373: Brand Deals Without the Burnout: What Actually Works

[00:00:00] If you've been dreaming about working with brands or you've done a few collaborations, but the money and the terms has maybe felt off this episode is for you. We're gonna break down the steps to land aligned, well-paid partnerships that grow with you. Welcome to the Thrive Podcast, where we believe creators deserve more, more money, more freedom, and even more love for what they do.

[00:00:25] I'm Bree p, your coach for content creators, and I know the struggle. The long hours, the endless ideas, the feeling that success is just out of reach. But here's the truth. You've got what it takes in this podcast. It's your shortcut to getting there from strategies that actually work to behind the scenes insights.

[00:00:45] We are unlocking your potential one episode at a time. So if you're ready to turn your creative hustle into a thriving business. Let's get started.

[00:00:58] This is episode three of the series all about monetizing your content, and it was inspired by our monetization growth plans inside of bold fluence because every content creator should be able to make money. You need to be able to grow your audience in a way that works. For you. That's why we built over 25 growth path combinations to help you do exactly that.

[00:01:20] So when you join Bold Lens, we walk you through those options and help you choose the audience growth and monetization path that feels best for your goals. As soon as you log in, you get access to. Both of those, and this episode is a behind the scenes peak at what that looks like with brand deals. You do not need a hundred thousand followers to land brand deals.

[00:01:43] You need the right pitch and a clear value. So why do brand partnerships still work when they're done? Right. The fact is that brands are still spending money. They're spending a lot of it, right? This is a multi-billion dollar industry at this point. Money is out there for content creators and they're looking for creators with trust, niche influence, and content that aligns with what the brand is all about.

[00:02:14] And you don't need a giant audience. You just need engagement and positioning. If you haven't downloaded our free pricing guide yet, I want you to pause, jump down to the show notes, click the link, download it. Look at where you are at right now. So you go to the platform inside of this free PDF, you go to the platform that you have the highest amount of followers in and see where you land right now.

[00:02:39] See what you could be charging right now with your audience. Okay, you're back. Let's keep going. So what do you need to start pitching brands? So you need a solid pitch template that sells your story and shows the value that you have to offer to brands with your audience. Also without your audience, because you can make a lot of money doing UGC, which also falls under working with brands.

[00:03:05] You need a clean media kit with updated stats and photos. Showing off what you are capable of and what they can expect from you. And you also need to have clarity on your pricing and your deliverables. Now, this does not go in your media kit. I strongly advocate that you do not put pricing in your media kit that you share with brands.

[00:03:29] I want you to be more in control of that and to have a conversation with the brand before you just shoot out random numbers to them. They might not feel so random to you, but when they're not aligned with knowing exactly what the brand needs and how you can serve them, they are a bit random. So have your numbers.

[00:03:50] Go through that pricing guide. Write down what you can charge, but keep those close at hand. Keep those cards hidden because you want to be in charge and make sure that you deliver something custom to them and what their needs are. I'm diving in, but I'm, I'm very passionate about working with brands and working with them the correct way.

[00:04:10] So how do we get the brand's attention? You need to do some research. You need to research and pitch brands that you already love. And I'm talking ones that are on the shelves, not just the big box stores. Right. Oftentimes content creators pitch too big, never hear back, and wonder brands never respond to me.

[00:04:29] They don't love me. There's multiple reasons why they may not respond. One, the number one reason is because you probably didn't follow up. But then the second reason could be that you're not reaching the right person, or that you pitched Walmart instead of Mary Ruth on the shelf. Okay. You wanna start conversations with the brand?

[00:04:52] Follow them. Follow them, follow their social media accounts. Show that you actually care about the brand before you pitch them and connect with anyone that works there that is in, or the related field, so that is in social media marketing or in their influencer or PR positions. Follow them and connect with them on LinkedIn.

[00:05:11] And then you wanna make sure that your pitch email is really, really strong and it has a call to action. Like, let me know if this campaign fits your 2025 goals or 2026 goals. Use something that is really strong and then position yourself as a partner, not as a contractor. We. Want to make sure that we're doing everything we can to align with brands that we love and feels natural and organic.

[00:05:36] And then what we wanna do is we want to keep that relationship going. We don't want like a hit and run a one and done type of brand deal. We want this to be one that is repeating over and over again. So what are some common roadblocks when it comes to working with brands? The first one is underpricing yourself or not pricing yourself at all.

