Episode 70

full
Published on:

20th Mar 2023

The Art of Negotiation: Securing Better Terms and Pay for Influencers and Micro-Influencers

Episode 70 of Mesmerizing Marketing™ Podcast: The Art of Negotiation: Securing Better Terms and Pay for Influencers and Micro-Influencers

REQUEST A CONSULTATION WITH DIMPLE

Request a free 15-minute consultation to discuss your podcast launch strategy or if you have questions about my "Launch Your Podcast Masterclass."

 Fill out this form or email me at: dimple@mesmerizingmarketing.com

SHOP MY AMAZON STORE FOR MY FAVORITE ITEMS

For Additional Resources for Podcasting and Youtube Content Creation Equipment, Visit This Page.

Connect with Dimple

Visit this page to learn about my upcoming "Launch Your Podcast" Masterclass and other social media live masterclasses and events.

Follow Dimple on Instagram, her Handle is @shewearsstilettos

Follow Mesmerizing Marketing Podcast on Instagram

Follow Dimple on Twitter

Follow Dimple on Clubhouse

Follow Dimple Mesmerizing Marketing™ Club on Clubhouse

Email: dimple@mesmerizingmarketing.com (Email me to request a marketing consultation or podcast guest requests)

Free Marketing Consultation

Request a FREE 15-minute marketing or podcast consultation by filling out this form.

SUBSCRIBE TO ALL MY PODCASTS

MESMERIZING MARKETING™: Visit the podcast website to check out all the episodes. Subscribe to the Mesmerizing Marketing™ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

If you are a "And Just Like That" Fan, check out my "And Just Like That Fans" Podcast for all your Carrie Bradshaw fans.

Podcast Launch Strategy Podcast

Emily in Paris Fans Podcast

Resources for Launching Your Podcast and Live Show

Join my group "Podcast Mentorship" program, learn more here and sign up.

Join my next Launch Your Podcast 1-Day Masterclass, visit this page. If you miss this class, email me to find out when the next one is: Email: dimple@mesmerizingmarketing.com

For a recording studio for both audio and video or just audio, I love Riverside.FM.

For a hosting platform, I love Captivate.FM, has great analytics and includes a modern-looking website, and has amazing marketing tools.

For editing your platform, Descript.com is amazing. You can add your intro/outro and edit out filler words. It even allows you to easily edit your videos.

For live-streaming to multiple platforms, use Restream.io

For note-taking and show notes transcriptions and so much more: Otter.ai

Promote your podcast with RSS feeds in AWeber email marketing

Hello Woofy AI-Powered Social Media Marketing Platform (Listen to episode 26 to learn more)

Listen to episode 10 and episode 33 to learn more about Otter.ai

Creating Beautiful Graphics for your podcast and podcast cover: Canva.com

You can download additional free resources here.

Need hosting for your WordPress website, check out Bluehost, they include SSL certificates in most of their hosting plans.

PODCAST EQUIPMENT

Wireless Lavalier Microphone

Podcasting Yeti Microphone  

Samson Dynamic Microphone

Shure MV7 Dynamic Microphone 

Shure SM7B Microphone

Rode Rodecaster Pro II

Some of these may be affiliate links.

Transcript
Speaker:

Welcome to the Mesmerizing Marketing Podcast, where we take a deep dive

Speaker:

into the latest marketing trends, tools, and tips, and provide you with

Speaker:

the top resources you need to thrive and make your marketing mesmerizing.

Speaker:

And now here's your host Dimple.

Speaker:

Dang.

Speaker:

Welcome back, my Mesmerizing Marketing Tribe.

Speaker:

This is part two of the Influencer series, and we're gonna be talking about

Speaker:

the art of negotiation, how to secure better terms and pay for influencers.

Speaker:

So if you listen to my previous episode on influencers, you will

Speaker:

understand the importance of micro and nano influencers and.

Speaker:

, there are challenges that come about when it comes to negotiating and

Speaker:

making sure that you're getting paid fairly for your collaborations and

Speaker:

you're setting the stage to get the right terms for your agreements.

Speaker:

And so we're gonna be talking about all of that.

Speaker:

So one of the most important factors of being a micro influencer is

Speaker:

really knowing your worth, right?

Speaker:

And it's understanding what your unique value proposition is and how you can do.

Speaker:

Like step one is that you can identify your niche.

Speaker:

You wanna determine what specific area of niche or expertise our interest.

Speaker:

Is one that sets you apart from all the other influencers.

