12 Must-Haves for Your Influencer Contract to Earn More and Protect Your Money (Part 1)
Do not miss out on earning massive amounts of money or losing it all with a crappy influencer contract! Here’s exactly what you need in your contract to earn up to 3x more and protect your income.
It’s very exciting to work with brands as an influencer, and if you’re anything like me, you want to get the most out of those brand deals while ensuring you don’t lose your hard-earned cash. As a lawyer myself who has drafted an influencer-friendly influencer contract template for influencers like you, I’m spilling all the tea on the essentials you need to include in your contract to maximise your income from brand deals and how to safeguard your money.
In this blog post, I’ll share step-by-step instructions on each must-have you must include in your influencer contract template (if you’re not using mine) or the brand’s contract. So, you’ll have an easy influencer contract checklist to help you create (or negotiate) the ultimate money-making contract.
After learning all about what key must-haves you need, you’ll be earning up to 3x more from your brand deals and feel safe knowing that the brand can’t take that money away from you.
This post is all about the key must-haves you need in your influencer contract to earn more while keeping your money safe.
Ultimate Influencer Contract
The influencer contract checklist to earn more & safeguard your money
1. Specify what’s included in the fixed fee (including revisions)
You have agreed on a fee with the brand for the specific project and the deliverables included in the project. For example:
One TikTok video for which you charge a fixed fee of $450
Two Instagram Reels and one Story for a fixed fee of $1150 for all three
The first must-have for your influencer contract is a crystal-clear scope of work that specifies exactly what is included in the agreed fixed fee.
Here’s what you need to specify at the very least in your scope of work:
The number of consultations and the maximum duration of the consultation(s) (if any)
The exact deliverables and the number of each deliverable (e.g., 1 TikTok video or 2 Instagram Reels and 1 Story)
Make the brief part of your contract so that there’s no discussion on what exactly you’ll be creating, but make sure your influencer contract includes a brief deviation disclaimer that allows you to create something a bit different from the brief. That way, the brand can’t keep demanding changes because you supposedly did not deliver precisely what was agreed upon (or claim that you’re in breach of the contract and, thus, will not pay you at all).
The number of revision rounds included. Does the price include one revision round or 2 revision rounds?
You need to be very specific about the number of revision rounds included. Because here’s what could happen if you don’t:
The brand could keep asking for endless revisions, and you will be working on the content for weeks or even months on end.
The brand won’t offer to pay you for all those additional revisions, resulting in you spending hours of your time and energy on something without being fairly compensated.
2. Specify what is NOT included in your fee
To ensure you don’t provide any additional services for free, your influencer contract should include the following must-haves:
An explicit out-of-scope clause that states what is not included in your fee. Brands can assume that certain things are included in your services, even if they are clearly not stated in the scope of work. To ensure you both are on the same page, you must specify anything that is not included but that a brand might ask for or think is included in the fee. An example could be posting the same video on multiple platforms, like Instagram and YT Shorts, when you’ve only agreed to post the video on TikTok. That way, if the brand asks for something that is clearly not included in your fee, you can point that out and charge an additional fee.
Ensure you also include a catch-all clause in your influencer contract that states that anything that is not explicitly specified in your scope of work is not included in your services.
Include a clause for additional work that states that:
Any additional work you do agree to will be charged at an additional fee
However, you are under no obligation to agree to any additional work
The fees charged are listed in your influencer rate card, which is the next must-have for your influencer contract...
3. Include fees for additional services (including extra revisions)
Every influencer should have an influencer rate card that lists all the fees for all the deliverables and services they offer.
Your influencer rate card should, at the very least, include the following:
The base rate for all the different types of content you offer, like a rate for 1 Instagram Reel, Story, TikTok video, or whatever other type of content pieces you offer.
A separate fee for additional revisions and edits
A rush fee if the brand wants you to get it done within 2/3 days instead of a week
A royalty fee if the brand wants to use your content for their own platforms (and make sure you charge separate fees for organic vs paid usage rights)
A whitelisting fee if the brand wants to run ads on your account
An exclusivity fee for each month that the brand wants exclusivity
If you don’t have an influencer rate card, make sure to read this blog post where you can get my FREE influencer rate card template!