[00:05:58] And this is where this pricing guide comes in handy that we have done tons and tons of research on make sure that you are pricing yourself correctly. The other common roadblock is just waiting for brands to come to you. Just waiting and hoping that like, okay, if I grow big enough, then all of a sudden my inbox is going to be flooded.

[00:06:18] That is not the case anymore. Uh, I feel like, you know, a while back we were seeing that and we were seeing more emails showing up, but that's just not happening anymore because there are tons of creators out there. That's why it's important to know your audience and to do niche, but also it shows the power of pitching yourself and putting yourself out there.

[00:06:40] So don't just sit and wait. You have to be active. Another roadblock would be sending vague or overly long pitches. Don't blow up that email. Don't make it super, super long. You have to remember there's somebody else on the other side of that email just like me, in you, and you want to make their job.

[00:06:58] Easier. Okay. And when you send something that is super vague or way too long, it is incredibly overwhelming, right? When you get an email from somebody asking for something or asking to collab with you in some way, and it is like 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, a million paragraphs long, you don't wanna read it and you want to just delete it.

[00:07:17] So make sure that it's something that you would be okay with reading and responding to as well. And then the other roadblock that I hear all the time is they ghosted me. I never heard back. Follow up, follow up, follow up, follow up. If you ever get coaching from me, if you listen to this podcast, I will tell you over and over again to follow up.

[00:07:39] I have been on the other side where I have worked for brands that, um, where I manage the inbox of partnerships, specifically influencer campaigns. My inbox overflowed I, I would get it down and get it cleaned out, go take a lunch break and come back to 50 to a hundred new emails. The ones that kept standing out to me are the ones that they kept following up with me and I was like, oh yeah, I really need to reach back out to her.

[00:08:09] Oh, yeah, I really need to reach back out to her. I want to work with her. She's been like asking over and over again. I really wanted to make something happen with her. I remembered the name because she showed up in my inbox three times and I finally was able to find a second to get back to her and make something happen.

[00:08:25] So follow up. So inside of Bold Fluence, we share a 90 day brand partnership growth plan in detail and give you all the steps to get running. So here's a high level of what that looks like. The first 30 days, it's all about getting your assets together, so finalizing your media kit, updating it, going through the pricing guide, figuring out where you fall in there and what you should be charging, getting your pitch templates ready, and pitching five to 10 brands to research and build relationships with.

[00:08:58] Then the next 30 days, it's all about starting the conversation. Reach out with those personalized pitches, following up with value and tracking outreach in a simple tracker that we have for you. Then finally, the last 30 days, it's pitching and negotiating like a pro. At this point, you're comfortable, you're confident, you're ready to go, so you're gonna use email, dms, LinkedIn.

[00:09:22] You're going to follow up and negotiate with confidence and start booking paid collabs that align with your goals. Pitching's just a skill. It. It's something where you get better every single time you do it. You don't have to be like, I've got this, and super confident from the beginning, but with our step-by-step plan, we will help you gain confidence.

[00:09:42] You just have to get started. So I wanna just throw out some quick mistakes that I want you to avoid. First one is not knowing your rates or being afraid to actually follow through with the rates that you know you should be charging ghosting brands after they reply because you feel unsure. You gotta just keep going.

[00:10:02] It's practice pitching without knowing what you're offering or only applying to influencer platforms and waiting. Those are great. It's a good way to get started. You're probably not gonna get paid the top dollar that you deserve, but it's a great way to get started. But I still think even if you're applying for those, you do also need to be pitching.

[00:10:21] So how does Bold Fluence help you turn brand deals into a very viable income stream for you? We give you a brand pitching suite with plug and play pitch emails and templates, a pitch tracker to stay organized, coaching on pricing negotiation, and follow up strategies and real feedback on your media kit and brand messaging.

[00:10:43] That way you know, I'm not wasting time or sending out the wrong thing. So if you're ready to stop working for free, if you're ready to start getting paid from brands and start landing those aligned partnerships, then Bold Fluence was created for you. We'll help you build your brand kit, Polish your pitch, and negotiate like a pro.

[00:11:03] So Head to Thrive together, dot blog slash bold fluence, and let's land your next brand deal together.

[00:11:14] If this episode helped you, help us grow, leave a review, share it with a friend, and tag us on social media. We can't wait to cheer you on.