Speaker:

And that's really important because that's going to be your unique selling

Speaker:

point, which is gonna help you appeal to brands that are aligned with your niche.

Speaker:

So this can be, for example, you could be in the niche of podcasting

Speaker:

and you can be a podcaster.

Speaker:

You could be in the niche of the legal industry, and that can be your niche.

Speaker:

You could be in the niche of, health and fitness, and that can be your

Speaker:

niche, but within health and fitness, there can be something more specific

Speaker:

that you can narrow it down to.

Speaker:

So maybe it's that you are into aerobics and that can be your niche, right?

Speaker:

Then the other part that's really important, and I talk about this all

Speaker:

the time, you'll hear me talk about it in my rooms, you'll hear me talk

Speaker:

about it here, is personal brand.

Speaker:

your personal brand is so important and you wanna make sure that you're

Speaker:

developing a brand that is consistent, but that also represents your values,

Speaker:

your personal style, and your interest.

Speaker:

And that personal brand should resonate with your target audience,

Speaker:

and that is what's actually helping you establish that connection

Speaker:

with them, that strong connection.

Speaker:

Then the other part is once you have an.

Speaker:

You have to be able to engage with them.

Speaker:

So being able to cultivate a loyal and engage following by interacting

Speaker:

with your audience via comments, dms, and even within your live streams, you

Speaker:

know that's gonna be more valuable to a brand because it actually shows them

Speaker:

that you have influence and you have the ability to drive consumer behavior.

Speaker:

And that's what they care about.

Speaker:

Cuz that is what's gonna lead to them.

Speaker:

Getting more sales is you have the ability to influence your connections, your

Speaker:

audience, your fans, your followers to take action based on what you are sharing.

Speaker:

And that's the one thing that brands really care about.

Speaker:

The other thing that you have to be aware of is how do you assess the worth of your

Speaker:

content and your audience engagement?

Speaker:

So one aspect is the quality of content.

Speaker:

You want to evaluate the quality of your content, and you also want to evaluate how

Speaker:

unique it is, and if you have high quality content that's gonna attract more follow.

Speaker:

it's gonna also increase your engagement, and ultimately it's gonna make you more

Speaker:

attractive as a partner for brands.

Speaker:

Then the other thing you wanna do is you want to analyze

Speaker:

your audience's demographics.

Speaker:

. You wanna know what their age is, their average like age

Speaker:

range, their gender, where they located, what their interests are.

Speaker:

And all of this information is really important for brands because they're

Speaker:

looking for influencers that can help them reach their target market.

Speaker:

Now pay attention to this one cuz this is really important.

Speaker:

your engagement rate, you have to be able to calculate your engagement rate.

Speaker:

So in order to calculate your engagement rate as you want to divide the total

Speaker:

number of your interactions, which can be likes, comments, or shares by the

Speaker:

number of followers, and then you wanna multiply by a hundred to get a percent.

Speaker:

And the higher engagement rate that you have, that's gonna tell brands that you

Speaker:

have a more active and engaged audience, and that's going to increase your value

Speaker:

to potential collaborations with brands.

Speaker:

So make sure that you are calculating your engagement rate and you're trying to

Speaker:

increase that engagement rate over time.

Speaker:

As you perfect your content, as you're testing out new things, keep

Speaker:

on raising that engagement rate.

Speaker:

. All right.

Speaker:

Now I'm also gonna talk about the importance of utilizing social

Speaker:

media analytics and also industry benchmarks to support your case, right?

Speaker:

So a lot of these social media platforms already have their

Speaker:

own built-in analytics tools.

Speaker:

So you know, Instagram has insights, Twitter has analytics, and then there's

Speaker:

also third party platforms, like if you're using Hootsuite or Sprout Social,

Speaker:

like they also gather a good amount of data based on how your account is

Speaker:

performing, your audience demographics, and also your engagement metrics.

Speaker:

So you can actually take a look at.

Speaker:

Then the other thing you want to do is you wanna compare with industry benchmarks.

Speaker:

So you wanna research industry benchmarks for influencers, and not just influencers,

Speaker:

but influencers in your niche.

Speaker:

And you wanna see how your performance measures up, and that's gonna help

Speaker:

you identify how you can improve and also understand what your worth

Speaker:

is within that particular market.

Speaker:

And.

Speaker:

Also, you wanna track your growth.

Speaker:

So you wanna document your account growth and engagement metrics over a

Speaker:

period of time, and maybe you look at it every month, but also you can do like

Speaker:

a quarterly review to see how you've improved from one quarter to the next.

Speaker:

And as long as you are improving consistently, that's going to really.

