: you feel really good about sending out your material. So
3:33
Speaker 1: that is a free goodie just for y'all. And I'll
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Speaker 1: include that link below. The third thing that you are doing,
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Speaker 1: and this is from all my small creators out there.
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Speaker 1: If you are a micro creator, a smaller creator, downplaying
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Speaker 1: your audience and saying those three ugly words I only have,
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Speaker 1: oh I only have two thousand followers, you're showing them
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Speaker 1: you're insecurity. And as a business, like I am a
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Speaker 1: business owner. If I went to like a makeup person
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Speaker 1: and they came to do my meetup or I don't
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Speaker 1: know an interior design, and they were very much like
4:01
Speaker 1: walking in the house and being like, oh yeah, like
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Speaker 1: you know, we're really small, we're just getting started. I'd
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Speaker 1: be like, I don't want to pay you like premium,
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Speaker 1: Like you don't give that energy. You feel insecure, and
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Speaker 1: brands buy into confidence. They buy other businesses that feel
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Speaker 1: that they can deliver on what they say they're going
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Speaker 1: to do, because remember, you are a business. You are
4:22
Speaker 1: positioning yourself as that solution insecurity kills the deal. So
4:27
Speaker 1: how you come off your tone, your energy. I'm not
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Speaker 1: saying you need to be a little braggadocious peacock, you know,
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Speaker 1: acting like you run it, because humility goes a long way.
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Speaker 1: But again, don't downplay yourself. Don't say things like I
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Speaker 1: only have You're basically showing them that you feel small,
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Speaker 1: and then by feeling small, you kind of look small.
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Speaker 1: Alexandra one hundred and seventy four followers, she's my pitching student,
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Speaker 1: took my program and got her first four figure brand deal.
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Speaker 1: Imagine if she's like, oh, I only have one hundred
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Speaker 1: and seventy followers, No, that was not the energy, right
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Speaker 1: and now, she's consistently landing these four figure brands. She
5:00
Speaker 1: has brands on retainer, she's working with them monthly creating proposals,
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Speaker 1: and her UGC business has knocked it out of the
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Speaker 1: park because again, she does not have that, I only
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Speaker 1: have mentality. She is confident in her offer and what
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Speaker 1: she is offering to her brand clients. And if you
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Speaker 1: are a pitching of Brand's master course student listening in
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Speaker 1: and you have really good results and you've done some
5:22
Speaker 1: really good things using our program, just like Alexandra did,
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Speaker 1: make sure you email us. I'd love to bring you
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Speaker 1: on the podcast to talk about your story, your results,
5:30
Speaker 1: and how our course has helped you in your business. Okay,
5:33
Speaker 1: so what I'm about to say maybe a little controversial,
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Speaker 1: but I'm going to go for it. Anyways, by accepting
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Speaker 1: free work, you're hurting your future paid brand deals self.
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Speaker 1: So this is something that a lot of creators do
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Speaker 1: because they feel like I have to accept free stuff
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Speaker 1: in order to build my portfolio. That is a false narrative.
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Speaker 1: You can literally build your portfolio with things around the house.
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Speaker 1: You can create content with things around the home. Okay,
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Speaker 1: I've obviously had creators do free things and then pivot
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Speaker 1: them to paid. We do this all the time inside
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Speaker 1: the pitching a brand's master course. However, when you start
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Speaker 1: the deal off for free, you're telling the pr person
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Speaker 1: that you work for free. What type of energy does
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Speaker 1: that give? Even if you just got paid like one
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Speaker 1: hundred dollars, Like that's better than zero because zero gives
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Speaker 1: the energy that you think that your work is not valuable.
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Speaker 1: That is what you're telling them. Truly, you're telling a
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Speaker 1: brand that you don't think what you do cost money.
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Speaker 1: And that may be okay if you really are insecure
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Speaker 1: about your work and you're really not there yet. However,
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Speaker 1: remember that makeup artist's example. I told you the makeup
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Speaker 1: artist comes to my house and says, yeah, I'm willing
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Speaker 1: to do it for free. I'm like, what's up with that?
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Speaker 1: Like it doesn't feel like a business. So those gifted
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Speaker 1: collabse I know they feel good. I know you want
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Speaker 1: free stuff, but there's no such thing as a free
6:48
Speaker 1: lunch because yeah, you're taking it now, but it's like
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Speaker 1: future you will suffer because of it. Now. Remember when
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Speaker 1: I spoke to you guys about like making sure you
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Speaker 1: have your media kit ready and having those like documents
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Speaker 1: ready something that's killing your brand deals is being slow.
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Speaker 1: I cannot tell you the amount of you know, business
7:06
Speaker 1: podcasts I listen to, and just like entrepreneur stuff that
7:09
Speaker 1: say someone's speed and responding to emails is like a
7:13
Speaker 1: reflection of where they are in their business. Taking multiple
7:17
Speaker 1: days to write back to a brand they've moved on,
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Speaker 1: and it just shows that you're not hungry and that
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Speaker 1: you don't need it right back, right back, even if
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Speaker 1: it's by end of day, like make it a priority.
