---
title: 'How to Get PAID Brand Deals as a Small Influencer in 2026'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=F4S1fVafKHI'
video_id: 'F4S1fVafKHI'
date: 2026-08-24
duration_sec: 826
channel: 'Jessy C.'
---

# How to Get PAID Brand Deals as a Small Influencer in 2026

> Source: [How to Get PAID Brand Deals as a Small Influencer in 2026](https://youtube.com/watch?v=F4S1fVafKHI)

## Summary

Jessica, a PR professional with 5 years of experience, shares actionable advice for small influencers and aspiring content creators on how to secure paid brand deals and get on PR lists in 2026. She emphasizes the importance of consistent posting, making contact information easily accessible, and understanding the nuances of gifting versus paid collaborations, while also providing a step-by-step guide to negotiating brand deals.

### Key Points

- **Consistency is Key** [00:02] — Brands won't work with you if you don't post regularly. You don't need a huge following or perfect aesthetic, just consistency. Your social media is your resume.
- **What Brands Look For** [00:56] — Brands check if you post regularly, if your niche aligns with their company, and if you've shot products before. Inactivity for months is a red flag.
- **Email in Bio** [02:19] — Put a dedicated email in your bio (e.g., name.pr@gmail.com) to make it easy for brands to contact you. The contact button doesn't show on desktop, so the bio is crucial.
- **Cold Outreaching vs. Inbound** [03:37] — Cold outreach can work, but Jessica's paid deals came from brands reaching out to her. Posting consistently and tagging brands creates inbound marketing opportunities.
- **Micro and Nano Influencers** [05:12] — Brands prefer smaller influencers with engaged audiences over bigger ones with low engagement or fake followers. Authentic communities are more valuable.
- **Gifting vs. Payment** [06:02] — About 90% of brand emails offer gifted products, which is a barter exchange, not payment. Take gifting when starting out, but never give perpetual rights to your likeness.
- **Negotiation Steps** [07:38] — Ask for deliverables, ask for their budget first, know your value, counter offer, and get everything in writing. Expect 50% upfront and 50% after posting.
- **Getting on PR Lists** [10:02] — Three ways: post consistently, tag brands in your content, and have your email in your bio. Also, sign up for UGC/gifting websites like Skippers or Buttermilk.
- **Know Your Worth** [12:08] — Stop selling yourself short. Jessica now turns down deals offering $300-$500 for a YouTube video because the work isn't worth it. Treat your content like a business.

### Conclusion

To succeed as a small influencer, you must show up consistently, make it easy for brands to find you, and negotiate your worth. Treat your content creation as a business and don't settle for less than you deserve.

