Are you by any chance wondering how to negotiate as an influencer? If so, prepare yourself because this post is bursting with answers to that question, plus some of the most common questions I get from influencers inside the community, as well as my #1 tip on how to make more money as an influencer or blogger — so make sure to read (or watch) all the way to the end so you don’t miss that tip!
How To Negotiate as an Influencer
By the way, if you’re new here — welcome! Click the following link to learn how you can join our influencer community and, if you’d like to gain access to all of our eCourses, live webinars, member’s lounge and Q&A forum make sure to visit our Member’s Area.
Ok, let’s get to the questions!
Without a doubt, the most common questions I receive from influencers in the community are:
- How much should I charge for brand deals?
- How do I monetize my influence (blog, Instagram, TikTok)?
- I am tired of partnering with brands for free! How do I get paid brand collabs?
- I have less than 10K followers, can I even charge brands for posts?
- Can you tell me how to negotiate as an influencer?
Keep reading, or watch the video on our YouTube channel!
Can you relate to these questions? I hope so, because we’re about to dive into the answers. And, on a side note, if you have any other questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer them in an upcoming post!
OK, so let’s chat about question #1: How much should I charge for brand deals.
Now, I filmed an entire video about this topic, so make sure you watch that next, I’ll link to it at the end of this post . But, in short, I always suggest setting a minimum rate that you charge every brand for partnerships, and from there, adjusting it depending on the variables, such as time of year, project timeframe, deliverables etc. Because each partnership is so unique, you always want to get everything in writing before sending over any rates so that you don’t inadvertently under-charge a brand. Again, you can watch my other video for a more in depth explanation, or read the blog post.
OK, onto question #2, and that is: “How do I monetize my blog or Instagram?”
Ok, so let me start by saying that there are NUMEROUS ways to monetize your influence. You can:
- join affiliate programs
- sell digital products (like an ebook)
- create content FOR brands for social media
- attend events
…the list goes on and on! But, by far one of the most profitable ways is by collaborating with brands on sponsored posts!
I personally recommend monetizing your influencer in a variety of ways so that you’re never totally dependent on ONE source of income, but that’s just my personal opinion. You do you! But, again many influencers partner with brands because it is SO lucrative. So, if that’s your end goal there truly is no time better time to start pitching brands (on your own) because at the end of the day, that route is a goldmine. ????
OK, now onto question #3, “I’m tired of partnering with brands for free! How do I land paid brand collaborations?”
I love this question! OK, I just want to say here that it’s OK to politely decline offers from brands that don’t offer to pay you! Now, I know that some brands are still new to influencer marketing, but that doesnt give them the right to request freebies from influencers. As a business they have a marketing budget, so I always suggest countering their offer and attempting to negotiate payment.
I can’t stress this enough because the reality is, all brands that are selling products (or services) have a budget for marketing and ad’s! And you’d be shocked by how many of them WILL magically come up with a budget when they really want to partner with you.
OK and now onto Question #4, “I have less than 10K followers, can I even charge brands for posts?”
Yes, we’ve helped bloggers and influencers in the community with as little as 500 followers land paid brand campaigns! Think about it this way, if 500 people gathered to watch you speak on a stage you would have sponsors lined up to pay you to mention their products. Now imagine if you had 1K, or 10K people gathered to listen to you. That’s a lot of people! So keep that in mind when brands reach out to you because they are very aware of your influence, and I want YOU to be as well.
Not to mention, influencers with smaller audiences typically have higher engagement rates, which can equal MORE sales for a brand. So charge accordingly because the truth is, macro and mid-tier and mega influencers have historically low engagement rates, meaning people don’t trust them as much as they do nano and micro influencers, so you can absolutely charge brands because you technically are MORE influential as a small influencer.
So please, stop leaving money on the table!
So let’s chat about Question #5,“Can you tell me how to negotiate as an influencer?”
Many brands will attempt to approach unsuspecting influencers to collaborate for free. But, do you think they also ask Instagram to run their ads for free? Unlikely! So remember that because if they can pay Instagram to reach an audience, well…they can pay you too.
OK, so with all that said, if you’ve collaborated with brands in the past for free, don’t stress! Instead, going forward always strive to negotiate with brands!
Again, I can’t begin to tell you how many times brands approach influencers with “limited” budgets for a campaign and then “magically” find more money to pay them when they decline the campaign. So it’s incredibly important that you learn how to negotiate as an influencer and start doing so right away!
