VIDEO: How to Get Sponsorships & Remain Honest

In today’s Youtube Advice post, we’re talking sponsorships. Sponsored posts and videos are always a controversial topic, but I’m not leaving anything out in this series. I’m here to help everyone who is trying to start or grow their channel. As a youtuber or blogger, companies will approach you more and more as your channel grows, and ask you to review or feature their products. It’s best to understand which offers to accept or not, how to remain honest, and how to not overwhelm your viewers with sponsored content. I’m also covering how to get more sponsors for your channel or your blog.

What is considered “sponsored”?

• Receiving free products in exchange for a mention, video review, blog post, etc.
• Getting paid/compensated to mention a brand or review a product.
• Earning commission on product sales when you received the product for free from the company.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Sponsorships:

• Why sponsorships are good: they allow you to try out products and provide your viewers with helpful information to make their own decision on whether to purchase it or not. You can find new companies you wouldn’t have heard of otherwise. It’s also a great way to bring in new subscribers, by doing videos on products that people are searching for reviews on.
• The most important thing is to remain honest. Always being truthful when reviewing products is crucial for maintaining a positive image. Your viewers will trust you, and value your opinion on products. Never accept money from a company for guaranteeing a positive review.  Be up front with the company about your honesty policy before accepting a sponsorship. 
• You don’t have to accept every offer that comes your way. Pick and choose what is best for your audience. If you wouldn’t buy it yourself, don’t review it.
• If you try a product and don’t like it, politely tell the company why it didn’t work for you. Either skip the video all together, or tell your viewers your thoughts on it.
• Always disclose that you got the product for free, if you’re being compensated, and/or earning commission on sales. You can read more about the FTC guidelines here.

How to find sponsors for your channel or blog:

• There are many online “portfolio” or “business card” type sites where you can create a profile to showcase your work and audience. Brands use these as a database to seek out influencers in marketing campaigns.
• Fohrcard
• Style Coalition
• There are also several websites where you can apply to campaigns to receive free samples. Some also are paid, and some are not. There’s so many top beauty & fashion brands on sites like these!
• Grapevine (sign up through my link and earn $100!)
• FameBit
• ExpoTV
• Brandbacker
• She is Media

So I want to hear from you all in the comments! What are your thoughts on sponsorships?!

If you haven’t seen the other Youtube Advice videos, you can check out the playlist here. I’ve covered how to start a youtube channel, how to grow your audience, and how to make money on youtube.

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