The Best Way to Receive Payments For Your Brand Deals, as an Influencer
Monetizing social media is the first step towards building a profitable career as an influencer.
Former ordinary social media users are becoming micro-influencers and charging three to four digits for one single post--with a follower count as relatively small as 1,000. For one sponsored post, prices average $150 to $300, which amounts to a great side income.
By getting the right brand deals at the right time, content creators can make thousands of dollars a month from one social media platform alone. It’s no wonder influencer marketing is expanding so quickly. There’s a lot of money to make out there.
Now, imagine uniting the income streams from several Instagram and TikTok brand partnerships. If you were wondering, that’s how influencers make for digital wealth.
But, there’s a caveat.
Depending on the brand owners influencers agree to work with, they may not get paid. At all.
As in any business, the influencer industry has its bad apples. These aren’t the influencers, but the clients who may try to exploit content creators for their own profit, often disregarding the creator’s part of the agreement.
Serious creators must avoid this type of scam at all costs by finding equally serious brand owners. However, that’s an increasingly difficult task within a bustling internet environment. So, what should be your next step?
Whether you’re an aspiring influencer or an established one, this article will teach you how to:
- Get paid for your brand deals safely and fast.
- Swerve from the “bad apples” for good.
- Find trustworthy partners who will pay you what you’re worth.
Take note.
What’s the best way to receive payment for influencer brand deals?
While there’s no “right” way to get paid, there are more traditional methods as well as safer, expedited methods. Let’s begin with the standard way.
How brands usually pay influencers (and why it isn’t necessarily safer)
The payment method of choice will depend on the influencer’s preference. Typically, the financial services used for transactions are PayPal, Venmo, Google Wallet, TransferWise, and Google Pay.
While there’s absolutely nothing wrong or unsafe about these services, human error can take part in the process. For instance, an influencer may not ask for retainer payment or not sign an agreement prior to working with a brand, which can result in negligence of the client in complying with the deal.
When that kind of thing happens, there’s no turning back after the damage is done. It’s understandable--many influencers just want to get to the fun part of the job. But overlooking important documents and processes can disrupt the remainder of the fun, which is payment.
To the influencers who would rather avoid dealing with the bureaucratic side of their career, you’d benefit from a handy go-between.
How can influencers collect their payment safely and fast?
Before laying out the solution, let’s have a look at potential complications. When it comes to making sure the payment lands safely on your bank account, there are a few red flags you must be aware of.
Red Flag #1: The brand owner won’t reply
If you’ve had any freelance jobs, you know what this is about. The job is done and sent, and you’re waiting for the client’s approval. But they’ve suddenly gone missing. They won’t reply to your emails or your preferred method of communication, and you may even find that they’ve blocked you to avoid commitment. And just like that, you’ve worked for free without ever intending to.
Sadly, it happens. To avoid this type of frustration, it’s important to collect a fraction or all of your payment upfront, so that there’s a guarantee that the person you’ve chosen to work with is serious about your partnership.
Red Flag #2: Scattered communication
You’ve closed a brand deal via Instagram’s direct messages. Sweet. Trouble is, you’re also talking to more clients via TikTok and email. This scattered, app-switching based communication is counterproductive and could make minutes of work feel exhausting.
The reality is, some people will just waste your time. There could be times when you’ll be messaging each other back and forth, and after days of negotiation, they might not end up working with you after all.
Also, potential miscommunication may lead to clients walking out on you because you take too long to reply or even forget to reply. There’s so much to keep track of at different places! At this point, they’ve found someone else for the job. In a worst-case scenario, some of them may even slander your name, so you should be diligent about maintaining a good reputation.
If you’re truly invested in your influencer career, your first step is to find a single trusted channel to manage all of your brand deals. Preferably, a place where only committed professionals are looking for and offering influencer services.
Red Flag #3: Low-budget (or no budget) partnership offers
As an influencer, you’ll come across all types of people: those who you’d work with in a heartbeat, and those who may offer low-budget deals that you just can’t say “yes” to. At least not if you’re trying to make decent money.
These people may flood your inbox with deals you don’t want to accept, resulting in a lot of wasted time you could be using with high-priority clients.
The solution? Having complete control over the deals you can accept and reject, without having to explain yourself or getting dozens of follow-up messages you won’t reply to.
By using certain influencer tools and platforms, all of these problems will vanish, take Collabstr for example.
How influencer platforms compact, streamline, and simplify transactions
All of the above problems can be easily dodged with a simple sign up.
Think of Collabstr as a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool, where all of the administrative parts of your job are taken care of. All you have to do is set up your profile.
Here’s what else you’ll be able to do.
Run your social media business in one place
One dashboard, all of your contacts. This type of platform allows influencers to manage all of their brand deals, effortlessly communicate with clients, and submit all of their deliverables without worrying about checking multiple apps at a time. It’s time-saving and confusion-proof.
Accept or decline orders. No questions asked.
You have no time to waste with sloppy clients. With Collabstr, you’re free to say “yes” or “no” to any client orders before they can get in touch with you. You don’t even have to type anything--simply accept or decline. This way, you’ll avoid the headache of being spammed and dedicate yourself to profitable clients full time.
Straightforward communication
By directing clients to your influencer profile page, your dashboard will become the go-to source for reliable and streamlined communication. You can count on the platform’s direct messaging system as your only channel to discuss your deals.
Always get paid the right amount at the right time
Afraid of clients not paying you? You won’t be anymore. Collabstr works by collecting your payment upfront and directly depositing it in your bank account right after an order is completed.
This way, you’ll work knowing you’ll be paid.
The takeaway.
Being a well-paid influencer is more than just drowning in brand deals. The way you receive that payment as well as the preceding measures are just as important. Not only do you want to get the agreed upon amount of money, but you also want to be sure you see those numbers in the first place.
Join Collabstr for free and streamline your business as a content creator.