And, listen, I get it, negotiating can be difficult or even stressful for some people! If you’re one of those people, relax. You can always hire a manager or agent to represent you, and they will 100% do all the negotiating work for you. But, if you’re NOT ready for an Agent to represent you, dont stress. I’ve got you! You do not need to wonder how to negotiate with brands anymore.
How to negotiate as an influencer…
I included 3 of our most effective negotiation templates inside the Member’s Area to help you negotiate with brands on your own. These are templates influencers just like you use everyday in emails with brands!
I also linked to the Member’s Area below this post so you can download them and start using them right away.
As a member you’ll also gain unlimited access to all of our ecourses inside the school, plus live webinars, a member’s lounge and a Q&A forum, PLUS a resource library with more than 10 brand pitches and, of course, the negotiation templates.
So these templates are perfect for those occasions when a brand reaches out to you for free collaborations! Rather than saying “yes”, or even “no, thanks” or worse, nothing at all, you can use the templates to negotiate with the brand yourself to turn that unpaid partnership into a paid campaign!
Now, before I go, I just want to say that any successful influencer will tell you that, in order to set yourself up for success you need to invest in tools to run your business! As an Influencer, you’ll need a smartphone, laptop, likely a DSLR camera, editing software, etc.
These templates are one of those tools!
If you’re ready to start monetizing your blog (or social media profiles) and secure brand collaborations you see countless other influencers and bloggers landing everyday, I recommend you join the Member’s area.
The other influencers and bloggers inside are securing very profitable brands deals on the daily, anywhere from $1k on the low end to upwards of $10k, $25k even $100k per post on the high end!
So remember, I started this Agency to help female influencers and bloggers negotiate with brands and earn more money in brand collaborations! With brands paying influencers rates of $1k-$10k (and more) per post, you’re in an excellent place to negotiate.
SO, if you’ve been working with brands for free until today, now is the time to start negotiating brand deals! With these templates you now know how to negotiate with brands as an influencer.
And let me say one more thing, and that is, other influencers ARE negotiating with brands, everyday. So, ask yourself, do you want to be the influencer who is accepting freebies, or the influencer who is accepting checks? The choice is yours, but I can’t tell you how many times brands have been known to pay one influencer and send freebies to another, all because one of them didn’t negotiate payment.
NOW, let’s chat about the final tip that will help you double or heck, even triple your current rate, and that is…
Brands pay influencers with email lists (and additional social media accounts) more than those without! So, if you haven’t already, I strongly suggest you set up an account with an email marketing provider (I personally LOVE and recommend ConvertKit) and start collecting emails. Also, make sure to create matching Pinterest, Twitter and even YouTube profiles to maximize your profits in brand collabs because if a brand approaches you for a collab and you can post to Instagram and say, YouTube, or your blog and an email list, you just doubled your income.
How To Negotiate as an Influencer
OK that’s it for today’s post. If you liked this post please save it to Pinterest to refer back to later, and if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below. And of course (if you’re not already) please subscribe to the YouTube channel, my goal is to release one new video each week. So, thank you so much for reading all the way to the end, and I hope to see you in the Member’s Area!
Links Mentioned In This Post
- Influencer Community
- Member’s Area (where you can find the negotiation templates)
- YouTube Channel
- Popular Blog Post — How Much To Charge Brands for Sponsored Posts
- YouTube Video — How To Price Sponsored Posts
- ConvertKit (Email Marketing Provider)
Read More
- What Brands Look For In Influencers — Read more here.
- Influencer vs Content Creator: What No One Tells You — Read more here.
- Influencer Tips & Tricks — Read more here.
- Influencer Opportunities: The Truth About Brand Deals — Read more here.
- Become a Paid Influencer: 6 Tips — Read more here.
- How To Make Money Creating Content For Brands — Read more here.
- How To Approach Brands As An Influencer: Quick Guide — Read more here.
- Influencer Brand Deals: An Ultimate Breakdown — Read more here.
- How To Negotiate As An Influencer — Read more here.
- How To Get Brand Deals — Read more here.
- How Much To Charge For A Sponsored Post — Read more here.
- The Brand Pitch Email Templates (That Brands Can’t Refuse) — Read more here.
- Get More Brand Deals With This Engagement Rate Formula — Read more here.
- How To Work With Brands As An Infliuencer — Read more here.
- What (Exactly) To Include In Your Media Kit — Read more here.
- How Much To Charge For A Sponsored Post — Read more here.
- Influencer Marketing Terms You Need To Know To Work With Brands — Read more here.
