Securing a brand sponsorship is an intricate process that involves many layers. It takes networking, research, preparation, confidence, and trust.

First and foremost, you should always sign with a reputable agency or talent manager that you trust to make these partnerships happen for you. When you are signed to an agent, you can focus your valuable time on creating content and growing your platform while your agent will focus on and take care of the business side.

But if you aren't in a financial position to currently have representation, here are some quick tips to help you facilitate the process.

Reach out to brands through social media. A lot of brands that are active in influencer/creator marketing use platforms like Instagram and Twitter. Even if the individual handling social media is not the main point of contact, they may put you in touch with the right team or person. So create a good rapport with the social media representative.

Let the brand make the offer. Always oversell yourself. Never undersell yourself. Determine a budget, figure out what deliverables will work best within the budget, and how you can create value for the brand. After all, money talks.

Research and prepare. Put together a media kit with your demographics and social metrics such as: average concurrent viewers, total views, engagement rate, and average views/likes of your last ten pieces of content. This information is invaluable to prospective brands by providing reinforcement to your value and helps make you look polished and professional.

Choose wisely! Impressions are valuable, and conversions are not the only important metric. Steer clear of becoming a salesman in affiliate deals unless you truly love the brand. Companies do not want to align themselves with a someone who reps any and every brand. They do not want to dilute their image, so don't dilute yours.

Review your contract. Finally, review the contract or find a professional to do it for you. Never sign something you don’t understand. If you want to know what to look out for in sponsorship contracts, check out our post from last month for some great info!

Bonus tip: always check your email daily for incoming offers.