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Speaker 1: You know, slow emails don't get the job on. Professional
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Speaker 1: emails don't get the job right. So having this mindset
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Speaker 1: of like, oh yeah, I'll just get to it, I'll
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Speaker 1: respond to them tomorrow. No, if a brand hits you
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Speaker 1: up or you're in midpitch, respond if you get a
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Speaker 1: response from them, it's on you as a business owner
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Speaker 1: to act fast. This leads to another thing that's hurting
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Speaker 1: your business is depending on email to make your money.
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Speaker 1: How many of us are making big money I'm talking
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Speaker 1: ten thousand dollars brand deals via an email. There are
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Speaker 1: a select group of influencers that I know and I'm
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Speaker 1: friends with that they are making those ten thousand and
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Speaker 1: fifteen thousand dollars deals and they never gotten on a
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Speaker 1: call with a brand. Yes, they exist, I know them personally. However,
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Speaker 1: I also know that the market is changing and that
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Speaker 1: creators that get on calls with brands have you know
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Speaker 1: this energy of like client services, putting offers together, really
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Speaker 1: knowing how to sell. They're the ones that are locking
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Speaker 1: in those big partnerships, those ten thousand dollars plus partnerships.
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Speaker 1: It is hard to make that via email. So if
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Speaker 1: you're just depending on email to make money, emails are dry,
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Speaker 1: they're flat, you don't feel an energy. There is literally
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Speaker 1: nothing like a zoom call getting on with a brand,
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Speaker 1: sharing your excitement for the brand, talking to them, and
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Speaker 1: like you know, taking that time to almost interview them.
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Speaker 1: It is such a mindset shift if instead of getting
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Speaker 1: on calls with brand for them to interview you, it's
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Speaker 1: you interviewing them. I had this guy, he's like an
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Speaker 1: amazing YouTuber and he was scared to get on calls
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Speaker 1: and I was like, no, you're interviewing them to see
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Speaker 1: if they're good for your audience. How about that? That
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Speaker 1: completely changed things for him. So remember getting on calls
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Speaker 1: with brands. Maybe it's a little scary, maybe you're a
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Speaker 1: little nervous, but this is where you are going to
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Speaker 1: be able to understand the brand's needs and put together
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Speaker 1: that really nice package and offer. Now, if you're a
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Speaker 1: creator who is actively pitching, actively making money already, you're
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Speaker 1: doing the proposals like you are not just starting off
9:12
Speaker 1: and you're looking to scale how much you make and
9:15
Speaker 1: understand how to put that perfect offer together, how to
9:17
Speaker 1: put those perfect packages go over your rates. I'd love
9:21
Speaker 1: to support you. You could either do it the DIY way,
9:23
Speaker 1: which is through our Pitching to Brand's master course. This
9:26
Speaker 1: program is our signature program here at Sidewalker. We run
9:29
Speaker 1: zero ads to it. It has hundreds, if not thousands
9:32
Speaker 1: of testimonials because it is a result base program. So
9:36
Speaker 1: if that's something that you need help with and you're
9:38
Speaker 1: a type of person who can execute on your own,
9:40
Speaker 1: definitely check that out. Or if you want me to
9:42
Speaker 1: jump in your business and help you put these offers together,
9:45
Speaker 1: help you really scale in your partnerships, you can get
9:48
Speaker 1: on a call with someone on our team and learn
9:50
Speaker 1: about how I can get in your business and support you,
9:53
Speaker 1: which is one of my favorite things to do. When
9:55
Speaker 1: we talk about killing a brand deal and not making money.
9:58
Speaker 1: We could not make this video without sharing the importance
10:01
Speaker 1: of the case study and sharing results and past wins.
10:05
Speaker 1: A brand cannot read your mind. They do not know.
10:07
Speaker 1: They're probably not going on your website and like reading
10:09
Speaker 1: all about you and doing all of that. Right, So
10:11
Speaker 1: if you don't share, hey, this is what I've done before.
10:13
Speaker 1: If you don't share your results, the proof is in
10:15
Speaker 1: the putting that you drive clicks, conversions, views, whatever it
10:18
Speaker 1: is that you're offering. They will not know. They cannot
10:21
Speaker 1: read your mind. They're just going to assume you don't
10:22
Speaker 1: have any So it's on you as a creator to
10:25
Speaker 1: speak up and advocate for yourself. I'm actually going to
10:29
Speaker 1: make up entire video about like how to sell better
10:32
Speaker 1: as a creator, because I feel like a lot of
10:33
Speaker 1: creatives in general have a hard time selling themselves. But
10:37
Speaker 1: in the meantime, go into your analytics, look at the
10:40
Speaker 1: results you're able to do. You know, if you're running
10:43
Speaker 1: many chat automations, look at what you can bring, and
10:46
Speaker 1: make sure you advocate and speak up for yourself because
10:48
Speaker 1: a brand will assume you just don't have any results
10:51
Speaker 1: if you don't share that. When we talk about like
10:52
Speaker 1: hidden things, you guys may be doing when you are
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Speaker 1: working with brands and just not seeing that type of
10:58
Speaker 1: financial growth you're looking for is like flat fees. Like
11:01
Speaker 1: remember the big word here at Sidewalker Daily is the word.
