Reading a brand deal: five clauses before you post
A brand offers $2,400 for three videos. The money is on page one. Most of what you are agreeing to is on page two.
Brand deals read as friendly emails and arrive as long documents. This is the order I read them in, using a made-up food creator and an offer of $2,400 for three videos.
1. How long they can use it
The brand may want to run your video as an ad on its own channels, or on yours with paid promotion behind it. Ask how long, where and whether it costs extra. Twelve months of paid ads is worth far more than three posts.
2. Who you cannot work with
An exclusivity clause that bars similar brands for six months can cost more than the fee. Ask for a narrow category and a short window, and write the category down.
3. When you get paid
Thirty days, sixty days, half up front? Ask for a date, not a phrase like "on completion". Late payment is the most common complaint creators bring me.
4. Who approves what
How many rounds of edits, how fast must the brand reply, and what happens if it goes quiet? Silence should count as approval after a set number of days.
5. What happens if it falls through
A kill fee is a partial payment if the brand cancels after you have started. Leave it out and you can finish the work and be paid nothing.
- How long the brand may use the video, and where
- What you cannot do for others, and for how long
- The payment date, written as a date
- How many edits, and how soon the brand must answer
- What you are paid if the brand cancels
If a clause says "in perpetuity", stop and call someone.
One more thing: the law expects you to tell viewers when a post is paid. The contract should say who writes the disclosure line and where it sits, so nobody guesses at the last minute.