25 Red Flags to Avoid When You Work with Brands as an Influencer (Part 5)

Creators
Written By Selene Snippe

Are you going to work with brands as an influencer? I’m sharing the major red flags you must look out for in any brand collab (and how) to get the most out of your deals while staying fully protected!

It’s very exciting to work with brands as an influencer, but if you’re anything like me, you want to make sure you actually get paid and don’t lose your hard-earned cash. As a lawyer myself who helps influencers like you, I’m spilling all the tea on the major red flags to avoid and how to avoid them to get the most out of your brand deals while safeguarding your money and personal brand.

You will learn about the common red flags to avoid when you work with brands as an influencer. So you’ll know exactly what to watch out for in brand deals for influencers.

After learning all about what key red flags you must look out for, you’ll know exactly how to work with brands and get paid while protecting your money and personal brand.

This post is all about the key red flags to look out for when you work with brands as an influencer so that you’ll earn more while keeping your money and personal brand safe.

Successfully Work with Brands as an Influencer

Red flags to avoid & how to work with brands and get paid

The first 20 red flags

This blog post is Part 5 of the 5-part series on the common red flags to avoid when you work with brands.  

If you haven’t yet, make sure to read about the first 20 red flags in the first 4 parts of this series:

Now, let’s get into the next 5 red flags to avoid!

Red Flag #21: Unclear payment schedule

Another red flag to look out for when you work with brands as an influencer is an unclear payment structure and schedule.

We have already gone into the issue of unclear compensation (red flag #18) in Part 4. However, even if it is clear what the exact fees are, you must know exactly when you’ll get paid.

Ambiguous payment terms could leave you confused about when you’ll get paid, late payments, or even never getting paid!

Here are some examples of this MAJOR red flag:

  • No defined payment dates: The contract doesn’t specify at all when you’ll get paid. Will the fixed fee be paid before or after you start creating content? Or will it be paid after your content has been approved? Or will it be paid 30 days, 60 days, or 90 days after you have posted the content? If the brand pays monthly royalties for usage rights, does the brand pay each month in advance or within a number of days after each month of usage?

  • Vague terms for payment: The contract may state when you’ll get paid, but it does not specify exactly when. For example, the contract may state that you’ll get paid “upon completion” or “when the campaign ends”. When is that exactly?

  • Unclear payment structure: The contract might be unclear about how you will be paid. Will you be paid a deposit? Will you be paid the entire lump sum at once? Will the payment be made in instalments for each content piece posted?

The Solution

The simple solution is to define exactly when payments will be made. Here are a few examples:

  • “The brand will pay the creator a deposit equal to 50% of the fixed fee on the signing date of the agreement.”

  • “The brand will pay the creator a deposit equal to 75% of the fixed fee within 5 business days after the signing date of the agreement.” (only upon receipt of that deposit will you start creating the content.)

  • “The brand will pay the remaining 50% of the fixed fee within 10 business days after the date of publication of the last content piece.”

  • “The brand pays the creator the royalties in advance before the first day of each calendar month.”

  • “During the term of the contract, the brand will pay the Influencer a commission equal to 20% of the gross revenue received by the brand for sales of the brand’s products made with the creator’s unique promotional code.”

Obviously, your contract should define what the last content piece and the fixed fee are, but this is to give an idea of how to clarify exactly when payments must be made.

Red Flag #22: No (partial) upfront payment/deposit

The Issue

Another red flag when you work with brands as an influencer is when no deposit or upfront payment is made before you start creating content.

Now, if it’s a brand you’ve worked with before and that you can trust, you might want to skip that part.

However, if it’s a brand you’ve never worked with before, there’s a chance they won’t pay you (on time). That happens with small and big brands.

And there’s no reason for a brand not to be able to pay you at least part of the money upfront. A brand should wantto give you that security.

The Solution

The simple solution is to negotiate for a percentage of the fixed fee as an upfront payment before any work begins.

The deposit will protect you if the brand cancels the contract after you’ve already started working on your content but before you publish all the content. We’ll get deeper into this in red flag #24.

Red Flag #23: No termination rights for you

The Issue

Another red flag when you work with brands as an influencer is when you have no right to terminate the contract (with good reason). You could be locked into a contract, while you might end up in one of the following situations:

  • The brand is unresponsive or does not meet agreed deadlines.

  • The brand does not give you the information you need to create the content.

  • The brand does not pay your deposit.

  • The brand refuses to provide approval.

  • The brand’s reputation changes, which could negatively affect your reputation, ending up in you losing followers!

