🧙‍♂️ Should brands have creative control over your content?

Hey there,

Ready to transform your income potential by taking your sponsorship strategy to the next level?

I've been diligently toiling away behind the scenes, preparing for Live Cohort #9 of my program, Brand Deal Wizard, which opens enrollment on June 8th! 🥳

Cohort 9 Begins Soon! If you wanna learn how to find & negotiate your dream sponsorships so that you stop leaving $$$$ on the table, I highly recommend you check this out. Keep in mind, we’re capping this cohort at 50 spots. Buuut if you sign up for the waitlist below, you might get a chance to secure your spot a little early 😉 FYI, it's possible the next live cohort after this one might not be until 2024, so don't miss out! Join The Waitlist!

That being said, let's get into this week's topic...

A creator recently asked me a hugely important question.

And getting the answer wrong here could put your future sponsorships in jeopardy.

The question was this:

“Is it reasonable to tell brands that they don't get to provide notes or edits on your sponsored content before it goes live?”

And I’m genuinely curious...what's your take on this?

🙋‍♂️ Should brands be given the chance to provide creative feedback? Hit reply and let me know.

While you might have a strong opinion one way or the other, I wanna provide some insight based on the thousands of sponsorships I’ve been a part of over the last decade...

Now, there’s obviously a balance to strike here.

Because, ultimately, when you’re talking about a brand on your platforms… it almost feels like they’re on your turf, doesn’t it?

They’re being featured in your newsletter, your YouTube channel, your podcast, it's...YOURS.

You might think of them like a guest staying in your house for the weekend.

So, you're probably ready to kick them out by Monday so you can get back to bingeing my YouTube videos, right? (just nod and say yes)

The problem with kicking them out?

They’ve paid to be there.

Did you forget that you offered up your platform as if you were an Airbnb host?

See, what most creators fail to appreciate is...

Imagine for a second it was your business, and you’d reached out to partner with a creator to spread the word.

Initial vibes seemed great until that creator tells you they’re not gonna show you what they’ve said about your products and services until the post goes live.

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You’d be pretty worried about that, right?!

I mean, what if the creator says something damaging or misinformed?

OK, back to reality...

The honest truth is that you have to put yourself in the brand's shoes and have empathy.

You wanna create healthy, ongoing relationships with these companies, so you should always give them the opportunity to provide creative feedback.

Otherwise, it feels like shutting them out.

That being said...

"Unreasonable" may look different on each individual deal, but there are some pretty big no-nos here.

For example, if their feedback amounts to:

“Your language wasn’t glowing enough when you said “XYZ”… then they’re overstepping the mark.

Similarly, menial discrepancies, like whether the shirt you wore during the sponsored segment was gray or heather gray would also constitute unreasonable feedback.

That’s why it’s totally fine to establish some editorial guidelines before you ink the deal, e.g.

“This is how I operate.”

“The way I do reviews is XYZ.”

“This is what my audience responds to.”

Heck, it may even be necessary to educate the brand about ways you do sponsorships they may not have seen before, e.g.

“Sometimes, I’ll say things that could be perceived as 'negative' about the brand I’m partnering with, but I do this so I’m giving a balanced review. That’s why my audience trusts me. Within reason, that’s something you’ll have to be comfortable with when you partner with me”.

BUT REMEMBER! You always need to balance these proclamations with the fact that this is a business transaction.

And the reason they’re doing this partnership is ultimately...to get more customers.

Ergo, if they wanna provide creative feedback, you should always strive to find a way to make it work.

So, should you always implement what the brand says? Well, before we get to that...

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Alright, back to it...

No!

While you wanna approach this partnership with empathy, you also wanna lead with your experience.

Say a brand offers 7 pieces of feedback on your proposed podcast midroll...

You might say something like:

“No problem, I can totally make these 4 changes… but here’s why I don’t think the other 3 are a good idea...”

Then you follow up with “…and here’s what I’d recommend instead!”

That way, you’re not just folding your arms and saying “NO!”

You’re offering your expertise on how you can still help them win and achieve their objectives.

“My way or the highway” is gonna make the brand furious...fast.

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Btw pls reply and rate my joke out of 10 (but don't reply unless you say 11)

The bottom line is when you go into every partnership thinking “this is gonna be amazing!!!1!!1!”…

You’ll figure out how to make it amazing WITH the brand, not despite them.

Have a great week ahead! ✌️