Speaker:

a win-win when it comes to negotiating with potential collaboration.

Speaker:

The other thing you can do is you can actually showcase your collaborations

Speaker:

that have been successful.

Speaker:

So make sure that you're able to highlight any previous collaborations that resulted

Speaker:

in a positive outcome for you as well as a brand, and that means that you helped

Speaker:

that brand increase their brand awareness.

Speaker:

You helped them get more sales or even overall engage.

Speaker:

and then you can use these success stories as proof of the value that you can

Speaker:

bring to future collaborations as well.

Speaker:

So once you understand what your unique value proposition is, and

Speaker:

you're able to assess the worth of your content as well as your audience

Speaker:

engagement, and in connection with that.

Speaker:

that you're utilizing social media analytics as well as industry

Speaker:

benchmarks, then you're really gonna begin to know what your worth is,

Speaker:

and you're gonna be able to negotiate better terms for your collaborations.

Speaker:

The other thing I wanna talk about that's really important

Speaker:

is when it comes to collabo, You need to be a great negotiator.

Speaker:

So if you're not, you wanna develop exceptional negotiation skills.

Speaker:

And part of that comes down to effective communication.

Speaker:

So you wanna make sure that you're able to convey your.

Speaker:

where it is clear and you're persuasive and it's also not confusing.

Speaker:

You wanna eliminate any misunderstandings, and part of that

Speaker:

is really being a good listener.

Speaker:

It's being an active listener because that's gonna show the brand that you're

Speaker:

really engaged in the conversation and you're open to what their perspective is.

Speaker:

And when it comes to negotiating.

Speaker:

, you wanna make sure that you do it in this manner.

Speaker:

You wanna be clear and concise, . You want to clearly articulate your terms

Speaker:

as well as your expectations, and you wanna keep the language that's simple

Speaker:

and easy for anyone to understand.

Speaker:

You don't have to use complicated words.

Speaker:

The other thing is you can ask open-ended questions, so you can encourage dialogue

Speaker:

by asking questions, and this can really help you get to the bottom of any issues

Speaker:

or any concerns that they may have.

Speaker:

And of course, listen attentively, always listen attentively.

Speaker:

And by that I mean make sure that if you're on a, phone call with

Speaker:

them, like where you're on Zoom.

Speaker:

Make sure that you're paying full attention, or if you're meeting with

Speaker:

them in person, that you're making eye contact and you're not distracted.

Speaker:

And when they're talking, you can also show them that you're

Speaker:

listening by nodding, by going back and summarizing their point by

Speaker:

asking even a follow up question.

Speaker:

The other thing that's really important is that you have to be able to show empathy.

Speaker:

, for their concerns.

Speaker:

So even if you're not in agreement with what they are offering you or what they're

Speaker:

saying, you have to be able to understand it from their viewpoint and show empathy

Speaker:

because that's going to help create an environment that's more collaborative and

Speaker:

it's going to help you build that stronger connection with that particular brand.

Speaker:

Whether you end up working with them this time around or not is irrelevant because

Speaker:

other brands may also have other brands that they can refer you to, and maybe

Speaker:

it wasn't a good fit for you two, but there might be other people that they

Speaker:

know, so never burn your bridges with.

Speaker:

All right.

Speaker:

Let's talk about how you can build rapport and trust with these potential

Speaker:

partners and brands, is you wanna be able to find some common ground, so

Speaker:

you wanna identify like, what do you have that's in common with that brand?

Speaker:

Are your values aligned?

Speaker:

Are your goals the same?

Speaker:

Do you have shared.

Speaker:

and you know, do you have any experiences specifically from that

Speaker:

industry that that brand is in?

Speaker:

Well, you need to be able to find that common ground and

Speaker:

communicate it to that brand.

Speaker:

Then the other thing is always be truly genuine and be authentic and

Speaker:

be yourself and just be transparent about what your strengths are,

Speaker:

as well as your limitations and.

Speaker:

Doing this, it's gonna help you establish trust with the brand because

Speaker:

they're seeing that you're honest and you're also willing to be vulnerable.

Speaker:

So they're going to know that you're not just trying to take

Speaker:

advantage of the situation that you are just being yourself.

Speaker:

And then remember to show respect and also appreciation.

Speaker:

So make sure that you are treating them with.

Speaker:

and consideration, even if you don't agree with their viewpoint, obviously

Speaker:

never raise your voice, stay calm and be respectful if you, even if you're

Speaker:

annoyed, they don't need to see that.

