Do you want to get paid an extra $500 to $1,000 each month just for making a YouTube video,
even if you only have a small channel? For example, I got paid $100 to make
this review video. I got this free product in exchange for making a product review video.
By the end of this video, you'll know how to get brands to sponsor you on YouTube,
how to get free products in exchange for making a sponsored video, how to calculate what your
channel is worth, how to negotiate with brands, and best practices when working with brands as
a small content creator.
Creating branded content is a collaboration between you the content creator and the brand
to get to expose their product to your target audience in exchange for making a sponsored video.
Create a list of companies you want to work with related to the content that you upload to YouTube.
For example, here's a sponsored video I created for a brand because lots of my
viewers were asking for a simple video editor to edit their YouTube videos. Therefore,
make sure your sponsored video is in alignment with the content of your YouTube channel.
How do you find brands that you wish to connect with? A simple way to find brands you want to
connect with is to enter your main keyword phrase into the Google Search bar, then add +affiliate
programs. For example, if I want to find video editing brands, I can add video editors+affiliate
programs in the Google Search bar. It shows me a list of editors that have affiliate programs.
Another way to reach out to brands is through social media. For example, you can go to Twitter,
Instagram, LinkedIn, and connect with a brand through those social media sites.
Often, people from those companies run social media sites to connect with influencers to
promote their products. For example, you might want to do a brand deal with Røde
to review one of their microphones. You can just go to their homepage at rode.com, scroll down,
and then you can see their social media properties at the bottom of the page. Another
way to find brands you wish to connect with is to ask other YouTubers that have already done
brand deals with those companies. You can then connect with them via email or on social media.
If you have a large YouTube channel like myself, you'll often get brands that will email you to
connect with your YouTube channel. Just make sure that the company is in alignment with the content
on your channel. When a company wants to pay you to sponsor a video on your channel, ask them what
their budget is. For example, here's an email from a brand that wanted to sponsor a pair of
videos on my channel. "Hey, Herman. How have you been? We are planning our season-end sponsorships,
and we're wondering if we could sponsor a pair of videos on your channel before the
end of the year. Do you have availability for two videos, and if so, how much would that run us?"
Keep in mind that large companies often have a special budget set aside to pay for sponsored
videos. When you ask for their budget in your email, they're probably going to set a low payment
as a start of negotiations. For example, they may offer $300 for you to make a sponsored video,
but if you take into account the production costs of creating a video for them, it should
be much higher. You should at least ask double of what they offer and see what their response is.
Be prepared to walk away if they don't budge from their initial offer. Typically, I'll get $500 to
$1,000 for each sponsored video I create. Instead of just offering to do one video,
offer to do several videos or a series of videos so you can get paid more. For example,
you could create a sponsored video for a brand every month for several months. If
you do the same with several brands, you can make thousands of dollars from your YouTube channel.
Make sure you negotiate a price relative to the value that you provide. You can also ask your
friends if they've worked with a brand and how much they charged. Another way to negotiate the
price for your sponsored video is to expose their product to the audience on the social media sites.
Ultimately, they want to expose their product to as many people as possible.
If you have a good following on your social media sites, add that to your negotiating tactics.
You can use a company like Social BlueBook to determine how much your channel is worth. It
will enable you to create a media kit and show you the suggested price for a sponsored video.
Typically, I'll find their suggested price for a sponsored video much too low,
so at least five times that to get the right price for a sponsored video. You can also create
a free dynamic media kit at zine.co/influencers. Here's my ZINE Media Kit that starts off with a
paragraph about me, a couple of my latest videos, my monthly growth, subscribers,
views, age, gender, audience, average viewing time, and total videos on my channel.
It also shows the featured collaborations that I've done in the past, as well as a rate card.
You may get emails from brands that offer a free product in exchange for doing a sponsored video.
For example, here's a product review I created for a couple of wireless
mics I received from a company. I received the products for free
in exchange for doing a sponsored video because I knew my YouTube audience was looking for
wireless mics. I almost use the mics every day when I'm out and about because it's so small,
just clips to my shirt, and produces great sound. This is a sound test using the SmartMike+
that's connected with the Canon M50 and the SmartMike Lite that's connected to my shirt.
Here are some best practices when getting paid by brands to sponsor you on YouTube. Only promote
products related to the content on your channel and would be of interest to your target audience.
Negotiate the price that works for you and the brand that you're dealing with. Don't settle
for the lowest price possible, but know what your channel is worth. Avoid companies that just want a
free promotion in exchange for a product review unless it's of great value to your audience and
yourself. Most email requests I get from companies to do a product review had nothing to do with the
content on my channel, so I just reject them. Add more value when negotiating the price for
a sponsored video. For example, you could offer to expose their product to a wider
audience by doing a blog post, Facebook post, Instagram post, or even emailing your list.
Whenever you upload a sponsored video, make sure you check the box that says,
"My video contains paid promotion like a product placement, sponsorship, or endorsement." Ask the
talking points that the company wants included in the video. Usually, the company has specific
instructions that they want included in the videos so make sure you include them.
Always keep your media kit updated. If you're constantly uploading new videos to your channel,
your stats are going to change all the time. Avoid taking on too much work. You might be really
excited to make a lot of money by doing a lot of brand deals, but you've got to know your limits,
otherwise, you'll get stressed out. When you get stressed out, the quality of your content
will suffer. Are there other ways to get paid on YouTube without having 1,000 subscribers?
Watch the video on the screen right now for five ways to generate a passive income on YouTube
without 1,000 subscribers or being a member of the YouTube Partner Program