Knowing Your Worth as an Influencer: Five Things You’re Probably Not Charging For…
The past few weeks have been game changing in the Influencer world especially in the Black community of Influencers…
If you’re somewhat new to this industry (like me), I’m sure you are TUNED IN trying to get as much information and insight from top Black Influencers because, before today it was difficult to gauge prices, data/insight preferences and this huge pay gap between white and Black influencers.
There are several Influencers like @monroesteele and @mattiejames that have eBooks and/or courses to help you make it in this industry, but something that we’ve always been gray on is your rate (aka what charge). I’ve seen some numbers that were ridiculously low and I’ve also seen some numbers that were so high it scared me.
IF YOUR RATE DOESN’T SCARE YOU, IT’S PROBABLY NOT HIGH ENOUGH
I didn’t join this industry strictly for pay, BUT if I’m creating work for a brand I do expect to be compensated fairly. Was I compensated fairly for all of my paid collaborations? NO. Did I accept product in exchange for in-feed posts when I should have requested compensation? YES
Truth is, when you’re new to this industry, you become so distracted by the excitement of being contacted by a brand that you get nervous at the negotiation table. Two years in, this still happens to me when a new brand reaches out. The only reason I’ve become a little more comfortable with negotiating is because I finally started taking a few things into consideration when determining my rate.
Of course conversion is important. Can you sell product? Is your audience engaged? Meaning, will your customers (also known as your audience) trust you enough to buy what you’re promoting. Will they just double tap OR will they comment, share, swipe up, and purchase.
If you cannot comfortably say YES to all these questions - then that’s something you need to work on and it doesn’t happen overnight.
Insider information: over the cost of about 6 months, I made almost $2K in commission off of swipe up links for ONE brand. Just one brand. I didn’t overwhelm my audience or even beg them. I simply created great content, I used the product and stood behind it, and I was genuine in my sales pitch.
This is one of the reasons why the 10K following is such a game changer and requirement for a lot of paid campaigns. The swipe-up link is golden (trust me). With under 10K it’s a little more work, but it’s still very possible If you do a great job driving your audience to your link in bio and are already making money through those links - you’re definitely on the right path! And 10K isn’t the end all be all either, there are so many Influencers with a smaller following that are killing it on Instagram!
It took me over a year to earn the trust of my audience and now that I have it, I definitely don’t want to break it. Later on, I’ll also discuss ways you break trust with your audience.
Now let’s get into the things you’re probably not including in your rate:
(1) Photographer Fees: my friend takes my pictures so I don’t pay a photographer. So what, still factor it in. Almost all of my in-feed sponsored posts were taken by a professional photographer. So if a brand is paying me $500 for an in-feed post ($150 of that is going to photography expenses now leaving me with $350). But wait, there’s more.
(2) Props: when taking a picture for a brand, we have to make sure the backgrounds are clean and appropriate as well. That might mean buying props, renting a studio place, going to a certain location to take photos. The costs of those props should be factored in as well.
(3) Time: this is something we forget way too often. You ever go to the dealership to get maintenance done on your car and review the bill? You see the product cost and labor cost. The parts needed to fix your car are probably low and the labor is something like $75 an hour right. So… why do we forget to include our own labor costs? How long does it take you to fulfill a campaign? I’m talking time to plan out your outfit, get to the location, shoot, edit/select photos, write your caption, post, reply to all the comments. While I don’t know your current rate, you should factor a minimum labor of 2 hours.
(4) Charging a fee if you have to include others. A while ago I accepted a campaign that required the in-feed post include other people. I asked one of my friends to be in the picture and didn’t think for a second that she should be compensated for her time as well. I negotiated my rate with the brand, but didn’t even think about increasing my rate because I needed to include her.
(5) Exclusivity: a brand reached out to me a couple of months ago and wanted to work me. I did not ask for the exclusivity period and negotiated what I felt was a decent rate. When I received the contract, I saw that the exclusivity period was 90 days from the last day of the campaign period (the campaign period was 90 days also). This meant I wouldn’t have been able to accept any offers from any competitive brands for 6 months. If brands aren’t willing to compensate you for the money you’ll lose during your exclusivity period, don’t feel bad walking away. I ended up turning down the offer.
Negotiation is KEY
Never accept the first offer - because you’re most likely being low-balled. If brands don’t have a budget for a campaign, don’t feel bad walking away. Product is nothing. Product doesn’t pay bills or expenses. STOP working for free! Your audience is GOLD. They’ve gotten you to this point and your ability to access them is what these brands work. If you’re scrolling through Instagram and see an ad for a skincare product you are skeptical of purchasing it, but if an Influencer you’ve been following for a year shares the item on her page and says she stands behind the product you are more likely to purchase and/or recommend to others. That’s the power of influence. We’re all influencers to our friends, family and each other whether we know it or not, and whether we’re paid for it or not. We recommend restaurants, hotels, destinations, designers, beauty products, and so much more.
So now you have access to this audience of engaged folks that are following you. You have to take care of them and protect them. You’re acting as a middle man for these brands and when a person buys something based on your recommendation, you should want them to be satisfied too!
HERE ARE A FEW WAYS YOU CAN BREAK THE TRUST OF YOUR AUDIENCE:
(1) Promoting products you haven’t tried or don’t really like. Make sure when you’re promoting anything on your feed, you actually like it. You don’t have to use it everyday, but at least make sure you can vouch for it.
(2) Not responding to comments/DMs. When you post to your feed it’s important you respond to comments and answer DMs. Let me just say as you grow, this becomes difficult. I spend at least an hour a day responding to comments and DMs, sometimes 2 hours. If I miss a day, I fall behind and feel bad. If your audience is engaged they understand you’re busy, but always try to get to them when you can. Remember: your audience is your platform.
(3) Bad mouthing brands you’ve worked with. This is happening a lot lately and sometimes I cringe at the things I’ve read. There is nothing wrong with saying you’ve accepted lower than your rate or discuss your experience, BUT when you work with a brand you probably signed a contract that prevents you from releasing the specific contract terms to others. There’s nothing wrong with saying I accepted $800 for 1 in-feed post and 3 IG frames, but there is something wrong with saying the name of the brand or providing detailed clues which makes it easy for your audience to draw their own conclusions. Not only does it break the contract, but it makes you unattractive to other brands. It’s like badmouthing a previous employer.
