How to set your rate when a brand asks for it
A method rather than a price list: built from your time, your reach and the rights you hand over. Usable from the first enquiry.
The question always lands at the same moment: "what are your rates?". And most creators answer with a number picked out of the air, either too low because they do not dare, or too high because they saw a screenshot.
You will not find a price list here. Rates vary too much by brand, sector and year for a published figure to still be right in six months. What does not move is the method.
The floor: your time
Start from the bottom. Count the hours honestly: preparation, shooting, editing, exchanges with the brand, revisions. A story that "takes five minutes" rarely takes less than two hours all in.
Multiply by what an hour of your work is worth. If you do not know, take what you would earn elsewhere for the same hour. Below that floor, you are paying to work.
The storey above: your reach
An audience is priced per thousand people actually reached — not per follower. Take the average reach of your recent posts, not your best one.
The second variable is engagement: at equal reach, a community that reacts is worth more than one that scrolls past. The calculator on this site gives your rate from three inputs; it is a figure worth putting in your message, and it makes a difference.
Read also Becoming a UGC creator in Morocco: a beginner's guideWhat is charged on top
| What the brand asks for | Why it is paid for |
|---|---|
| Reuse on its own accounts | The content works beyond your audience |
| Use in paid advertising | The content runs with no reach limit |
| Exclusivity in the sector | You turn down income for the duration |
| Unlimited duration | The content leaves your hands for good |
| Multiple revisions | Every round trip is unplanned time |
These are often requested without being mentioned. Ask before quoting: "will this content be used in advertising, and for how long?" The answer changes the rate threefold.
How to state it
Give a firm price, not a range: a range is always read from the bottom. Detail what it includes, in one line. And always offer a cheaper second option — often affiliate, which costs the brand nothing.
That last point is worth more than any negotiating technique: a brand that turns down your rate is not turning down working with you. It is turning down that price. Leaving a door open turns a "no" into a different kind of collaboration.
Read also Affiliate marketing for beginners, with no budgetThree costly mistakes
- Lowering your price without removing anything from the job. Remove a deliverable instead: the price drops, the value of your work holds.
- Accepting the product alone as payment. The product pays neither your rent nor your hours. Barring an expensive piece, it is a bad trade.
- Not sending results afterwards. That is what justifies your rate next time — and almost nobody does it.
A rate holds up if it is calculated. An invented rate always gets negotiated down.See the message templates