Q: A brand approached me about doing a sponsored post for them. I gave them my rate, but they can only offer me half of what I asked for. Should I take it?
A: As a creator, it can sometimes feel demoralizing to look around at the creators in your niche you consider to be peers (either because you started around the same time, and/or because you have similar audience sizes) and see that they seem to be killing it, doing sponsored post after sponsored post.
The thing you may not realize though, is that those creators may just be saying yes to a lot of lower-paid (and even non-paid) opportunities. Instead of maximizing the average fee they get for each campaign, they're playing the volume game, where they're taking on every single opportunity offered so that they can maximize their overall earning potential.
I'm all about creators charging what they're worth. But there are also situations where it makes sense to take a lower offer. Here are some of them:
1. Ease of creation
Have a read through the creative brief and try to gauge how time-intensive it will be to create this content. Do you have to travel a long distance to shoot this in a specific location? Will you need to shoot this outdoors, where you'll be subjected to the elements and feel uncomfortable? Do you have to create a complicated craft project or develop a complex recipe? Will you need to wrangle your kids because they need to be in the shoot as well? The quicker/easier the shoot is, the more flexible you can be on fee.
2. Phase of your career as a creator
If you're still in the beginning stages of building out your revenue streams as a creator (I'd define this as making under $100K per year in revenue), then gaining experience, building your portfolio and developing relationships with brands and agencies is a priority. At this point, it makes sense to take on lower-paid campaigns sometimes, especially if they're with recognizable brand names. Being able to say that you've worked with Samsung or Old Navy or Toyota may be worth more in the long run than the couple hundred bucks discount you're giving them.
On the other hand, once you're in an intermediate or advanced stage of your career as a creator, you'll be making enough revenue that you can be more selective about the work you take on. These days, we have a pretty steep minimum fee for any type of brand deal. If a campaign can't, or doesn't want to meet that minimum, it's an automatic pass from us. By doing it this way, we're able to meet our revenue goals by doing just a handful of sponsored projects each month, without overburdening ourselves with production, and without burning out our audience with endless sponsored posts.
3. Your business model
Not every creator is interested in building out an actual business. They may already have a high-paying job, or having a high-earning partner, so there's no strong motivation to build revenue through their platforms. There are some creators for whom this is a hobby that gives them access to experiences they otherwise wouldn't have (like travel!), or products and services they otherwise wouldn't pay for (gifted clothes, jewelry, bags). In other words, they're in it for the perks, not to make actual cash. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this. If you fall into this category, you may be willing to take on lower-paid campaigns because you value more highly the clout of being associated with this brand, than the actual cash you're being paid.
4. Your financial goals
If you are actively working towards a specific financial goal, that may be another reason to take on lower-paid campaigns. Let's say you're in a rough financial spot right now, or you've set a goal of paying down your debt, or you're saving to buy a home. Those are all good reasons to play the volume game, and take on every opportunity you're given. Yes, you may feel burned out from having to shoot so many campaigns, but if hustling hard in the short-term helps meet your big financial goal, it may be worth it in the long run.
5. Your affinity for the brand
One thing that may surprise you is that the biggest, most famous, and most successful brands are often the ones who are the cheapest when it comes to paying creators. However, they're still able to recruit quality creators to work with them because there's so much love for the brand.
So if you're approached for a project below your usual fee, but it's from a brand that you absolutely adore, go for it! Your natural affinity for the brand will come through in your content, which means the sponsored post is likely to perform better than usual, which makes it a great case study to point to when you negotiate with other brands in the future.
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Take care,
Carmen Sognonvi
