Most of the people who are going to try to tell you what it's like to get brand deals, what the process is, and how everything works have never done it themselves. We have here in the making. Today I want to break down exactly what it looks like, what you can expect, and how you can win. Let's get into it.

A $3,000 brand deal sounds like a big win for most creators. It's not, not when you understand what that deal is actually worth in market rate. The structure of the deal matters the most. It depends on:

So many factors are at play, so just looking at the price of a deal isn't always the best way to evaluate if it's a good deal or not. One structure that has worked very well for me over the years is with podcasts:

This approach has been a game changer. It's so much easier to sell a brand on working with five shows at one time because they get to capture more of the market space. If you know how a lot of startups, a lot of companies think they want market share, they want their brand to be top of mind. They want to be thought about and perceived before anybody else. At a CPM of $150 with an average of 1,000 downloads per episode, the inventory is worth $3,000, but the exclusivity in the newsletter and the social clips add value that most creators never charge for. If I were to give away that same five-show, 20-episode deal in a month for that small amount of a few thousand dollars, that brand would get a discount.

So let's talk about what actually goes into this kind of deal.

The mid-roll placement: this is the anchor. This is priced at the CPM flat rate. You have to know the difference, because every industry CPM is different. B2B is going to pay you a lot more than lifestyle. Sports is pretty consistent across the board, but true crime and religion are very different.

The newsletter mentioned: this is a completely separate media asset. A newsletter with 2,000 subscribers in the B2B vertical has a standalone CPM of $40 to $80 per thousand. That's $80 to $160 per issue. Most creators throw it in for free.

The social clips: it's the same story. A 60-second social clip posted on LinkedIn or Instagram is a self-pression. Brands buying social placements pay for those independently.

Category exclusivity: this is the most underpriced element. If you agree to not work with a competitor, that restriction has value. You have to charge for it. The standard is a 10% to 20% premium on the base rate.

So, if you add that up, the value of that deal is not just $3,000. The full market rate for all the assets is $4,500-$5,500. The creator that charged only $3,000 will be leaving $1,500-$2,500 on the table. You don't want to be that creator

let me break down why this keeps happening. It's not greed on the brand side; it's just their process. These brands submit a budget and see what they can get. If a creator accepts the number, then that's the deal.

Most creators negotiate from emotion: "I'm just grateful they reached out." That's not a good negotiation. That's a concession, not aggressive counteroffers. It's knowing your inventory value before the conversation starts. When you know the number, you don't negotiate; you quote.

Here's a standard that'll really help you out. You want to use specific language, something like: "Our standard mid-roll is $X per episode. The newsletter integration and category exclusivity are separate line items." Even using terms like "line items" lets the brand know that you're a professional, that you're serious.

the real leverage isn't in one show negotiating harder. It's multiple shows negotiating together. The reason why In The Making has built roster systems is because I have access to the brands and the companies that are paying creators. I love to help creators get paid and be profitable.

On top of that, when you put all the shows together, everybody gets to make more. Look at it this way: if one person is working their butt off to reach 10,000 followers or 20,000 downloads an episode, it'll take some years, probably, or a ton of money. If we all come together, we have that already. Then we go to the brands and ask for the bigger deal. We put all of our assets together, and now they can claim an entire market by just working with this one brand in the making, and then all the creators are profitable now.

This essentially is a way for a lot of creators to make more money from their content a lot faster. Instead of waiting years, you can make money now. This is how radio networks price inventory for 50 years. Podcast networks figured out a decade ago. Independent creators still haven't caught up. The brand's media buyer wants to write one check and get five placements. That makes it easy for them and you as a creator to command premiums. Make them manage five separate creator relationships, and they'll pay less per show or walk.

The information exists. Brands have it in their media planning decks, and their agencies have CPM benchmarks by vertical, but none of it is secret. It's just not widely shared with creators because there's no incentive for brands to share it. That's the asymmetry that's being made. The roster exists so that creators walk into brand conversations knowing exactly what the inventory is worth.

If you closed a deal recently and you're not sure if you left money on the table, you probably did. That's not a judgment; it's just where most creators are right now. The game changes when you know the numbers.

That's why we're inviting creators into our space, into our community In the Making. We're going to make sure that you get paid what you're worth consistently and often.