The Solution

To protect yourself, you must include the following rights:

  • Suspension rights: You should be able to stop content creation if the brand does not cooperate or does not pay the deposit on time. P.S. If you do not receive feedback, your approval process should make it possible for you to complete the project without needing approval if the brand does not respond with the set deadline (refer to red flag #6 for more on this process)

  • Mutual termination rights: The contract should allow both parties to terminate the agreement if either fails to meet key obligations.

  • Termination for cause: Include a clause allowing you to terminate the contract immediately in bad situations, like the following:

    • The brand’s reputation changes in a way that negatively affects you, ultimately damaging your reputation.

    • The brand shows improper behaviour, like disrespecting, disparaging, verbally abusing, or hurting you in any way.

    • The brand violates any of your (intellectual property) rights.

    • The brand becomes insolvent (which definitely means you won’t get paid).

    • The brand commits fraud or does not comply with the law.

Red Flag #24: Consequences upon termination

The Issue

Another major red flag when you work with brands as an influencer is when the contract does not state what happens if the contract is terminated.

The whole point of a contract is to protect you and provide guidelines when things go wrong so you don’t end up in costly legal disputes that could get you completely bankrupt.

Your contract should also ensure that you are fairly compensated even if the contract is terminated early. Even though you may not have posted any content, you still put all that work into creating the content, so you should be paid for that!

The Solution

There are a few steps you should incorporate in your contract for termination:

  • Cease work: Upon termination, you will stop doing any work for the brand immediately. The brand can’t ask you to finish anything.

  • Revocation of IP rights: You are entitled to revoke any intellectual property rights to any of the content that you have granted the brand.

  • Delete content: Both you and the brand will delete the content that has already been published (if any) and any information or materials that you and the brand may have shared with each other.

  • (Non-refundable) compensation: Include a clause that obligates the brand to compensate a percentage of the fee if the brand cancels after the contract after you’ve already started working on your content but before you publish all the content. That is the reason why you should be paid a deposit when you work with brands as an influencer (refer to red flag#22). If you have that deposit in your bank account, you can keep (part of) the deposit for the compensation you are entitled to upon termination. The brand can’t just ghost you without compensating you at all. Your time and energy should be compensated! We’ll get deeper into the consequences you must set for premature termination in red flag #24.

Red Flag #25: Penalties

The Issue

I’ve saved the worst for last: When working with brands as an influencer, the biggest red flag is any form of a penalty.

There are several different (explicit and implicit) penalties that a brand can include in a contract, including the following:

  • A penalty for breaching the exclusivity clause (and sometimes even the confidentiality clause)

  • A penalty for terminating the contract

  • An implicit penalty is a reduction of the fee if you miss a deadline or a refund of all payments upon termination of the contract

The Solution

Never accept a penalty. Period! And make sure that the brand can’t rob you blind by suing you in court for all you’re worth by including the following protections I haven’t mentioned yet in this series:

  • Limitation of liability: Make sure you limit your liability. Exclude your liability to the extent possible. Make sure that you also include a limit for liabilities you can’t exclude. Limit your liability to the payments you actuallyreceived from the brand.

  • Eliminate or limit indemnities: If a brand sends you its contract, it will likely include indemnities for copyright infringement or breach of influencer laws. Negotiate to delete those indemnities altogether. If they don’t agree, then at least have those indemnities limited to the payments you actually receive from the brand.

  • Disclaimers: Make sure you have iron-clad and niche-specific disclaimers for all the major risks that you may face when you work with brands as an influencer. Read this blog post to learn more about the disclaimer you need to protect yourself in your niche.

The other 20 red flags

This blog post was Part 5 of the 5-part series on red flags to look out for when you work with brands as an influencer. In this Part 5, I only discussed 5 of the 25 red flags.

If you haven’t yet, make sure to read about the first 20 red flags in the first 4 parts of this series:

The ULTIMATE contract templates for brand deals for content creators of all types

As you now know, the simple solution to avoid all the key red flags is an iron-clad, creator-friendly contract. You just need the right one...

My contract templates include all the protections to safeguard against these red flags and get the most out of brand deals for influencers.

And these templates are specifically designed for all kinds of brand deals for content creators in all kinds of niches.

So, if you want to avoid all the red flags and earn more, make sure to use these contract templates:

What to charge in brand deals for influencers

Want to know what to charge when you work with brands as an influencer?

Here are my best tips on what to charge in brand deals for small influencers and seasoned professionals:

This post was all about the red flags to watch out for when you work with brands as an influencer so that you’ll earn more while staying fully protected!

Get the best contract templates for brand deals for influencers here:

Selene Snippe
Previous

12 Must-Haves for Your Influencer Contract to Earn More and Protect Your Money (Part 1)
Next

25 Red Flags to Avoid When You Work with Brands (Part 4)