Your first influencer brand deal: step by step to your first collaboration

In your first collaboration, clarity matters most: What exactly are you delivering, by when, what may the brand use the content for and when do you get paid? If you answer these questions before accepting, your first brand deal comes without nasty surprises.

What’s different about your first brand collaboration

The first time, a lot is new: reading a brief, naming a price, producing content to specifications, making requested changes and keeping your own signature while doing it. Then there are formal questions about disclosure, taxes and billing. That’s normal and no reason to promise too much or ask for too little. Take your time preparing and ask when something is unclear. Brands would rather work with creators who ask good questions than with ones who end up delivering something that doesn’t match the job.

Before you accept: clarify these points

Go through the offer once, calmly. Which format is required, on which channel and how many pieces? By when should it be delivered and when published? How many rounds of changes are included? Which usage rights does the brand get, and how long may it use the content in ads? Is there an exclusivity that locks you out of competitors? Do you receive a product, and may you keep it? And finally: When and how do you get paid? If any of these answers is missing, ask before you accept. Later it can hardly be cleared up.

Your first collaboration on creatordeal

A request appears in your creator area, together with the brief, the preferred date and the usage rights wanted. A deadline runs for your reply. For a package, you accept or decline; for a request for a quote, you name your price and immediately see what’s left for you after commission. The brand can make a counteroffer until you agree. After you accept, the brand pays creatordeal up front. Only start once your creator area shows “Paid” — that’s also when your delivery deadline starts.

Delivering: preview first, then the post

If the post is to appear on your channel, you deliver in two rounds. First you submit a preview, for example as a link to a cloud folder; nothing is published yet at this point. The brand approves it or requests a change, as far as the agreed revisions allow. After approval, you publish and send the link to the post. Once the brand confirms it is live, the payout is triggered. For a service without a file, such as an on-site appointment, you report the service as completed instead.

Disclosure, verification and billing

You disclose a paid post as an ad, as the rules and the platform require — an instruction from the brand to skip it is irrelevant. Also prepare for the payout: before the first payout, creatordeal verifies your identity once, and you set up a payout account. Payouts are made in euros — depending on your country via Stripe, by bank transfer or via PayPal. Your tax number is required. You don’t write an invoice, because creatordeal issues a self-billing credit note for every payout. How your income is taxed, you clarify with the tax office or your tax advisor.

After the job is done

Once the order is approved, the brand can review you. The review appears on your profile and helps you with the next requests. Use the moment for yourself too: What went well, where did you need too much time, was the price fair? Then adjust your packages and prices, such as the delivery time or the number of revisions. If the collaboration went well, tell the brand. Many second jobs come about simply because both sides know it works and nobody has to start from scratch.

Questions

Frequently asked.

Key answers at a glance. Everything else is in the guides and in the FAQ.

How does a first influencer collaboration work?

Read the request, clarify open points, accept, produce after payment, deliver and get approval. Then the payout follows.

What should I clarify before my first brand deal?

Format, channel, date, rounds of changes, usage rights, exclusivity, product shipping and payment. If any of these is missing, ask before you accept.

When do I start working?

On creatordeal, only once the order shows “Paid” in your creator area. Your delivery deadline also starts with this confirmation.

Do I need to write an invoice for my first collaboration?

Not for orders through creatordeal. creatordeal uses self-billing and provides you with a self-billing credit note for every payout.

Do I have to disclose my first collaboration as an ad?

Yes, a paid post is disclosed as an ad. Exactly how depends on the rules of your country and the platform.

Ready for your first collaboration

Create your profile with packages — brands pay up front, and you get paid out after approval.

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