Allysa Larson

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Bad Brands and How to Deal with Them

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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Other posts you might like:

How to Deal with Imposter Syndrome

How to Elevate your Content and get Brand’s Attention

10 Best Business Practice for Influencers

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