How to Decide Your Rate as a Blogger and Influencer?
"How do you decide on your rate for brands?" Is the number one question I get sliding into my DMs. Frankly, it’s a valid question! When I started working with brands it was a lot of trial and error.
But here’s what I learned and what I personally do to calculate my rate ...
Break it all down, girlfriend!
In order to find your rate you have to work smarter not harder and I know money seems like a touchy subject but it shouldn’t be! If you’re a blogger or influencer and a brand is asking for your service…. Well, that’s a business! And money is part of that.
These are the question you need to be asking yourself first:
What are the deliverables for the campaign? Is the brand asking for a few things or a laundry list of items for you to tackle?
More deliverables SHOULD = more pay
Is the brand big or small? If this is a startup company, the budget is often very limited. If the brand is large then they probably have a set marketing budget and will be picky with the influencers they take on.
Do your research on the brand first! Look at the size of the company, their follower count and price of their products, clothing, service, etc.
Is the brand asking for a “non-compete agreement” and for how long?
Sometimes in a contract brands will sneak in a “non-compete agreement” for a certain length of time. This means that if they’re a skincare company then for a certain amount of time (sometimes even for a year!!) they force you not to work with another skincare company until the contract is up.
So what does that mean for you? It means that you are willing to give up other paid opportunities for this brand so you SHOULD be compensated accordingly.
Will you be hiring a professional photographer to shoot your content? Or will you be doing it yourself? Professional photos allow brands to use images for marketing use behind Instagram which is a great sell and ups your rate!
First things first! If you’re shooting for a brand and paying out of pocket for a photographer you’re losing money! The price for the photographer should be built into your rate.
If you’re using a DSLR (professional camera) you can charge more! Here’s why: higher quality images means the brand can use images for marketing that iPhone quality when enlarged just won’t do.
However, if you’re using an iPhone you can still charge a great rate, and tons of huge bloggers are crushing the game with their iPhone so don’t feel like it’s a necessary investment for Instagram.
Do you have to travel to take photos? How far is the location?
If you’re driving two or more hours for a shoot location… you can rope that into your price.
How long does it take you to edit your photos?
Sometimes if you hire a professional photographer you don’t have to do any editing time but if you’re going solo then editing can honestly take hours.
What’s your follower count and is your audience engaged with your content?
Think of it this way… when a brand wants you to promote their product, service...etc on Instagram you’re essentially advertising for them. They’re going to look to see how many eyes are on this advertising space and how many people engage with it.
If you have 5,000 followers and no one is sticking around then why would a brand advertise there? It’s like putting up a billboard on a highway that’s abandoned.
Now, let’s say you have 3,000 followers and SO much engagement! You’re the place to be! You put up an Amazon swipe up and your followers trust you and purchase right away… then a brand can feel confident that they might receive traffic or even sales from your audience.
I recommend asking yourself these questions above and next to each potential deliverable decide a price.
For example:
IG Post - $50.00
IG Story Slide - $15.00 or $20.00 with Swipe Up Feature
and just play around with prices that fit well with you and your account numbers and for future brands do your research on the company and their prices.
Here's a glimpse of how I would ask for compensation after a brand reaches out:
Thank you so much for reaching out for a potential collaboration! I'd be happy to potentially work together on some sponsored content. I am happy to send you my rate based on your deliverables for the campaign. If your marketing team already has a standard budget please send it my way and I would be happy to take a look to see if it works with my pricing.
and remember ... no matter how big or small if you're making genuine and amazing content ... you're worthy of being invested in!
- Jessy