A comprehensive influencer contract should:
Incorporate your influencer rate card, so there are no negotiations on pricing for these additional services, and you don’t have to enter into separate contracts for each additional service.
Include a clause stating that your fees are subject to change (as you do not want to be stuck to those fees forever when your follower count has grown). That also gives you an additional income opportunity with that same brand; you can contact the brand in the future to contact, tell them about the different rates, explain how those rates have risen as they have gained more followers, and ask if they want to collaborate again for a different campaign. You’ll see that brands will love to work with you at that higher rate.
4. Charge a commission for sales
Another option to include in your influencer contract to boost your income is a commission. The commission is a percentage of the sales made through your discount code or personal link.
This is something you can always ask for in addition to your fixed fee. But especially if the brand negotiates the fixed fee, you can agree to a lower fixed fee under the condition that you will get paid a commission (to compensate for that lower fee).
A commission is a great way to earn more while not doing any extra work for your money!
However, do NOT agree to a commission-only deal. You should always be compensated for your time and energy with a fixed fee regardless of the number of sales made.
5. Include a success fee in your influencer contract
Another option is to include a success fee in your influencer contract to boost your income (while not doing anything extra for it).
A success fee is a fee you can charge the brand if your content performs well based on a certain (measurable) metric. The success fee could be based on the number of views, likes, clicks, or conversions.
However, whether you should include a success fee in your influencer contract depends on multiple factors:
How confident you are that the goal set for the success fee is achievable (if you’re not sure if you’ll reach the metric set for the success fee, then don’t include a success fee)
Your relationship with the brand (if it’s a new brand and it’s paying you the full fee without negotiating it down, then I would not recommend including a success fee)
The project fee (if the brand has a small budget and you accept a lower fee, then you can include a success fee, so you’ll still earn more)
6. Give a license to the brand for usage rights and charge for it
The #1 rule in any brand deal is that you must ALWAYS remain the sole owner of your content. Your influencer contract should NEVER assign or transfer ownership rights to the brand.
So, first, make sure you never accept a brand’s influencer contract that states that all IP rights will go to the brand. That would mean that the brand can do whatever it wants with your content without your permission and without paying you fair compensation.
Thus, always ensure that if the brand also wants to use your content for their own platforms, you only give a license, i.e. usage rights.
And ALWAYS ensure you charge monthly royalties for those usage rights.
A proper influencer contract template will include essential terms that state:
What purpose the brand may use the content for (organic or paid usage?)
Where the brand can place the content (in their Instagram feed? In their emails? On their website? In TikTok ads?)
The monthly fee (royalties) for the usage rights
When the brand must pay the monthly fee (before the beginning of each calendar month)
When and how you or the brand can cancel the license
These essential terms ensure you always get paid what you deserve, and the brand can’t exploit your content without paying you first!
The other 6 must-haves for your influencer contract
In this blog post, I discussed the first 6 out of the 12 must-haves for your influencer contract.
Want to know about the other 6 must-haves you need to increase your income from brand deals and protect your money?
Then, go to Part 2 of this blog post on the 12 must-haves for your influencer contract.
The ULTIMATE influencer contract template for influencers
Now, you know about all the must-haves you should have in your influencer contract for every brand deal.
You could try to create clauses yourself with the correct legal wording or hire a lawyer for thousands of dollars to include them for you.
OR, you could purchase an affordable, influencer-friendly influencer contract template that includes all the money-making terms and protections you need.
My influencer-friendly influencer contract template is created for influencers like you and is fully customisable to your specific niche! It includes all the money-makers and protections discussed in this blog post and more!
So, if you want to earn more and protect your money, make sure to check out my influencer contract template!
More essentials that any simple influencer agreement should have
In this blog post, I only focused on the terms that will make you money and protect it, but there’s a lot more you need to not only protect your money but also your precious time, energy, and boundaries.
Learn more about the essentials for your influencer contract in these blog posts:
7 Key Things Influencers Must Consider Before Signing Sponsorship Contracts
9 Key Scoping Terms Every Instagram Influencer Agreement Template Must Have for Influencers
This post was all about the key must-haves for your influencer contract to maximise your profits from brand deals and protect your money!
Get the best influencer contract template created for influencers like you here!
