The benefits of getting a brand deal are hard to deny. If you’re a YouTube creator, the perks include:

Not relying on YouTube AdSense to survive

Stacking extra cash (hundreds or thousands of dollars a month)

I mean, just imagine it: How would you feel earning $1,000 

Our guess is you would be euphoric! But despite every creator wanting a brand deal, it’s hard to secure one in practice. People make plenty of mistakes, from pitching brands incorrectly to never making the first move. Simply put, some creators don’t understand how brand deals work.

, we chat with Justin Moore, a brand deals specialist. Moore is the founder of 

, an agency that matches influencers with brands working on lucrative campaigns. As such, he knows exactly how to get brand deals as an influencer.

Want to find brands that will sponsor you and your content? Avoid these 10 terrible mistakes to stand out from the crowd.

1. Believing You Need a Massive YouTube Audience

We say this all the time, but we’ll keep repeating it: You don’t need 1 million or even 100,000 subscribers to score brand deals. Subscriber count doesn’t matter as much as having an engaged audience.

Imagine that a brand is deciding between two influencers for a campaign. The first influencer has 40,000 subscribers, but almost no one interacts with their videos. They get minimal likes, comments, and views despite having a massive following. The second influencer has 20,000 subscribers but lots of viewer engagement – 5,000 views, 200 comments, and 500 likes per video. Who’s getting the deal?

, you’re right. Brands have an easier time “speaking” to an engaged audience, not a passive one.

YouTube comment boxes showing likes and replies

, subscribers, or brand deals, go ahead and chase those milestones. Don’t wait!

“A lot of creators think, ‘I just need to sit and wait for a brand deal opportunity to come to my inbox,” Moore says. “What I teach is that it’s never too early to reach out to a brand on your own and try to forge a partnership.”

Have you pitched a brand you want to work with and got no response in return? You’re not alone. Plenty of creators strike out while attempting to forge lucrative relationships – especially via email.

If you’re ready to try something different, consider the 

Moore developed this strategy, and it includes four pitching essentials:

 pitch is one that’s similar to a brand’s campaign style. Ask yourself, 

What has the company done in the past, and how can I build upon that legacy?

A little research makes it easy to find a video in your repertoire that aligns with brand goals. You can then use that piece of content to make an 

 pitch, i.e., proving you can do the work before doing the work.

 Send multiple follow-up emails to increase your chance of getting a reply.

 to understand and execute. Be so concise that the brand coordinator has nothing to say but, “Yes, let’s do it.”

4. Waiting Too Long to Respond to a Brand

Let’s say a brand emails you with a campaign opportunity. What’s the first thing you should do?

Stop what you’re doing and read the entire pitch

Once you have a good understanding, respond with a 

 as soon as possible – preferably the same day.

Why is a quick response necessary? You’re not the only person the brand is contacting, Moore says. If a company emails 50 people, it probably has the budget to hire just 20 creators. Someone else will take your spot if you three wait days to respond.

5. Not Asking the Brand About Its Campaign Goals

If you only ask one question of a brand, let it be this one:

What are you hoping to achieve from this campaign?

It's the most basic, underlying question of any partnership. But creators forget to ask because they’re excited to be working with a brand in the first place.

According to Moore, brands have one or more goals for every campaign:

 Getting people to take a specific action. This includes buying,  downloading, or clicking something. Even coupon redemptions count.

 Receiving content from creators to be repurposed on the brand’s website/social pages.

 Attracting more exposure for the brand. This is where likes, views, and engagement metrics truly matter.

It’s not always clear how much you should charge a brand for your services. But according to Moore, you should 

 guess. A fair rate depends on the brand’s campaign goals.

“If it’s a conversion-focused campaign, they are probably beholden to a very specific set of metrics,” he says. “Let’s say it’s app downloads. They’ll say, ‘OK, for every app download, we’re going to pay $10’…. Let’s say their hope is that, working with a YouTuber that gets 10,000 views on average, they’re hoping to get 100 downloads. So that means the maximum they are willing to pay you is $1,000.”