## Transcript

hold your hand when I say this. How do you expect to get brand deals and PR if you expect to get brand deals and PR if you never post online? brands to magically find you. I get it. The fear of being perceived by people
that I know or even don't know is very real. And I know from firsthand experience that posting consistently can not only feel tiring, but uncomfortable, on-camera experience. And I know that rejection can be scary. But, if your
goal is to become a content creator in 2026, get paid brand deals, and receive PR packages, then you have to put yourself out there. My name is Jessica and this is Table Talk, the series where we talk about anything and everything in
we talk about anything and everything in life. >> We're going to be starting with some tough love. Brands are not going to work with you if you do not post. You don't need to have 100,000 followers, a
manager, or to even have the perfect aesthetic. You just need to be consistent. When a brand clicks on your profile, they're asking, "Does this person post content regularly? Does their target demographic and niche align
with our companies? And have they shot products before?" Your Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, whatever social media platform you use is basically your resume now. If your last post was 3 months ago, then a brand is not going to
want to work with someone who's been inactive for that long. You have to get over the fear of being perceived and you have to start posting consistently. And mean sitting in front of the camera and talking. I mean being intentional with
influencer that you follow and admire have gone through an awkward phase. Every creator that you look up to have had low views before. And to be fair, it was more common to be cringe in the early 2000s than it is now. But at this
point, seeing all these influencers make thousands of dollars off of one video, why not just post the damn video? You have nothing to lose from posting, but worried about what exactly to post, I have a whole entire playlist about
content creation on my YouTube channel, so make sure to check out that playlist to get more [music] insights on what you should post and how to start, etc. My long-term subscriber, then you'll already know this, is to put your email
in your bio. Brands need to know where to contact you. Do not make them have to take the extra step of DMing you or Google searching you, because they're time to do it. It should be clear and easy to find. Create a dedicated email
for content creation. That could be your name@gmail.com, your name pr@gmail.com, your name management@gmail.com. You get the gist. This separates your content creation work life from your personal life. And this way, that
ensures that no brand emails get lost. It also shows brands that you're serious about being a content creator who's ready to receive gifting or paid brand deals. [music] You would be shocked at how many brand emails I get just from
having my email in my bio. And I'm going to reiterate putting your email in your bio and not just in the contact button, because nine out of 10 times, a company is sourcing influencers through their desktop, and on desktop, the contact
button does not show on Instagram. So, put that email in your bio where it's easy to see, right there, right in brands' faces. And if you're new here and wondering how I know all of this, it's because I've worked in PR for 5
years now. I myself have sourced influencers for different brands and companies. And when I am sitting at my desktop looking for influencers, and I week, I'm skimming over anyone whose contact information is hard to find.
Make yourself easily accessible for these brands so that you can get added to their PR list or even be considered for paid brand deals. Now, let's talk about cold outreaching. Some influencers do pitch themselves to different brand
that is their shot in the void at a chance to potentially get a paid brand chance to potentially get a paid brand deal or PR gifting. Does it work? Yeah, sometimes, but it's not the only way to get a brand's attention. Every single
one of my paid brand deals or PR gifting opportunities came from the brands reaching out to me directly. Why? Because I post consistently, I tag brands, I create content that aligns with the industries that I want to break
into, and my email is everywhere on all hard person to find. When you organically use a product and tag the without even sending an email. And sometimes it's better than sending an
support them as a brand. You're showing them what your content looks like, how you feature and shoot products, and again, that you already like and support their brand. That's inbound marketing, baby. Cold outreaching is an additional
option, but it's also time-consuming. And for someone like me who juggles so rather spend that time creating more content and putting myself out there than emailing a bunch of brands. Having strong content and a consistent digital
presence will eventually bring the brands to you. Brands are actively searching for small creators. They look for niche content, engaged audiences, aesthetic alignment with their own brand, and consistency. You don't need
to have massive numbers because a brand would much rather work with a smaller influencer that has a more engaged audience than a bigger influencer who has lower and engagement and potentially be buying their followers. Think about
it from a business perspective, right? A brand is reaching out to you to be essentially their spokesperson or ambassador to promote their product to a real audience. So, focus on delivering good content and building an authentic
community. Micro and nano influencers have become more valuable and more trustworthy in 2026 because of the fact that we have higher trust with with audience, more authentic engagement, and stronger communities. So, if you've been
to land paid brand deals, that's not true. You just need to post intentionally and focus on building your platform, and then eventually you'll get recognized by more and more brands. Let's talk about gifting. About 90% of
the time brands will email you offering gifted products, and this is where creators get confused because gifting does not equal payment for your bills. It's typically a barter or an exchange. You get this free product in exchange
for creating x amount of content for us. Sure, this is great when you're first starting out, and trust me, [music] take the gifting if you're first starting with brands, establish trust, and practice creating content for a brand,
but never ever ever give a brand the rights to your likeness and image in perpetuity. Make sure you establish with the brand that ad usage, which is separate from organic usage, is a separate discussion because most brands
