How to Get Brand Deals as a Small Creator

• A clear niche. A business should be able to tell what you make and who it's for within a few seconds of opening your profile.
• An audience that matches their customers, in interests and often in location. Being known locally is a real asset for a local business.
• Engagement that looks genuine: comments and conversations, not just likes.
• Consistent content quality, including good light, clear audio and a recognisable style.
• Professionalism: easy to contact, clear about what you offer, and on time.

A business will look at your profile before replying to anything you send. Make sure your bio says what you create and where you're based, includes a contact email, and that your pinned or highlighted posts show your best work.

A simple media kit (a one or two-page PDF or a web page) makes you easier to hire. Include:

• a short introduction: who you are, your niche and your platforms
• audience insights from your platform analytics, such as top locations, age range and typical reach or views
• links to three to five pieces of your best content
• any previous collaborations, even small or gifted ones
• the services you offer (for example Reels, TikToks, stories, photos or UGC) and how to contact you

Keep it honest and up to date. Businesses can often check these numbers, and overstated figures end relationships quickly.

If you don't have brand work to show yet, create it. Make the kind of content you'd want to be paid for, featuring products and places you genuinely use and like. It shows businesses what a collaboration with you would look like.

Be careful not to imply a partnership that doesn't exist. Don't label unpaid content as sponsored, and don't suggest a brand endorsed you when it didn't.

It's also worth considering UGC (user-generated content), where businesses pay creators to make content the business posts on its own channels or in ads. Because the business isn't paying for your audience, follower count matters much less than the quality of your content, which makes it a practical way to start earning. Read more about how UGC creator collaborations work, or compare the two in UGC vs influencer marketing.

Local businesses

Cafés, restaurants, gyms, salons, boutiques and tourism operators in your area often want to reach nearby customers, and a local creator is exactly that. They're also more likely to reply to a small creator than a national brand is.

Brands you already use

You can talk about products you genuinely use with credibility, and you may already have content featuring them. Smaller and growing brands are often more open to working with smaller creators.

Creator marketplaces

On a marketplace, businesses post what they're looking for and creators apply, so you're responding to a real brief instead of guessing. Collabify is an Australian marketplace being built for this, and it's currently in pre-launch. See how creators will find brand collaborations on Collabify.

Ambassador and affiliate programs

Many brands run programs you can apply to. Read the terms: some are commission-only, which can be worthwhile for products your audience already buys, but they aren't the same as a paid deal.

A good pitch is short, specific and about the business, not just about you.

1. Research first. Look at the brand's own content and any creators they already work with.
2. Find the right contact. A marketing email or the person running their social accounts is better than a general inbox or a DM.
3. Lead with an idea that suits their product and your audience, rather than “let me know if you'd like to work together”.
4. Explain the fit in a sentence or two: who your audience is and why they'd care.
5. Link to examples and your media kit.
6. Make a clear ask, such as sending your rates or proposing a call.

Follow up once, politely, after a week or so. Many pitches go unanswered, and that's normal; it isn't a judgement on your work.

There's no official rate for creators of any size, so base your price on the work involved and the value to the business. Consider:

• the time to plan, film and edit, and any travel or props
• how many deliverables are involved and how many rounds of changes
• usage rights: charge more if the business wants to use your content in its own ads or on its website
• exclusivity: charge more if you can't work with competitors for a period

Gifted collaborations can be a reasonable way to start with brands you love, but decide your own policy. Product doesn't pay bills, and it's fine to ask for a fee. Our guide to what Australian influencers charge is written for businesses, but it explains the same pricing factors from the other side.

• Get it in writing. Deliverables, deadlines, approvals, usage rights, exclusivity, the fee and payment terms. An email both sides confirm is a minimum.
• Disclose every commercial relationship. Paid, gifted or otherwise rewarded content must be clearly identifiable as advertising in Australia. Use a clear label such as “Ad” and the platform's paid-partnership tool.
• Get an ABN if you're operating as a business, and keep records of what you earn and spend.
• Understand your tax. The ATO treats income from brand deals as assessable, and in many cases that includes products and services you receive, not just cash. GST registration is required once your annual turnover reaches $75,000. The ATO has guidance for content creators, or talk to a registered tax agent.

• Buying followers or engagement. Businesses increasingly check, and it undermines the one thing that makes smaller creators valuable.
• Mass-sending the same message to every brand.
• Overpromising results you can't control, such as sales numbers.
• Missing deadlines or going quiet mid-collaboration.
• Saying yes to everything. Promoting products that don't suit you erodes your audience's trust, which is what brands are paying for.

Small creators get brand deals by being specific: a clear niche, an audience that matches a business's customers, a portfolio that shows what you can make, and pitches that lead with an idea. Start with local businesses and brands you already use, consider UGC as a route that doesn't depend on follower count, price for the work and rights involved, and put every agreement in writing.