11:04
Speaker 1: And if a brand wants you to do something and
11:07
Speaker 1: something else, that's something else we're going to charge. For
11:09
Speaker 1: a brand wants content and exclusivity, We're charging a brand
11:13
Speaker 1: wants content answer in usage rights, We're charging that. And
11:16
Speaker 1: is your friend when you see they want multiple things,
11:20
Speaker 1: you need to charge for all of that a big way.
11:24
Speaker 1: That again, my seven figure influencers, we're talking making a
11:27
Speaker 1: million dollars a year and brand deals. I know these
11:29
Speaker 1: gals personally, I am friends with them, and I will
11:33
Speaker 1: tell you I had to call the other day with
11:34
Speaker 1: this gallon. She was like, Yeah, the biggest way make
11:36
Speaker 1: money is whitelisting. The biggest way I make money is usage.
11:39
Speaker 1: She's like, it's no longer the content, Like I make
11:41
Speaker 1: the money on how they can use my content. And
11:44
Speaker 1: it's just changed the game for her. So remember, you
11:46
Speaker 1: don't just have like a flat fee, right, you charge
11:49
Speaker 1: extra for all the additional bells and whistles, and again
11:51
Speaker 1: your business go on an airport, go to the airlines.
11:54
Speaker 1: They're charging for water, they're charging for snacks, they're charging
11:58
Speaker 1: for overhead space, they're charging for your luggage. Right, So
12:01
Speaker 1: either you charge extra or you included in the fee.
12:04
Speaker 1: It is a cost that needs to be considered. Also, y'all,
12:07
Speaker 1: you want to make money, you need to stop relying
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Speaker 1: on inbounds. What I mean by that step relying on
12:12
Speaker 1: brands reaching out to you. You need to go palm
12:15
Speaker 1: the pavement, knock on doors, do what you gotta do
12:17
Speaker 1: in person pitching, Go to conferences, send those emails. Right.
12:21
Speaker 1: A big thing we teach in our pitching program is
12:23
Speaker 1: that consistency factor of pitching. You know, forty brands a month.
12:27
Speaker 1: I know that may sound a lot for some of y'all,
12:29
Speaker 1: but it's not. Two brands a day for five days
12:33
Speaker 1: is ten brands a week. Ten brands a week for
12:35
Speaker 1: four weeks is forty brands a month. That's one hundred
12:38
Speaker 1: and twenty brands and three months. Trust me, it works.
12:42
Speaker 1: The systems we teach work, and if you need support
12:45
Speaker 1: in that consistency, just remember that you cannot sit and wait.
12:49
Speaker 1: You have to be an active participant in your business.
12:53
Speaker 1: You have to be an active participant. And the type
12:55
Speaker 1: of money you want to make. Okay, so stop relying
12:57
Speaker 1: on inbounds that is hurting you. You're just you know,
12:59
Speaker 1: waiting and waiting and waiting. You need to go out
13:01
Speaker 1: there and be honest with yourself, like are you actively
13:04
Speaker 1: doing what you said you're going to do? Also, you
13:06
Speaker 1: may not realize that you're doing this, but you're spending
13:08
Speaker 1: way too much time on Instagram and TikTok and not
13:10
Speaker 1: enough time on LinkedIn. I said it, You are scrolling.
13:14
Speaker 1: You are a creative little spirit that is on the
13:17
Speaker 1: platforms that you like to consume because what the brands
13:20
Speaker 1: they're hanging out on LinkedIn. Spend more time there, trust me,
13:23
Speaker 1: spend time where the brands are hanging out. That's where
13:27
Speaker 1: the magic happens. I am so passionate about LinkedIn and
13:31
Speaker 1: telling creators to just spend more time there, because again,
13:34
Speaker 1: if you can't make it to these conferences and go out,
13:37
Speaker 1: at least you're seeing people on the brand side on LinkedIn.
13:40
Speaker 1: So focus on LinkedIn. Spend time there. There is money there,
13:45
Speaker 1: there's opportunity there, more than you're going to see just
13:48
Speaker 1: browsing and doom scrolling on Insta and TikTok so. I
13:50
Speaker 1: hope this episode helped you guys open up your mind
13:53
Speaker 1: to all these nasty little habits, break them, stop doing them,
13:57
Speaker 1: stop holding yourself back, and start seeing the real rewards
14:01
Speaker 1: come your way. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. If
14:04
Speaker 1: you did, make sure to rate, review, and subscribe to
14:07
Speaker 1: our show and visit Sidewalkerdaily dot com for more resources
14:12
Speaker 1: on all things influencer, marketing and social media. Until next time,