Bad Brands and How to Deal with Them

April 17, 2023 Allysa Larson

Hey babes,

Welcome back to the blog! I love this little space here… I hope you do too. This week we’re talking about bad brands and experiences and how to deal with them.

Listen to the podcast episode HERE

The red flags:

Super super delayed responses

Probably means you’re going to get paid late
What you can do: make sure you’re timely on everything and add a LATE FEE into your invoice

Really nit-picky (not a deal breaker)

Probably means you’re going to have to reshoot
What you can do: make sure you’re paying attention to the BRIEF
Specify how many reshoots the brand gets (typically it’s one)

“Social usage” and using your content in promotional materials like email

You should actually be charging them for that + you can take legal action if this is the case
You’re doing them a favor, not the other way around
What you can do: make sure you’re reading the contract you’re not signing anything with “in perpetuity” in it

Test posts

Absolutely NOT!!!
Promising a future paid collab (never guaranteed) - Brands tend to say this, but most of the time, don’t follow through
What you can do: politely let them know that they can look at your current work on your profile and that the work that you do together will be a similar reflection of what you already currently have + send them your insights.

Low-ball offers

Probably a sign they don’t value your work / their creators / want cheap work
What you can do: Politely decline and let them know that you would love to work with them when the brand has a budget more in line with your current rates for your work

Trying to sell whitelisting as “exposure to thousands of accounts”

Again, they should be paying you
What you can do: Let them know your rates for whitelisting
Rates: Typically 30% of your standard rate, per month

Sneaking paid ad usage and “apologizing” afterwards

What you can do: LEGAL ACTION !!!
Send them an invoice immediately
Make sure you screenshot the offense

Be careful with GRIN platform and any platforms

Perpetual usage is always in there

What can you do to avoid the bad brands?

Talk to other girls who have worked with the brand to see what their experience is
Join our FB group and post there
Confront the brand and send an invoice for what they have used your content for

ask the timeline of how long they have been using it, the territory they sent it, etc
This is where the late fee comes in handy!

Brands are becoming more aware that creators are beginning to know their rights and taking legal action
Bloomie for creators! - Legal services for creators — They helped me recover money that was owed from 2022! Click HERE to learn more (discount code: INFLUENCE10)

Hopefully this helps you recognize when brands are acting shady and how to avoid certain situations. I also just want to say, not all brands are like this. Most brands are not! But unfortunately, there are some out there, so make sure you are protecting yourself!

Xx, Allysa

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