. You can think of it like a brand’s appetite for splurging on campaigns, Moore says. High sensitivity means the budget is firm and there’s little room to negotiate for more money. Low sensitivity means the budget is more loose; you have a better chance at negotiating pay.

Here’s the price sensitivity for different types of campaigns:

 Medium (less strict budget, negotiations are possible)

7. Not Asking What the Campaign Deliverables Are Before Negotiating Pay

Every creator should have basic information, particularly the campaign deliverables, before discussing pay rates. Knowing what the brand needs from you, whether that’s an Instagram carousel or a five-minute video, is a huge bargaining chip.

“If you don’t know what the deliverables are, you can’t quote them [an accurate rate],” Moore says.

For example, creating a five-minute video for an awareness campaign is more intensive than shooting a one-minute video ad. Think about it. You’re putting in some serious work as the minutes pile up. If you’re charging $500 for a brief ad, it makes sense to double your rate for longer projects.

8. Not Understanding the Usage Rights for Branded Content

What are usage rights? In influencer marketing, this determines who owns a piece of content and where it can be used. You should always ask a brand how it plans to use your content. Will it run your video as an ad on social media? For how long? Who owns that video asset once the company has it? If you don’t agree with the answers you receive, that’s OK. It just means 

Man and woman talking and negotiating during a meeting

Before you sign a contract for any brand deal, be sure to read it thoroughly. You’ll want to keep an eye out for exclusivity clauses, which bar you from working with other brands for a specific time period.

“Brands love spending money during [the holidays] to get people to buy their products,” Moore says. “Are they going to require that you can’t work with any other brands for Q4? You’d better be charging them a lot of money for that privilege.”

Even as a cool, spunky, down-to-Earth creator, you must be professional when working with brands.

 If a brand undervalues your time, gracefully decline to work with them. Don’t be rude to the brand coordinator, who has no control over the campaign budget or what the company pays creators.

 It doesn’t matter how talented you are if people don’t enjoy working with you.

The company is spending lots of money for a targeted outcome, and they’re going to have edits every step of the way. Don’t take it personal; just make the changes so you can get paid.

Are you wondering what it's like to work on a brand campaign? Here’s the truth about brand deals.

What does it take to get brand deals as a YouTube creator? You can start by avoiding these 10 mistakes around pitching, negotiating and more.

Getting a Brand Deal on YouTube: 10 Terrible Mistakes to Avoid

Making money outside of YouTube seems frustratingly hard. You might ask yourself, "

What can I offer to viewers besides long-form vid

eos? How do I know subscribers will buy a product or service I've developed just for them?"

No matter the answer, one thing is for sure: 

No one should depend on YouTube AdSense to make a living.

4 Tips to Make Money Outside of YouTube Like Roberto Blake

, YouTube educator and social media maven, says the advertising industry is just too risky. Few creators who join the 

 and monetize their videos are successful without a back-up plan.

YouTube Mobile Analytics Screenshot with Monetiaztion and Revenue

“Yes, 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of Watch Time does get you monetized on the platform,” Spicer says. “That won’t necessarily pay your bills. If you’re MrBeast, great. If you’re the returning Shane Dawson, fine. Maybe. But to the average YouTuber, it’s pocket change.”

, Spicer shares a multitude of ways to make money on YouTube. We’ve written many posts about that subject, so today, we’ll focus on the other side: ideas to make money 

Ready to make more money than ever? Here are seven ways to supplement your YouTube revenue.

Have you seen YouTube creators promoting affiliate links? To most people, that looks like a random list of web addresses below a video. But there's a lucrative purpose for doing this, as 

affiliates earn thousands of dollars a year

Alan sprinkles these links into the description section of YouTube videos. You'll see a few of them in the image below, which includes links to try Skillshare, vidIQ, and Rev.

Example screenshot of YouTube Description with Affiliate Links

So how do you make money with affiliate marketing? Here's how it works:

. Or go directly to a brand or company and ask to become an affiliate.

 to share with your YouTube audience. These links will send viewers to products they can purchase.

 when viewers use your link/code to make purchases.

