Most YouTube creators dream of getting a brand deal – and for good reason. Instead of depending on 

, they get to diversify their income and make more money.

The best way to get a brand deal, ironically, is to become a brand yourself.

 Having a YouTube channel is great, but taking the steps to create a business gives your content a different identity. For example, it’s one thing to post videos about how to emigrate from the U.S. to Mexico. It is another thing entirely to sell courses, consultations, and e-books about how to make the switch. That’s a step above content creation. When your empire is 

 fleshed out, brands have more information about how and why they should partner with you.

Making Money on YouTube - 7 Tips to Start a Successful Business

In this episode of TubeTalk, we chat with Mike Bienstock about what it takes to get and keep a brand deal on YouTube. Bienstock is the chief executive at 

, which helps creators get products into stores, negotiate brand deals, and more.

In addition to treating yourself like a brand, here's how to get (and keep) YouTube brand deals.

“a partnership between creators and brands and is sometimes referred to as a brand sponsorship.”

 That definition comes from a Creator Academy 

. Most partnerships are simple: You create a piece of content that features a product, and the brand pays you for your work.

You don’t need millions of subscribers to partner with a brand. Oftentimes, you just need a focused niche, high-quality content, and a good pitch.

It’s Easier to Get a Brand Deal When You’re Serious About YouTube

Before striking a deal with a creator, Bienstock gauges their 

 So if you’re interested in getting brand deals, go all-in. Be consistent with your video uploads, create awesome thumbnails, and write the best titles you can. Let your passion spill over into everything you create so brands know you’re here to stay.

Having lots of views and subscribers helps too. But Bienstock says there are more important factors.

“It’s more about attitude and dedication than any particular metrics because the metrics can grow and expand over time,” Bienstock says. “The creator’s attitude of how they are treating it is usually pretty [ingrained].”

You Need to Love The Product/Service You’re Promoting

You can’t fake passion on YouTube. If you’re a creator who appears on camera, think of how long people have studied your mannerisms. By now, they know when you’re being genuine or if something seems off. That’s why you can’t say yes to any brand deal. People will know when you’re promoting something just for the money.

“Creators and their audiences, that relationship is very transparent,” Bienstock says. “We’ve learned this way back in the early days: If the creator isn’t really excited or passionate about the project or what’s happening, the audience can tell…. We need to figure out something that’s going to fire up the creator because the audience is going to sense how true that is.”

Before agreeing to do anything, make sure that…

The product or service is something you believe in and aligns with your channel

Your audience will benefit from using the product or service

You are excited and passionate about promoting the brand

Brands Will Reject Your Pitch, and That’s OK

Everyone faces rejection when they’re trying to get a brand deal. Yes, – even the talented negotiators at Semaphore. The company is super successful, and yet, not every brand is willing to work with the creators they represent.

“We get told no a lot, and we get told, ‘What you're proposing is impossible,’” Bienstock says. “Now it makes me laugh because people tell me things are impossible, and 12 months later, we’re working on a national launch tied to something they swore was impossible.”

If a major company can fail like this and still keep going, so can you! Don’t feel too bad about getting rejection emails, or even worse, no response. It’s just one brand. There are more opportunities out there if you’re willing to look.

Brand Deals Create More Work, But You Can Handle It

It’s true. Brand deals are more work than what you would do on your own. When you’re simply creating videos, you get to make a plan and execute a few ideas – nothing more and nothing less. With a brand deal, you might be tasked with making three sponsored videos a month, in addition to regular content. Then there’s the pressure to make quality videos that perform well for your channel 

It’s challenging because you have more responsibility. But just think: If you made it this far, it’s because you have the work ethic to create at a high level. That’s a trait you can tap into when things get rough.

“[Successful creators] are very true to their roots of being a new influencer,” Bienstock says. “They remember those all-nighters where they couldn’t even afford an editor. They had to do the editing. And the mic didn’t work. And they’re re-filming their videos. So I don’t believe they change. Because everything they’ve done to get to that place is thinking about their emotional connection to their audience.”

Partnering With a Brand Doesn’t Make You a Sell-Out

Repeat after me: Promoting a brand on your YouTube channel 

 make you a sell-out. It’s 2021, and viewers love to see it. A few years ago, promoting a brand could alienate your audience and even cause jealousy or disgust. It’s the opposite today. People are simply happy their favorite creator is being recognized and compensated. They leave comments expressing how proud they are, and how just a few years ago, that creator had 100 subscribers instead of millions.

Need another reason to pursue a partnership? Here’s one of the best: 

 Creating and posting YouTube videos is hard work. A brand deal helps you support yourself.

7 Steps to Build Multiple Income Streams on YouTube

“Listen, if you cannot pay your rent or your car expense or buy a camera, you have no content to create for the world,” Bienstock says. “You’re going to need to get a job somewhere, and you’re going to have zero time to create. So we need to be realistic and transparent about the fact that you’re filming and buying props. They don’t just get given to you. You’re going on Amazon and buying these things.”

Are you ready to get a brand deal as a small creator? Check out 

Man smiling outdoors wearing Semaphore social reach t-shirt beside Tube Talk logo graphic

You don't need millions of YouTube subscribers to get a brand deal. It's all about having the right attitude and a bit of persistence to close the deal. 

