How to Land Your First Paid Brand Partnership
How to get brand deals: build proof, join the platforms' creator marketplaces, pitch the right brands and check 8 terms before you accept a first paid offer.
By Sam Parham, Co-Founder and CEO, 1DS · Published · 4 min read
To get your first brand deal, pick a niche brands already spend on, post steadily for 30 to 90 days so your numbers mean something, join the creator marketplaces you qualify for, and pitch brands whose customers already watch you. When the first paid offer arrives, check its terms line by line before you say yes.
The money is there. IAB estimates US creator ad spend grew from $13.9 billion in 2021 to $29.5 billion in 2024 and projected $37 billion for 2025, and a third of brands in its study called finding the right creators their biggest hurdle (IAB, 2025). A creator who's easy to find and easy to vet has an edge.
What do you need before brands will pay you?
A clear niche, an audience in the markets brands sell to, and enough recent posts to show what a sponsored one would get. At this stage, proof matters more than size.
Get these in place first:
- A niche a brand can describe in 1 line, like "budget meal prep for students" or "trail running for beginners".
- Steady posting for 30 to 90 days, so your medians mean something.
- A business email in your bio and a professional account on each platform.
- Dated analytics screenshots, collected in a 1 to 3 page media kit.
- Past posts that show how you'd talk about a product.
Brands vet creators on audience fit, reputation, engagement quality, content fit and reliability. Our guide to what brands look for in influencers shows how to pass each check.
Where do first brand deals come from?
They come through 3 routes: platform marketplaces where brands search for creators, inbound messages and the pitches you send. Join every marketplace you qualify for, then pitch to fill the gaps.
| Route | Who can join | How brands use it |
|---|---|---|
| TikTok One | 18+ and 10,000 followers (both can vary by region), 1,000 post views and 3 posts in the last 30 days, account in good standing | Brands find creators and run campaigns through its Creator Marketplace |
| Meta Creator Marketplace | 18+, a professional public Instagram account, 1,000 followers, and agreement to Meta's partner monetization policies | Brands see your posts and insights like average reach, and message you in a Partnership folder |
| YouTube Creator Partnerships | 18+, in the YouTube Partner Program, based in an available country, no active Community Guidelines strikes | Eligible creators are discoverable to brands and get inquiries inside YouTube Studio |
| Inbound | Anyone with a business email in their bio | Brands and agencies reach out directly |
| Your own pitches | Anyone | You choose the brands and make the case |
The entry rules come from each platform's help pages for TikTok One, Meta Creator Marketplace and YouTube Creator Partnerships, and they can change, so check them before you apply.
In Meta's marketplace you can also pick preferred brand partners, and brands you select see you under "Interested creators" when they search. That only works for brands already in the program, so treat it as a bonus.
Should you take gifted deals at the start?
Sometimes. A gifted deal (free product, no fee) can be worth it when the product fits your content and nothing else is attached. Once a brand asks for required posts, usage rights or exclusivity, it's asking for paid work.
| Take the gifted deal when | Ask for a fee when |
|---|---|
| You'd buy or use the product anyway | The brand requires a set number of posts or a deadline |
| Posting is optional | It wants to reuse your content in ads or on its own channels |
| It's a brand you'd like to pitch for paid work later | Competitors are off-limits for any period |
| No usage rights or exclusivity are attached | Ad access to your account is part of it (whitelisting or Spark Ads) |
Gifted still counts as a deal for disclosure. The FTC's Endorsement Guides treat free or discounted products as a material connection "regardless of whether the advertiser requires an endorsement in return" (16 CFR 255.5), so disclose any post that features one.
How do you pitch for your first paid deal?
Pick 20 brands whose customers already watch you, find the person who runs creator partnerships at each, and send a short email with 1 idea built for that brand. Follow up twice, then move on.
A first pitch can be this short:
Subject: [Product] idea for [Brand] from a [niche] creator
Hi [first name], I'm [name]. My audience on [platform] is mostly [their customer], and [product] fits a series I already run: [series].