The type of products you'll promote depends on your YouTube niche. If you’re a gardener, promoting something your audience finds useful, such as shovels and potting mix, can help you earn money. If your channel is all about dogs, viewers might be willing to buy leashes or dog food. Simply ask yourself, “

2. Start a Blog Based on Your YouTube Nice

With a blog, you can make money using many of the same revenue streams available on YouTube. Placing ads on your blog and earning a commission through affiliate links are two of the most common.

If you’re wondering how much all of this costs, here’s the good news: Not much! Typically, 

“You can start a blog very easily and very cheaply, and in some cases for free if you go to places like Wordpress.com,” Spicer says. “You can buy a domain for as little as $5-$10 a year, maybe even less.”

Image of Creator using Laptop to write blog

Make sure every post is in alignment with your YouTube niche.

 That way, you can repurpose content and spend less time writing from scratch.

Transcribe the video using a service like Rev.

Use the transcription to create a post of up to 2,000 words.

Embed the original video in your blog post (for search engine optimization).

Add affiliate links to the blog post (to generate revenue).

You can turn 100 YouTube videos into 100 blog posts. For every page you publish, website ads and affiliate links will add extra cash to your bank account.

Every creator on YouTube wants a brand sponsorship. But guess what? YouTube isn't the 

Brands will pay you to advertise their services on:

These “advertisements” are usually sponsored videos or image posts. You can negotiate a deal to make three or four videos a month, where you weave a brand “segment” into your content. Or, you can simply post a brand-approved image on Instagram. It truly depends on the terms you negotiate with the company.

The Truth About Getting a Brand Deal on YouTube

Like affiliate marketing, anything you promote for a brand should align with your niche and viewers' interests. 

4. Start a Podcast Based on Your YouTube Niche

Is your niche so complex that videos don’t do it justice? Consider starting a podcast. You can share all those extra details and side stories that won’t fit inside a 10-minute video. And, of course, there are money-making opportunities.

With a podcast, you can monetize episodes via:

Private communities on Discord, Slack, and Patreon

Memberships that unlock visual episodes (not just audio)

Podcasting on YouTube - 7 Tips to Get Subscribers on a Paid Membership

Best of all, filming each episode creates more video content to post on YouTube.

YouTube tutorials are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to teaching. A coaching program allows you to teach subscribers new skills in various formats, such as audio calls, video conferences, written reports, and more.

, a travel vlogger, teaches her subscribers how to become digital nomads. She vlogs from places like Chiapas, Mexico, and Geneva, Switzerland, while explaining how she makes money online. Additionally, viewers can book her to discuss foreign travel, YouTube growth, and working abroad.

Screenshot of YouTube Creator with Coaching Program Example

Her basic rate is $125 per hour, but you can charge whatever you believe is fair. Thinking in terms of time, expertise, and value will help you set a reasonable price.

Spicer does something similar for rising YouTube creators. He makes money selling various YouTube channel audit packages, which include video chats and written reports.

Examples YouTube Courses and Coaching Packages

You’re going to love this idea, mainly because you’re already doing it to some degree. Just think: How many tutorials have you posted on YouTube around a specific topic? Putting all of these videos together creates the foundation for an online course.

Creating a popular course has many benefits:

It’s a digital product, which means you can sell an infinite number of courses.

Selling a $20 course provides an extra $200/month if just 10 people buy.

A course will boost your credibility and help you turn your channel into a business.

Courses are valuable, but they aren't the only digital products you can sell. Spicer has YouTube thumbnail templates for £9 on his website.

You might not sell something like that, but you can create something else – an ebook or another digital product – to be downloaded multiple times.

By now, everyone on social media understands the “link in bio” concept. It's a sacred part of your profile that houses anything important, such as a link to your website or booking page.

But what if, instead, this area housed a digital tip jar? Fans could send you $5, $10, or $15 because they believe in you and your content.

In that case, you would need something like 

, a service for customizing (and monetizing) your bio links. Koji offers different activity apps for your followers, such as Ask Me Anything, Branded Quiz, Dare Me, Shout Outs, and Tip Jar – all of which are pay-to-play services for your audience.

