Attorney Tyler Chou makes the case for offering your own products instead of chasing brand deals:
It is the dream of most creators to get brand deals. But brand deals aren’t everything they’re cracked up to be.
First of all, brand deals are harder and harder to get these days. And, after the spending frenzy during COVID, brands are being smarter with their marketing dollars, and collaborating with less creators, and paying less, in general.
I have creator clients who have 1 million+ subs on YouTube and they have a hard time getting brand deals now.
Why? Well, they blew up with Shorts, and shorts can certainly get you the subscribers, but not the engagement. And Brands — that’s what they really care about. They care about the engagement. And, they tell me the reason they don’t close some of the deals with my clients is because their engagement rates are too low.
And, in addition, brand deals are such a heavy lift. They often require so many edits. I had this happen with one client with a 5-figure brand deal where we went through probably ten rounds of edits and, at the very end, the brand decided to not use my client’s video because it was too risky, per their lawyers, and they almost didn’t pay my client. So, I had to go chase them.
And now, I try to get 50% upfront. And you know why? Because I’m dealing with two clients right now who have 6-figure brand deals where the agency that hired them is not paying.
The brand paid. One of the biggest car manufacturers— we went out to them, too. They said they paid, but the agency is going under, so they’re basically stealing from one client to pay another client — that’s literally what the CFO told me, and I was blown away that she shared that. But, she felt really badly, and she was trying to explain why my client hadn’t been paid after they submitted their work six months ago.
This is a huge Creator who was nominated for several Streamys last year.
— end of vid clip: @ minute 08:25
Don’t miss Tyler’s other excellent points on brand deals in this clip, which include:
- always going for 50% up front, and
- accepting brands you can be ambassador for, not just another shill.
Of course, ultimately, offering your own products puts you in full control of your creator career in a way that brand deals never will.
— Tang
Tyler Chou’s owned platform is: TylerChouLaw.com.
