Look at celebrities, they get to make money just by making posts on eating, shopping, and enjoying life. No wonder being an influencer is topping the most-wanted career chart.
Hmm…
I was sitting at a bubble tea shop with a friend and she said, at least you are getting free massages and spas for the Tiktok videos. Ah..yea, once upon a time I also thought how great that would be. (Disclaimer, it is great! I love all the produces and services I promoted, that’s why I do them. But it comes with some caveats.)
I finally understood why Tiktok videos should be paid. Yes, even if the creator gets the stuff for free.
Here is the justification.
Before a video is made, I spend about 3 hours understanding the business, its goal, vision. That includes researching their business online, making sure their review is good, and going through a customer journey. If no red flags, I’d continue to speak with them to understand their goals for the promotional video. Videos convey emotions and ads are .. cold. So it is important for me to connect with the business emotionally if possible because the best videos are made when I care.
After a filming schedule is confirmed, I film, edit and publish. I prefer to hand-hold my phone when filming so it looks more intimate and dynamic for the audience. Unfortunately, that also means I have to play ‘director’ even when my eyes are closed and receiving a wonderful facial. It is more difficult when the service is so good I’d fall asleep…
Believe it or not, I don’t know what the video is about at this point. I’d keep contemplating on what is the storyline, what is standing out, and what is the selling point during the filming, aka, doing the facial or massage or.. anything. It is during editing that I review the footage, then I start to plot the video.
After a video is posted, it is not done yet. I’d answer any questions in the comment and review the outcome with the brand partner.
So I told my friend, no, I should be charging for brand partnerships because imagine you asked a marketing company to film an ad for your new chocolate brand and say I don’t need to pay your directors, actors, cameraman, light person, venue, writer because the chocolate will be free.
You may think, that’s just you, I see plenty of influencers make ‘easy’ unboxing, haul, and try on videos that has no story arc. One thing I learned after becoming a creator is that, making videos are hard 😂 and I don’t want to judge how others made their videos. The easier a video looks, maybe the harder it is behind the scenes.