Making money in YouTube Bio links with Koji

To make money beyond YouTube, you have to produce content that meshes with different platforms. If you’re going to monetize on Instagram, Twitter, Patreon and beyond, you need to understand how people interact in those spaces. Then determine what you can do to enhance their experience in both paid and non-paid ways.

“You meet the audience where they are,” Spicer says. “You don’t push them to one homogenized mess. You cater and tailor your media to them, not manipulate them into your media.”

As a creator, building multiple income streams is a lot like going full-time on YouTube. Here are five skills you must master before that dream becomes a reality.

Ready to make money beyond YouTube AdSense? Here are 7 lucrative ways to supplement your revenue.

7 Lucrative Ways to Make Money Beyond YouTube

Do you ever wish you could get inside a viewer’s mind and read their thoughts? If so, what secrets would you unravel about your YouTube subscribers?

We’re willing to bet most creators want to know one thing: 

Which videos will you, the viewer, watch without question on my channel?

It’s impossible to read minds, but maybe you can do something else. Perhaps you can take a slight detour from guessing what viewers want, and instead, 

How to Get More Views from YouTube’s Audience Data Tool

, a real estate creator, about understanding your YouTube audience. Kristina has 144,000 subscribers and enough channel research to gain thousands more. Her not-so-secret advice is to determine which videos people will (or won’t) watch on your channel.

It sounds simple, but getting to know your audience isn’t easy. Here’s a guide for discovering your viewers’ interests and making videos they love.

Want to get inside your viewers’ heads? You’ll need a few basic details first. It helps to know three things at the beginning of your research: 

your viewers’ age, gender, and location

. That tells you what stage of life they are in, plus the types of videos they might enjoy.

Here’s how to find those demographics on YouTube:

Log in to YouTube and go to the YouTube Studio.

Near the top-right of the screen, select a period of data to analyze.

Scroll down to see your channel’s audience demographics.

You can also check out two more panels on this screen: “

Here is what one of the panels looks like:

Kristina used this same audience data to make irresistible videos on her channel.

“I found a pattern.... they really like watching people have an alternative life,” she says of her audience. “They have a dream of living off the grid. They may not necessarily do that, but they definitely like watching that stuff.”

Identify Viewers’ Problems, and Deliver Solutions

Most people come to YouTube for a reason, and that’s to answer a specific question. How do you kill a computer virus? What’s the best recipe for cajun chicken wings? There are plenty of videos to watch, but only one will be clicked.

Winning that battle is possible if you know your viewers’ interests and hobbies. But winning the war? That victory goes to creators who can identify problems and offer a solution.

“My specific [audience] is very concerned with a housing crash,” Kristina says, referencing the pandemic housing shortages. “I wanted to tie that in specifically to affordable housing options. So, for example, in my most recent video, I said, ‘A housing crash will not make housing more affordable, and then I explained the reasons why.’ That, I know, will appeal to my audience.”

What does your audience struggle with daily? If you can make videos about those things (and offer solutions), your channel will grow exponentially.

Test Different Videos to See What Subscribers Like

When Kristina wanted to increase her YouTube subscribers, she went into learning mode.

She tested different videos to see what viewers:

Kristina stuck to her niche but took detours to the other side of real estate – topics like house flipping and expensive home renovations.

“I started doing these ‘real estate agent reacts’ type of videos, and they did OK,” she says. “But not anything to write home about. It was a test. I tried it, it was a failure, and I learned from it. And then I moved forward.”

Testing content that fails until you find the perfect match can seem daunting. But then again, that’s how Kristina gained enough insight to grow her audience. Without those learnings, it may have taken her years to reach even 10,000 subscribers.

5 Amazing Tips to Get 10,000 YouTube Subscribers – Fast

Create a Persona for Your YouTube Viewers

Have you ever given your subscribers a name or a fake personality? Have you ever penned a list of their unique traits?

 for your audience, or in other words, a short story about who they are.

Kristina named her audience “Frank” because to her, that describes them perfectly. Her viewers tend to be:

Over the years, Kristina has learned that “Frank” doesn’t watch videos about:

 That’s it. Those are the types of videos he’s willing to watch, and nothing else will retain his attention.

