A lot of creators assume brand deals start at 100,000 followers. They don’t. Small brands and local businesses often prefer smaller creators, because a small audience that matches their customers is worth more to them than a big one that doesn’t.

Here’s how to land your first deals, keep them honest and avoid the scams that target creators.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules on disclosure and contracts vary by country.

First: only work with brands you’d recommend anyway

If you promote everything, people stop believing you, and your recommendations stop being worth anything to brands either. Before saying yes to any deal, ask:

  • Would I use this even if they didn’t pay me?
  • Does it fit my channel, my voice and my viewers?
  • Would I be comfortable if my most loyal viewer asked me about it?

Saying no to the wrong deals is what makes the right ones valuable.

Step 1: Make a list of the right brands

Start with brands you already use and like, especially small ones whose customers look like your viewers. A cooking creator might list a local bakery supplier, a small knife maker and a spice company; a skating creator, a local skate shop and a small wheel brand.

Check your analytics for who your viewers are (age range, interests, where they live) so you can show a brand the match.

Step 2: Mention them honestly first

If you’d mention a product anyway, do it in a normal video. It shows a brand exactly what you’d make, and it’s a genuine recommendation. If they ever sent you anything, even a free sample, say so.

Step 3: Pitch a specific idea, not “want to collab?”

Brands get dozens of vague messages a week. A specific one stands out. Keep it short:

  1. Who you are, in one line.
  2. Who your viewers are, in one line, from your analytics.
  3. One concrete video idea for their product.
  4. A link to a similar video you’ve made.
  5. Your media kit (see how to make a media kit).
  6. One clear question to finish.

For example:

Hi, I’m Sam. I make 30-second candle care videos for people who buy nice candles (mostly 25 to 40, in small apartments). I’d love to make a video showing how your wood-wick candles burn evenly from the first burn, with a side-by-side against a cheap one. Here’s a similar video: [link]. Media kit attached. Would you be open to a paid video next month?

Contact the brand through the email or form on its own website. Follow up once after a week or two. No reply means “not now,” not “never.”

Step 4: Start small and deliver well

Your first deals might be one video, a product plus a modest fee, or an affiliate code. That’s fine. Deliver it on time, make it genuinely good, and share the results honestly afterwards. A brand that had a good experience comes back, and tells other brands.

Some apps also run creator marketplaces where brands look for creators. Fill in your profile, but keep pitching directly too.

Spot fake brand deals

Fake offers are common, and some are traps designed to steal your account. Google has reported a long-running scheme where attackers posed as real companies offering sponsorships, then sent “software to review” that stole creators’ logins. Warning signs:

  • The email address doesn’t match the company’s real website, or it’s a free email account.
  • They want you to download software, open a password-protected file, or log in through a link they send.
  • They offer to pay before anything’s agreed, ask you to send money back, or want your bank login.
  • The offer is rushed, vague about what you’d make, or far too generous for your size.

Look the company up yourself, contact it through its real website, never install anything from a deal email, and keep two-step verification on.

Get it in writing

Before you start, get a written agreement that covers:

  • Deliverables: exactly what you’ll make: how many videos, which platforms, how long.
  • Deadlines for drafts and final posts.
  • Approval: whether they review first, and how many rounds of changes.
  • Payment: how much, when and how.
  • Usage rights: where and for how long they can use your video, including as a paid ad.
  • Exclusivity: whether you can work with competitors, and for how long.
  • Disclosure: how the partnership will be labeled.
  • What if it goes wrong: cancellation, late payment, product problems.

Read everything, ask about anything unclear, and for big or long deals, have someone who knows contracts read it first. If you’re under 18, a parent or guardian usually needs to be involved.

Keep your voice

The best sponsored videos sound like you, not an ad. Agree on the brand’s key message and facts, then deliver them your way, with your real opinion. Never agree to say something you don’t believe or can’t check. If the product turns out to be bad, tell the brand privately before posting.

Always disclose

When a brand gives you anything of value (money, free products, discounts, commission, early access, even a loan of the product), you have to tell viewers. In many countries it’s the law; in the U.S., the FTC’s rules cover it.

  • Say it and show it, at the start, not buried at the end.
  • Use plain words: “Ad,” “Sponsored,” “Paid partnership with [Brand],” “[Brand] sent me this for free,” “I earn a commission if you buy through my link.”
  • Avoid vague tags like #sp, #spon or #collab.
  • Turn on each app’s paid partnership label too, and still say it yourself.
  • Repeat it in livestreams, since people join partway.

The Platform Rules reference shows where each app’s paid partnership setting is and what the main ad rules in the U.S., U.K. and EU ask for.

Disclosing doesn’t hurt trust. Hiding a connection and getting caught destroys it.

How much to charge?

That depends on what the brand wants: how many videos, where, for how long, and whether they’ll run your video as an ad. Don’t quote a price until you know. There’s a full guide to working out a rate in how much to charge for UGC and sponsored videos.

Try it

Write down five small brands you already use and genuinely like, whose customers look like your viewers. For one of them, write a specific video idea and a five-line pitch using the structure above. Send it through their website this week.

Worth Watching includes a Media Kit, a Rate Worksheet and a Deal Checklist among its 35 templates, each tied to the chapter that explains it.