I'd like to make [deliverable] showing [a specific use]. My last 10 posts have a median of [X] views, and my media kit is here: [link].
Open to a quick call, or I can send a short concept first.
Our guide on how to pitch brands has follow-ups, a DM opener, a reply for inbound offers and a note for turning gifted collabs into paid ones.
What should you check before you accept your first offer?
Read the whole offer before you answer, then check 8 terms. Questions about usage and payment are normal at this stage, and asking them marks you as a professional.
| Term | What to ask | What to push back on |
|---|---|---|
| Deliverables | How many posts, which formats and platforms, and by when? | Vague asks like "content as needed" |
| Usage rights | Where can the brand reuse your content, and for how long? | Perpetual or unlimited use for a single fee |
| Paid ads access | Will they run ads from your handle (whitelisting, Spark Ads, partnership ads)? | Ad access with no fee or no end date |
| Exclusivity | Which competitors are off-limits, and for how long? | Whole-category bans with no end date or no fee |
| Approvals | How many revision rounds, and how fast is feedback? | Unlimited revisions |
| Payment terms | When do you get paid, and is there a deposit? | Long or open-ended payment terms with no deposit |
| Kill fee | What are you paid if the brand cancels after you've started? | Nothing for work already done |
| Disclosure | How will the post be labeled? | Any request to hide the paid relationship |
Our guide to pricing a brand deal shows how to price each of those lines.
How do you disclose your first sponsored post?
Use the platform's disclosure tool and your own plain words, placed where people can't miss them. The FTC's Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers tells creators not to assume a platform's tool is good enough by itself.
- Instagram: Meta's branded content policies require the paid partnership label on branded content, with the brand tagged. The tagged brand gets access to the post's insights.
- TikTok: turn on the content disclosure setting and choose Branded content, which labels the post "Paid partnership." TikTok says the setting won't affect how the post is distributed in feeds.
- YouTube: select paid promotion in your video details, which adds a disclosure label at the start of the video.
Then add your own words: "ad," "sponsored" or "Thanks to [Brand] for the free product" in the caption, and in videos say it on screen and out loud. The FTC notes that viewers are more likely to notice disclosures made in both audio and video, and it calls tags like "sp," "spon" and "collab" vague.
Reviewing offers, contracts and disclosures is part of our Brand Partnerships and Legal & Business Affairs services. 1DS Management represents 107 creators, athletes and entrepreneurs, and you can apply for representation when you're ready for a team.
Questions creators ask
How many followers do you need for brand deals?
It depends on the route. Platform marketplaces set their own bars, 1,000 followers for Meta Creator Marketplace and 10,000 for TikTok One (TikTok's bar varies by region). Direct pitches to smaller brands can work below both when your audience matches their customer.
How much should you charge for your first brand deal?
Price the deliverable first, then add separate lines for usage rights, paid ads access and exclusivity. A modest base fee is easier to live with than a modest fee that also hands over a year of ad rights.
Do you need a manager to get brand deals?
You can land a first deal on your own. A manager earns their commission once deal volume, contract terms and pricing start pulling time away from content. At 1DS Management, commission runs 10% to 30%.
Do you have to disclose gifted products?
Yes. Under the FTC's Endorsement Guides, free or discounted products count as a material connection even when the brand didn't require a post. Use the platform's tool and plain wording like "Thanks to [Brand] for the free product."
What's a kill fee?
It's a payment you keep if the brand cancels after you've started work. Ask for one that grows with progress: part of the fee once the concept is approved, and the full fee once content is delivered. This guide is general information, not legal advice. Have an entertainment lawyer review any contract before you sign it.
Written by
Sam Parham
Co-Founder and CEO, 1DS
Want a team negotiating your deals?
1DS Management represents more than 100 creators and athletes across brand partnerships, content strategy and monetization.