Look, we get that money can’t buy happiness. But doesn’t it at least help? Remember the last time someone told you, “I just love working all day and seeing my bank account go into the negative!”?
Yeah, us neither.
As a TikTok creator, TikTok may not be your only job, but everything you put into it definitely amounts to a job. Potentially, it’s a very fun one where you get to do things that would make your real day-to-day boss say, “You can’t do that,” but it’s a job nonetheless. And like all jobs, you deserve to get paid!
But while your day-to-day job might pay you with an annual salary or hourly wage, where your boss signs on the dotted line to (hopefully) make sure your money gets into your account on time, making bank from TikTok isn’t exactly as straightforward. Many TikTok creators get their “salary” through brand collabs and partnerships. But not every brand collab is created equally. You wouldn’t want to accidentally get sponsored by a business whose whole thing is making puppies sad or kids cry.
Okay, so it’s usually not that severe (or straightforward), but not every company will be right for you to do business with. When you partner with the wrong business and find out that you’ve been supporting Dr. Evil, you’ll likely feel — to put it bluntly — super gross and crummy.
So, what should you do to get that bag without compromising your values?
5 Steps to Making Bank Without Being Someone You’re Not
Keep your bank account full without descending into the dark side.
1. Document who you are and who you want to work with
Let’s give companies the benefit of the doubt: They’re not trying to align with the wrong person. It doesn’t help you, but it (usually) doesn’t help them either. If you’re totally anti-what-they-do, why would they want you to be the face of their brand?
While you don’t need to spell out literally all your likes and dislikes, a well-compiled media kit can spare you the frustration and, let’s be real, embarrassment of aligning with the wrong brand. Your media kit is your cover page for applying to work with a brand. Your account is your resume, but your media kit lets you show more about yourself.
A good media kit should have brands’ like-to-knows, like your engagement rate and follower count, plus need-to-knows, like what you charge for different types of collaborations. But it should also have your must-knows. For your sake, a brand should know what your mission statement is. What drives you, and what’s the whole point of your TikTok channel? If this mission statement doesn’t align with the brand’s mission, it’s probably not the right collaboration for you.
In your media kit, you can also clearly state what you’re looking for. For example, if you’re a sustainability advocate and influencer, you might write, “Looking to collaborate with sustainability-minded businesses that are open about their environmental advocacy and impact.”
If you’re a beauty influencer who stands for equity in the beauty space, try something like “Interested in collaborating with makeup, fashion, and accessories brands who demonstrate a commitment to making fashion and beauty accessible for all.”
Coffee influencer? You could go as simple as “I do not now, nor will I ever, drink tea.” That spells it out pretty plainly.
Not sure where to start with a media kit? Canva has some helpful templates and examples to build off.
2. Do your research
Social media background checks are a thing, but they’re not something you’d usually think about unless you hire a new employee. Companies often want to know if your social media aligns with their values. It’d be a little weird for an animal rights advocacy group to employ a person whose social feed is 100% photos of, well, Bambi’s mom.
Companies experimenting with influencer marketing typically perform social media background checks. Some advocate for more comprehensive checks for influencers, particularly when making big-ticket deals like hiring a new spokesperson.
But it should go both ways. When an influencer and a brand decide to work together, they’re hiring each other. It’s not just the brand hiring the influencer. Just like the actions and history of an influencer can taint a brand, a brand’s actions and history stick with that influencer.
Before signing onto any brand deal, do your research. Here are some steps to take:
- Google them. And resist the urge not to go beyond the first page. Do a deep dive.
- Use Google Trends by searching for the company name and related terms, like the CEO’s name. Look at the last day, the previous month, the last year, and the past five years, and compare the related search terms. If anything alarming surfaces, plug those terms into Google to see what they’re all about
- Look at their social media, but go beyond the posts. Read the comments. How are people talking about them? Closed comments may or may not be a red flag.
- Look at the CEO’s social media. No matter how many spokespeople they have, the CEO will always be an important company representative. If the CEO says many things that don’t align with your values, you might not want to work with the company they head.
3. Don’t get talked into something you’re not comfortable with
Have you ever walked “Shark Tank” and seen one of the “Sharks” tell a business owner that they have 10 seconds until their offer is off the table? Just once, I would like to see one of those business owners tell that Shark to stick it where the sun don’t shine. And that’s exactly what you should say if a brand starts to try to pressure you.
The idea that a brand is a “real” business and a creator is “just” a person on social media puts the balance of power firmly on a brand’s side. But it’s not true. As a content creator, you’re both a brand and a business, all on your own. A collaboration between a creator and a brand is two businesses doing business with each other. And you should be treated with respect as the CEO of your own company.
If you feel that a brand is trying to get the upper hand by pressuring you into making content you’re uncomfortable with or trying to rush you into signing onto something, advocate for yourself. Tell them you need time to run any contracts by your lawyer (even if that’s just a friend from college who’s willing to do you a favor).
If they continue to pressure you, that’s a sign that the deal is unfavorable, and you should tell the company, “Peace out. I’m not interested.”
4. When in doubt, trust your gut
Sometimes, a company will pass the background check. And they seem fine on paper (or e-contracts, we guess?). They’re being polite, not rushing you, and their collaboration terms are reasonable.
But something in your gut just says, “This is a bad idea.”
That’s your intuition, and it’s there to save your life. Okay, maybe a bad brand deal isn’t as dire as that, but it’s still worth avoiding. Working with an unethical brand with a history of bad behavior against what you stand for can taint your brand for a long time. Especially if you become a prominent face of the brand, your name can become associated with them for years to come.
That can ruin your chances for future partnerships with brands you do align with.
You’re going to get another brand deal. There’s plenty of fish in the sea. Even if it’s your first brand deal, don’t tell your gut to shut it. It could be trying to save you from a lot of regret.
5. Have a legit contract
Sometimes, things fall through the cracks. You might miss something in your research. Or you might have fallen victim to some bullying and signed before you could think it through. Either way, preparing for those moments is important so you don’t get stuck representing a company you don’t want to be associated with.
You need a contract to send to brands to set clear terms. Ideally, send this standard contract to every brand you work with, but definitely use it as a starting point for any long-term collaboration, like becoming a brand ambassador. Your contract needs to cover:
- What your fees are and how they align to each deliverable (like $X for a shoutout in a video, $X for a fully dedicated video, and $X for a live appearance with travel covered)
- What is owned by the brand and what is owned by you (like: All deliverables directly commissioned by the brand are owned by the brand; all remaining content made throughout the relationship between the brand and you but not directly commissioned by the brand are owned by you. We cannot forget how important this is, but if you need a reminder, here’s what happened to the BuzzFeed staffers.)
- The ability to end the relationship at any time and for any reason. (If something happens down the line, like the brand turning into something you don’t want to be associated with, you will be happy you have this clause.)
Ideally, work with a lawyer on specific deals, but if that’s too pricey, you might consider using a standard content creator independent contractor agreement. At least have a lawyer give it a once-over before that becomes your go-to contract.
If you get sent a company’s contract to sign, I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a lawyer look through it before it’s signed. Lawyers are expensive; not everyone has a friend from college they can trust to review contracts for them, but getting stuck with a bad deal is more expensive.
Signing the wrong contract may literally cost you the accounts you’ve been growing for years.
Get That Bag and Still Feel Good About It
If you do your due diligence, getting that good-ol’ influencer income doesn’t have to make you feel gross.
Do your research, have an out if needed, and know when to say no.
By making partnerships with brands that stand for what you stand for, share your values, and *actually* want to do good, you can make money while still being able to look yourself in the mirror.