The Truth About Getting a Brand Deal on YouTube

As a creator, you've found your niche on YouTube and you're building views and subscribers to your channel at a steady rate. So now is a great time to think about monetizing your YouTube channel beyond AdSense and affiliate links. 

The real money comes from working with brands - but how do you even do that?

 And will those brands want to work with you if you're not a huge creator?

In this episode of TubeTalk, we chat with Addison, Talent Manager at 

, about how YouTube creators can work with brands. In this podcast you will learn:

What brands actually look for when working with a creator

Whether you have to have a large subscriber base to start working with brands

How can you convince brands that you are a good fit?

How to know how much to charge for a brand deal

Should you ask for a budget or have a rate card?

What are the advantages of working with a Talent Manager?

Don't forget to click on any of the podcast links above to hear this invaluable advice. You can catch up with Addison

Want to Know How to Get MORE Brand Deals as a YouTuber?

A huge number of YouTubers are partnering with brands to promote products or services online. But what are brands looking for? We tell you in this 

TubeTalk has been informing video creators and marketers since 2014, and is one of the most respected and listened to podcasts in the online video industry. Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE to TubeTalk on your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode!

You can also find the complete list of all the 

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You don't need millions of YouTube subscribers to secure a great brand deal. Find out more on this episode of TubeTalk.

How to Get a Brand Deal as a Smaller YouTube Channel

Somewhere along your YouTube journey, you're going to encounter this concept called a brand deal. This is when you and a brand work together in some sort of way, whether it's a free product or whether it involve some sort of a campaign. Now we all want those opportunities because this allows us to transition into a full-time career on YouTube.

But how do you go about getting those brand deals? How do the brands actually find the influencers that they want to work with? What actually happens behind the scenes once you reach out to a brand? 

All these questions will be answered on today's episode of TubeTalk, the YouTuber podcast

This week we talk to an industry insider willing to spill the beans on brand deals. 

 is the VP of integrated media at Weber Shandwick, which is a global public relations firm. She deals with brands and influencers and has lots of tips and tricks to share with us.

The New Influencer Marketing: The Consumer Holds the Power

Komal confirms there has been a dramatic shift in marketing over the past few years. And this is where YouTubers can benefit. The power that brands used to hold is starting to change and now consumers really hold the power. They've got access to the internet and all sorts of social media platforms in their back pocket. As brands continue to stay relevant and look to be top of mind to consumers, they're realizing that their tactics need to evolve with these changing trends. Marketing itself, if you break it down into its fundamentals, it's ultimately about engaging with consumers where they naturally gravitate. As people start to shift where they're spending their time, marketers are starting to pick up on that.

Consumers are now spending more time on social media and brands are trying to figure out how to cater to consumers on those platforms. But there's always this tug of way between consumers and brands - consumers don't necessarily want to be marketed to and marketers really want consumers to buy. The shift in marketing is now more of an authentic relationship where brands are trying to give consumers what they need, when they need it, and are trying to make it easy for them to make purchasing decisions, or decisions on what type of services to use. It's about developing a relationship rather than just speaking at somebody.

What Do Brands Look For in YouTuber Influencers?

Komal confirms that it truly depends just because each marketing campaign is so different. The needs of each industry vary, and while influencer marketing is the most common in the CPG, fashion, and retail sectors, there are a lot of industries ranging from banking to B2B companies who are looking to leverage the power of influencers. A lot of them may not know how to do that because influencer marketing is starting to evolve. It's not just about paying customers anymore. It's about relationship building.

it's all about building those authentic relationships between influencers and their communities. Consumers can smell an ad a mile away, and they know when they're being targeted. It comes down to a brand being able to communicate to a consumer the way they need to and it comes down to authenticity.

At one point, brands were looking for ROI in famous influencers, and they were reaching out to people who had these huge social followings. Now those may not be those authentic relationships, because it's not about just broadcasting your message but it's finding those individuals that have followings that may even be in the hundreds, maybe in the thousands, which are so much more smaller but they reach out to their niche communities. The reason they're small is because they're having that one on one relationship with their audience. That's what's so important to brands.

If brands are going to spend dollars to connect with an influencer and really be able to have them market on behalf of the brand, they want to make sure that they're reaching the right person. That targeted approach really lends itself well to building those authentic relationships. In fact, today 70% of teens trust influencers more than traditional celebrities!

Brands also want to spend their dollars with people that are already maybe avid fans of that product or service. Creators that maybe aren’t even looking for compensation, they just . love the brand so much that they would post about it. There isn't anything more authentic than someone who naturally loves a brand, a product or service. Marketers will lean into that to work with them, because the community already knows that if they put sponsored behind something it's not because they're getting just paid to do it, but they already really enjoyed that product or service. That just goes such a long way.

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TubeTalk has been informing video creators amd marketers since 2014, and is one of the most respected and listened to podcasts in the online video industry. Subscribe today so you never miss an episode! You can find vidIQ's TubeTalk at:

If you want to take your YouTube channel to the next level then make sure to download vidIQ. It will help you research YouTube, analyze videos, audit your own channel, and take actionable steps 

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A huge number of YouTubers are partnering with brands to promote products or services online. But what are brands looking for? We tell you in this week's TubeTalk podcast.

Posts tagged with “Brand Deals”

The Truth About Getting a Brand Deal on YouTube

How to Get a Brand Deal as a Smaller YouTube Channel

How You Can Get MORE Brand Deals as a YouTuber: TubeTalk Episode 163