will take advantage of smaller creators and use your content to run as ads. And be careful of if you're thinking of doing content creation long term because associated with a certain brand for the rest of your life without getting paid
should be getting paid for it. Get your bag. So, if you're starting out, just from these huge corporations. Before accepting a gifted product in exchange for content, you have to decide yourself, is this worth my time? Is this
establish a relationship with? And does this even align with my niche and my you are allowed to say no to brands. You don't have to take every single gifting can be strategic when you're trying to build your portfolio. You want to try
the product anyways, or if you want to start a relationship with the brand. gifting can lead to paid brand deals later. But, do not treat gifting like a paid campaign because those are two different things. Okay, now for the
important part. A brand emails you, they like your content, and they want to collaborate. So, how do you negotiate? Step one, ask for the deliverables. If they're looking for. Do they want a TikTok, a Reels, a YouTube video,
cross-post on different socials? How about ad usage, whitelisting, exclusivity? All of these individual deliverables and usage terms affect or should affect your rate. Step two, ask for their budget. You can say, "Thank
have a budget in mind for this collaboration?" Let the brand say the collaboration?" Let the brand say the number first. Never, ever, ever, ever send a brand your rate card before they pitch a number because nine out of 10
times you are selling yourself short. Again, coming from experience working in PR and social media management for 5 years now, brands always have a marketing budget. They already know what they can offer you, so let them do the
talking. Step three, know your value. You're not just posting a video, you're creating content, writing a script, filming, producing, editing, and also providing not just your audience, but your image and likeness associated with
the brand. This is labor. This takes time, and time is money. No labor should be free. Step four, don't be afraid to counter offer. If their budget just so are allowed to say, "Thank you for sharing your budget. My rate for the
deliverable is X amount. Let me know if there's flexibility within the budget." Negotiation is completely normal, and brands always expect you to counter offer. And for the final step, get everything in writing. Deliverables,
timeline, payment terms, usage rights. Protect yourself like a business. If then make sure there is a written contract that you can sign. Email agreement, but contracts are always safer, especially when it comes to
needing to chase brands down to pay you on time. You always want to make sure that within the payment terms, you are expected to receive the money within a not just waiting forever for brands to pay you. What I like to sometimes do is
I expect 50% of the payment up front and then 50% once the content is uploaded. getting some money before I upload anything live to my audience and that later. Now that we've talked about landing paid brand deals and negotiating
your worth, we are now going to get into how you can get onto brands PR list. There are three ways. Post consistently. I'll say it until my last breath. The only reason why I receive the PR that I do is because I consistently post about
beauty, fashion, and lifestyle within my content. The second way is to just tag you're wearing something or if you're doing your makeup or if you're using a specific tool, tag the brand in your content. And the last way is to have
your email in your bio. Because once you post consistently and brands start to contact you and then you'll get your free PR. You can also sign up for websites that specifically handle UGC or brand giftings. Brands want to send
products to people who already fit their image. So, if you want to start receiving beauty products for free, then start posting reels or photos that showcase you using beauty products. If you're on a budget and don't want to
keep buying new beauty products to film with, then use what you already have. I'm sure that you have a lip product or a face wash or moisturizer lying around your home waiting to be used. There are also websites that handle brand giftings
in exchange for content like Skippers or Buttermilk. I've talked about these two still continue to be my favorite websites whenever I'm feeling like I product. Sign up for those websites because it's like you're online shopping
pay any money for the products, once you receive them in your mail, you just film content with it and the deliverables vary between creating a reels or just shooting a standard photo and incorporating it into a carousel post.
about spending any money on products and you're getting in the practice that you certain brand deliverables and guidelines. This is how I personally got started in shooting content and posting it on my socials and I highly recommend
get your foot in the door with other brands. You deserve to be paid for your work. Your content has value, your audience has value, and your creativity especially has value. But you have to show up, you have to post, you have to
make it easy for brands to find you, and you have to be willing to negotiate. Stop selling yourself short and start treating your brand and your content like a business. I for one actually started turning down certain brand deals
because they are selling me way too short. Some brands will ask for a YouTube video for like a $300 to $500 compensation. And while I may have taken that on in the past, the contracts, the brand guidelines, the limits that they
place on you just isn't worth that low of a price tag anymore, especially with where I'm at in my YouTube journey and my content creator journey in general. I know that my content is worth more than $300 or $500 for a full YouTube
down these brand deals, even though they would make me a couple hundred dollars, because I know that I'm not limited to posting a sponsored video just because I feel like I have to. In my eyes, the right brand and the right compensation
will come along when it's time. But for now, I'm no longer going to subject worth. >> [cheering] have any questions about influencing or content creation and I promise I will be
sure to answer as many as I can. And if you take anything away from this video, just remember that closed mouths do not get fed. Hmm. I [snorts] love you all and I will see you all in the next Table Talk episode.
you all in the next Table Talk episode. Bye.