Speaker:

You can kindly decline and you can end the call and make it short,

Speaker:

but they don't need to see that.

Speaker:

The other thing that's important is the ability to be adaptable and also patient.

Speaker:

So you wanna make sure that you are able to be adaptable to their

Speaker:

timeline and to their preferences.

Speaker:

Let's say that you submit, content, they want revisions.

Speaker:

Well be willing to make those revisions, but also make sure that there's not

Speaker:

unnecessary work creeping into the project that's now requiring you double or triple

Speaker:

the time then you initially allocate it for and that you negotiated with.

Speaker:

So just keep that in mind.

Speaker:

And then you also need to underst.

Speaker:

how you're going to handle their objections and do it professionally.

Speaker:

So you wanna stay calm, you wanna stay composed, and you

Speaker:

want to not react impulsively.

Speaker:

You want to actually like soak it in and come up with a response in a calm manner.

Speaker:

And then if you're not really sure about what they're offering, Ask them

Speaker:

for clarification to make sure that you are understanding what is part

Speaker:

of that brand deal and what's not.

Speaker:

Then you want to also address their concerns directly.

Speaker:

So make sure that you are addressing them directly and that you also have.

Speaker:

reasoning or evidence to support your position.

Speaker:

So if you're trying to ask for more, more pay, then make sure that you can back

Speaker:

that up with your data and your stats and your engagement rates or whatever

Speaker:

it is that you have, because you need to be able to justify that to them.

Speaker:

So always go into, you know, the negotiation prepared, and that means that

Speaker:

you need to be able to know your numbers.

Speaker:

You need to know what you bring to the table.

Speaker:

You need to know, you know, why you're different, and essentially why you

Speaker:

should be given that opportunity, you know, to get that brand deal.

Speaker:

. And then also if you're not able to come to any terms, it's

Speaker:

okay to like take a break from negotiating and say, you know what?

Speaker:

Let me think about this for a day or two.

Speaker:

Is it okay if I get back to you?

Speaker:

And just having that time apart from from both perspectives can be a good

Speaker:

thing because by the time that you've taken the time apart, they may actually

Speaker:

realize, you know what, if I don't get this person to work with me, now I

Speaker:

have to go find someone else and that's gonna take me another week or two.

Speaker:

So maybe I'll just pay them the extra $20 that they're asking for, or a

Speaker:

hundred dollars or whatever it is, and then just , keep it moving, right?

Speaker:

So keep that in mind.

Speaker:

All right guys.

Speaker:

You know that special gift I told you about?

Speaker:

Well, here it is.

Speaker:

I wanted to put together an example of a letter as a micro

Speaker:

influencer that you can send.

Speaker:

Let's assume like just a hypothetical situation, that you are a beauty

Speaker:

influencer and you want to work with a particular beauty brand.

Speaker:

What kind of letter can you send them?

Speaker:

So I'm gonna read a letter out to you and yes, I did get chat G

Speaker:

P T to help me with this letter.

Speaker:

So you know what?

Speaker:

It did a great job.

Speaker:

So we're gonna use it.

Speaker:

So for the subject, you can say something like, exciting

Speaker:

collaboration opportunity with.

Speaker:

, and that would be your name.

Speaker:

And then you can say a passionate beauty enthusiast, or you could leave that part

Speaker:

off like the titles are up to you, right?

Speaker:

And then you can say, my name is so-and-so, and I'm a beauty enthusiast

Speaker:

with a growing online presence on, and you can say which social

Speaker:

media platforms, like if you're on TikTok, Instagram, things like that.

Speaker:

And you can say that you've been a fan of their brand.

Speaker:

Quite a bit of time, and you believe that collaboration between

Speaker:

us can be mutually beneficial.

Speaker:

You can also say, as a micro influencer in the beauty niche, I have a highly engaged

Speaker:

audience that trusts my recommendations and values, my authentic content.

Speaker:

I'm confident that partnering with your brand will be a great

Speaker:

opportunity for the both of us.

Speaker:

Then you can put a section on why should you consider collaborating with.

Speaker:

, and you can outline these things in bullet points and you can

Speaker:

talk about targeted audience.

Speaker:

You can say, my, you know, 5,000 followers are primarily this type of demographic who

Speaker:

are passionate about skincare and makeup.

Speaker:

This demographic aligns perfectly with your brand's target audience

Speaker:

because again, target audience is something that they do care about.

Speaker:

That's huge.

Speaker:

Then the other thing you wanna highlight in a bullet point

Speaker:

would be high engagement rate.

