Brands do not DM you because they cannot find your rates

The most common complaint from influencer managers: "I loved their content, but I had no idea how to work with them." Your Instagram grid is polished. Your Reels get views. But your link page? A pile of affiliate links with no "Work with me" button.

Brands evaluate hundreds of creators per campaign. The ones who get booked have one thing in common — a frictionless path from discovery to deal. Your link page is that path.

What brands actually look for (in 90 seconds)

Brand managers and agency scouts follow a predictable scan:

Audience fit — Does this creator's audience match our buyer?
Engagement quality — Real comments or bot farms?
Professionalism — Media kit, rates, past work, or just a Gmail address?
Content quality — Would this look good on our brand account?
Logistics — Can they deliver on our timeline?

Your link page must answer questions 1, 3, and 5 instantly. Everything else lives in your media kit.

The brand-ready link page structure

Position	Link	Purpose
1	Work with me / Brand partnerships	Form or email for inbound
2	Media kit (PDF or page)	Demographics, rates, case studies
3	Portfolio / Best content	3–5 campaign examples
4	Primary audience offer	Product, newsletter, community
5	Press / As seen in	Credibility logos or links

Notice what is missing: twelve affiliate links above your brand collab button. Brands assume creators who lead with affiliates are not serious about partnerships.

LinkForge lets you reorder links instantly and track which ones brands click — invaluable data for refining your media kit.

Building a media kit that closes deals

Page 1: The snapshot

Professional photo
Name, niche, location, languages
Follower counts per platform (update monthly)
Average engagement rate (calculate: engagements ÷ followers × 100)
One-line audience description: "Women 25–40, US/UK, interested in clean beauty and sustainable living"

Page 2: Audience demographics

Screenshots from Instagram Insights, TikTok Analytics, or LinkForge geolocation data. Include:

Age breakdown
Gender split
Top 5 countries
Active hours (helps brands time co-posts)

If you use LinkForge Pro, export click analytics as proof of audience purchasing intent — "34% of link clicks go to product pages" is a powerful data point for brand pitches.

Page 3: Content examples

Three to five pieces of your best branded or brand-adjacent content. For each, note:

Brand (or "Organic, beauty-adjacent")
Format (Reel, carousel, Story set)
Performance (views, saves, comments)
Your role (concept, script, edit, on-camera)

Page 4: Rates and packages

Deliverable	Price
Instagram feed post	$350
Instagram Reel (30–60s)	$500
Story set (3 frames)	$200
TikTok video	$400
Bundle: Reel + Story + Feed	$900 (15% discount)
UGC only (no posting)	$250/video
Whitelisting (30 days)	+40% of post rate

Include payment terms: 50% upfront, 50% on delivery. Net-30 for established brands.

Page 5: Contact and logistics

Business email (not cutiepie2003@gmail.com)
Response time ("Within 48 business hours")
Turnaround time ("7–10 days from brief approval")
Exclusivity policy
Revision policy (1 round included)

Host the PDF on Google Drive or Notion. Link it from your link page as "Media Kit."

Inbound vs. outbound: two paths to brand deals

Inbound (brands come to you)

Optimize your link page and bio copy:

"Beauty creator · 47K followers · Brand collabs → link below"

Add a Typeform or Tally form linked from "Work with me" collecting brand name, product, budget, timeline, and deliverables. Auto-reply with your media kit PDF.

Outbound (you pitch brands)

Use your link page as a landing URL in pitch emails:

"Hi [Brand], I am [Name] — I create [content type] for [audience]. My media kit and portfolio: links.yourname.com"

One URL. Everything they need. No attachment limits, no broken PDF downloads.

Negotiation tactics that protect your rate

The anchoring principle

Always quote bundle prices first. A $900 bundle makes a $500 single Reel feel reasonable.

Usage rights upsell

Standard posts grant 30-day organic usage. Brands want whitelisting (running your content as paid ads) — charge 30–50% extra. Many creators give this away for free.

Exclusivity premium

A skincare brand asking for 90-day category exclusivity should pay 25–40% above base rate. You are forfeiting competing deals.

Gifting is not a deal

Product seeding is fine for building portfolio content. But set a boundary: gifting does not guarantee a post. State this on your media kit.

Case study: how a 22K food creator doubled brand income

Before: Link page with 9 affiliate links, no media kit, bio said "Food lover 🍕."

After: Restructured link page — "Brand partnerships" on top, media kit link #2, portfolio #3. Created a 5-page media kit with engagement screenshots and rate card. Updated bio: "Recipe developer · 22K · Featured in Bon Appétit · Collabs ↓"

Result: Inbound brand inquiries went from 1/month to 6/month. Average deal value increased from $180 to $420 by quoting bundles. Total brand revenue: $1,200/month → $2,800/month over four months.

The content did not change. The infrastructure did.

Red flags that make brands pass

No media kit or rates (they assume you are inexperienced)
Fake follower metrics (brands use HypeAuditor, Modash)
Affiliate-heavy link page (signals you are not partnership-focused)
Unprofessional email address
No content examples (they cannot visualize the partnership)
Slow response time (agencies work on 48-hour campaign timelines)

FAQ

When should I start pitching brands?

At 5,000+ engaged followers in a defined niche, with at least 3 portfolio pieces. Quality and engagement matter more than raw count.

Should I list exact rates on my media kit?

A rate range or starting prices filter time-wasters. Exact rates can be shared after initial contact. Never leave pricing completely absent.

How do I handle brands that only offer free product?

Accept product for content you would create anyway. Decline if they expect guaranteed posting. Add a "Gifting policy" line to your media kit.

What platforms do brands care about most?

Instagram and TikTok lead for B2C. YouTube for long-form integrations. LinkedIn growing fast for B2B creators. List all relevant platforms on your media kit.

How does my link page help with brand SEO?

A custom-domain link page indexed for "[your name] brand partnerships" captures inbound searches from marketing teams researching creators.

Brands are looking for creators like you right now. Make it effortless for them to say yes.

Build your brand-ready link page on LinkForge →