Is Working with brands for Free Worth It? The Red Flag Brand Deal to Avoid
Why You Should Never Do This Kind of Free Brand Deal
If you’re a creator or founder looking to land brand partnerships, you’ve probably been tempted by the gifted offer. A brand you love reaches out, offers a product, and then sends through a list of requests and deliverables “Can you make 1 reel and a minimum of two stories? Oh can we boost your post?” And before you’ve even considered it they then drop in that if you make this first video, it could maybe someday, lead to paid work later down the line. But before you dust of your tripod, we need to talk about creator usage rights and why exposure doesn't pay the bills.
Understanding Content creator usage rights
Do not let brands boost your content without paying you. Even if you don't have experience, and even if you're just getting started.
Using your content as paid media but not paying you is taking advantage of inexperienced creators who have no clue that content usage should always come with payment. When a brand suggests that the first video is to prove your audience fit, we have to ask what is going on here?
Option A: Is there a marketing budget but they’re just withholding?
Option B: Or is there no budget and they’re just looking for free creator labor?
If your content is good enough for a brand to boost it, your content is good enough for them to pay for it.
Usage rights refers to how a brand or company can legally use your content. If you take a picture on your phone, a brand can’t post it on their website and use it without your explicit permission. But, if a brand wants to use it to drive traffic to a product on their website as an instagram ad, then the creator can charge up to 30% of the brands ad spend for every month the ad is live.
Gifted Collaborations vs. Unpaid Labor
It can be so tempting to devalue your content just to say you’ve had a partnership. But it’s a short-term win that makes it harder to monetise your personal brand in the long run. When you stop believing your work is worth paying for, you low ball yourself and you never ask for what you work is really worth.
If you want to accept gifted products, (because come on, Charlotte Tilbury I’ll take anything you give me) take them without strings.
But remember: If there are deliverables there should also be a fee. Because if a brand has gone through the effort to reach out to you, then your content is worth the money.