Speaker:

Can say I consistently receive a high engagement rate on my content with an

Speaker:

average of blank percent engagement rate across my post, and don't lie about this.

Speaker:

So just be honest, you guys, with whatever your engagement rate is, because they

Speaker:

can, you know, look into that further.

Speaker:

Then you can say, this demonstrates that my followers are truly interested

Speaker:

in what I have to say and are likely to take action based on my recomme.

Speaker:

. Third bullet point is gonna be about the authentic content, so

Speaker:

you can say authentic content.

Speaker:

I pride myself on creating relatable content that resonates with my audience

Speaker:

by sharing my honest experiences and opinions about beauty products.

Speaker:

I built a strong sense of trust with my followers who view me as

Speaker:

a reliable source of information.

Speaker:

Alright, fourth bullet point.

Speaker:

We can talk about aesthetic.

Speaker:

A.

Speaker:

, my content style and aesthetic compliment your brand's image making our

Speaker:

potential collaboration a natural fit.

Speaker:

You can check out my social media profiles and content here, and then provide a

Speaker:

link to your social media, profiles.

Speaker:

Or maybe you have a online beauty blog.

Speaker:

You can link it there.

Speaker:

Then also the last bullet point, track record of successful collaboration.

Speaker:

So you can say, I've worked with several beauty brands in the past, including

Speaker:

this brand and this brand, so name the brand, and I have consistently

Speaker:

delivered great results in terms of engagement, reach, and conversions.

Speaker:

, then you can say, I'm excited about the possibility of working together and

Speaker:

promoting your products to my audience.

Speaker:

I would be happy to discuss potential collaboration ideas such as product

Speaker:

reviews, sponsored posts, giveaways, or any other creative concepts

Speaker:

that align with your marketing.

Speaker:

Please feel free to reach out if you would like to explore this opportunity further,

Speaker:

or if you have any questions about my proposal, I look forward to potentially

Speaker:

working with your amazing brand.

Speaker:

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Speaker:

Then you're gonna put your name, you're gonna sign it.

Speaker:

Sincerely, warm regards, chow, whatever you want.

Speaker:

You can put your name, your email address, your phone number, and your social media.

Speaker:

So if you guys wanna reach out to brands, that is one great way

Speaker:

to start getting more brand deals is you being proactive instead of

Speaker:

waiting for brands to come to you.

Speaker:

And as a micro influencer, this is the best way to get more brand deals.

Speaker:

Hope you try it out and enjoy it.

Speaker:

Let me know how it goes.

Speaker:

See you on the next one.

Speaker:

Thank you for listening to the Mesmerizing Marketing Podcast.

Speaker:

If you found this episode valuable, please subscribe to the show so

Speaker:

you don't ever miss an episode and also share it with your friends.

Speaker:

Dimple would be so grateful if you could take a minute to leave

Speaker:

a review and visit the podcast website to check out all the latest.

Speaker:

At www.mesmerizingmarketingpodcast.com.

Speaker:

That's www.mesmerizingmarketingpodcast.com.

Speaker:

And follow Dimple on Clubhouse.

Speaker:

Her handle is at Marketing Expert and also join her mesmerizing marketing club.

Speaker:

Also on Clubhouse for live rooms, on top marketing strategies for

Speaker:

entrepreneurs and business owners who want to mesmerize their marketing.

Show artwork for Mesmerizing Marketing™

About the Podcast

Mesmerizing Marketing™
Mesmerize Your Marketing
Mesmerizing Marketing™ Podcast talks about the latest and most innovative marketing strategies, apps and brings actionable tips and strategies that you can implement to take your business to the next level.
Support This Show

About your host

Profile picture for Dimple Dang

Dimple Dang

Dimple Dang is a passionate marketing expert that helps law firms, doctors, entrepreneurs, and small businesses take their marketing to the next level. Dimple is the Host of “Mesmerizing Marketing” and the founder of the “Reels for Lawyers Challenge” Dimple is skilled at SEO, WordPress website design, content creation, blogging, and Instagram. Dimple is also a contributing editor for “Attorney-at-Law” magazine and writes articles on online marketing and social media for the legal industry. Dimple is the founder of the “Lawyers Mastermind” club on Clubhouse and the “Mesmerizing Marketing™” club on Clubhouse. Dimple has an extensive sales and marketing background and has sold over a million dollars in PPC marketing when she was working for a nationwide marketing firm. Dimple is a professional speaker and hosts her own rooms on the Clubhouse on a regular basis. To connect with Dimple on Clubhouse, search for her by name or the handle @marketingexpert.