YouTube Audience Retention - 3 Channel Boosting Secrets You Need to Know

Before you create your next video, think about your audience’s persona. Then ask yourself if you’re prioritizing what 

Got Multiple Personas? Identify What Connects Them All

Knowing your main persona is a step in the right direction. But what if your audience has multiple personas across thousands of viewers? Is there a way to make all of them watch the same video?

send the right signals in your video titles and thumbnails.

For Kristina, that meant writing titles for two personas that love the same thing: affordable housing. That way, no viewer feels alienated, and Kristina gets the maximum number of clicks. Check out the thumbnail for the video below, which sticks to the "cheap house" theme.

But what if one video is all about an affordable, eco-friendly home? Kristina knows most of her audience doesn't care about sustainability. The solution is to mention that detail briefly while emphasizing the main topic: affordable housing.

“If I’m showing a house, I can literally say in the video, ‘These are eco-friendly materials, and it actually costs you less,’ Kristina says. “That’s not me forcing the fact that it’s an eco-friendly house and shoving it in their face....and then it’s not [them saying], ‘Don’t force me to do something.’ It’s like, ‘Oh, that’s cool that it’s eco-friendly too, but I really just wanted a cheap house.’”

 that connects different viewers, you can convince all of them to watch the same thing.

Want to take your subscriber knowledge to the next level? Here are three things YouTube channels with over 1,000 subscribers have in common.

Which videos do subscribers actually like watching? It's a mystery to most YouTube creators, but this guide will reveal those hidden secrets.

How to Make the EXACT Videos YouTube Subscribers Want to See

Did you know that technically, you’re a creative entrepreneur once you make 

 with your craft? YouTube creators can make this happen, especially if they’re monetizing on major platforms, like TikTok and Instagram.

Want to Make YouTube Your Full-Time Job? Master These 5 Skills

 does it. He has more than 15 income streams, in which he makes money from his creative talents and intellectual property. He teaches creators on YouTube to do the same thing, and they 

 his advice. You can tell by the 34 million views and 500,000-plus subscribers on Blake’s channel.

, Blake shares some of that money-making wisdom. He talks about all the ways you can monetize content outside of YouTube to create a sustainable career.

Ready to dive in? Here’s your guide – as a digital entrepreneur – for making a full-time income.

1. Don’t Rely on YouTube AdSense to Fund Your Lifestyle

The first revenue stream for most YouTube creators is advertising dollars. 

It’s not easy making money through ads, though. Creators must 

, 4,000 hours of Watch Time, and abide by all of YouTube’s rules. If everything goes well, they can apply for the YouTube Partner Program and place ads on their videos.

YouTube Partner Program - How to Monetize Your Channel

But does reaching that milestone mean you’ve “made it” as a creative entrepreneur? Hardly.

“Ad revenue is unreliable,” Blake says. “There’s just too many things outside of your control.”

On YouTube, you can’t predict or influence:

, a devastating event where advertisers boycott YouTube.

 For example, business and finance channels command higher CPMs (the ad cost per 1,000 views) than entertainment channels.

YouTube CPM - 7 Factors Affecting Your Channel's Revenue

But don’t let any of this deter you. Creators who want to go full-time have 

“Before YouTube even allowed AdSense, creators had to make money from their content – if they wanted to make money from it at all – somehow,” he says. “A lot of people did that with early merch designs. There was early fan funding, with, ‘Oh, donate to me on PayPal.’ That was a regular thing before Patreon came along.”

2. Create a Business Plan for Your YouTube Channel

Do you see your YouTube channel as a business and not just a hobby? If so, you have 

 when it comes to digital entrepreneurship. But even the savviest creators can take their dreams to the next level by 

simple act is what separates digital entrepreneurs from everyone else. Because let’s be honest: It takes planning and research to build a profitable niche on YouTube.

How to Choose the Best Niche for Your YouTube Channel

Most people need more than a YouTube channel to become creative entrepreneurs. Here are 4 tips to expand and diversify your income.

Posts Written By Lydia Sweatt

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