Pitching High-Ticket Brand Collabs: Secrets From A $200k Deal

1) Can you share more about how you got into influencer marketing?

I come from the PR and brand side of the industry. About 10 years ago, while I was managing press trips and negotiating with creators from the brand side, I realized that creators were the real entrepreneurs and the underdogs in these negotiations.

I saw an “aha moment” where I knew I wanted to pivot and help creators by sharing the brand-side perspective.

Today, Sidewalker Daily is a creator community helping all types of creators—from travel to food—treat their work like a professional business.

2) You see the behind the scenes of so many deals. Why do you think talented travel creators get stuck in the cycle of unpaid press trips, and what is the first change they need to make to be seen as a paid partner?

Creators often get stuck because they don’t vocally advocate for themselves; brands will simply assume you are okay with working for free if you don’t say otherwise.

To break this cycle and start landing paid press trips and partnerships, you need to:

Shift your professional verbiage: Businesses want to pay other businesses, so use terms like “production agency” or “small business owner” to be seen as one.

Set the good faith standard: If you accept an unpaid trip, explicitly state in your email that it’s being done in a good faith effort to develop rapport with the agency. This signals that free work is a one-time relationship builder, not your permanent business model.

Remove the fear of sales: To pitch with confidence, you must overcome the awkwardness of asking for money by realizing that you are solving a business problem for the brand. If you are afraid to sell, you are subconsciously signaling that you don’t believe you can add actual value to their bottom line.

Audit your presentation: Ensure you have a professional-looking media kit and include credibility markers like professional branding, testimonials from past partners, and sample case studies that prove you can deliver results. You can even create these case studies around your own content or affiliate partners if you haven’t worked on a brand campaign yet.

3) When it comes to pitching, many creators get confused about what tourism boards and brands actually want. What have you found brand partners are actually willing to pay for?

In travel specifically, content is often more important than influence. Brands are signing checks for assets that generate revenue or save them production costs.

With this in mind, consider pitching:

Revenue-generating assets: High-quality photography, videography, and social media content like Instagram Reels and TikToks that the brand can use on their own websites, feeds, newsletters, and marketing materials.

Trade show materials: Many tourism boards pay heavily to attend conferences like IMM, WITS, or TBEX and they need professional photography and videography to share their destination at their booths.

Re-licensing bundles: One creator I know produced a video asset so valuable that a major tourism board comes back to her every year just to re-license it, which is a great way to earn recurring revenue when working with brands.

By the way, this guide and video can help you confidently price, license, and sell your travel photography:

4) Is there a certain number of followers, pageviews, or any other metric bloggers and influencers should be aiming for before asking for compensation when pitching a partnership?

The numbers are often a distraction from strategy. Whether you can charge depends on what you are pitching.

Pitching content: You can have zero followers if you have a high-end portfolio. Many successful photographers and videographers don’t even have a social media presence.

Pitching influence: Forget the follower count and focus on data and stats that prove people actually click your links. To do this, you can create case studies based on past brand campaigns or run your own campaigns to gather data on engagement and conversions.

Use local expertise to your advantage. If you’re a local creator or cover your home city frequently and are seen as an expert, it’s even easier to get paid for your influence with a small following. Brands and tourism boards often prioritize local partners because your proximity and boots on the ground expertise allow you to drive bookings and build trust more easily.

Calculate your Lead Value: If traditional marketing costs $5 to $7 per email lead, and you can drive signups through your own efforts, you have the math to prove your partnership is worth significant dollars.

5) How can creators narrow down the brands and tourism boards that would most likely say yes to their pitch?

Don’t let your creator niche limit your potential. Instead, look for the low-hanging fruit and strategic creative overlaps.

Nurture warm leads: Start with brands you have a past relationship with, such as those you’ve done gifted collaborations for, are an active affiliate for, or have a warm intro to, as these are the best place to start.

Leverage Driver Markets: Destinations within a four-hour drive of your home can be an easier “yes” as you can position yourself as an expert for road trips or weekend getaways that drive actual local foot traffic.

Pitch Lift Markets: Research cities with nonstop flights from your home. Tourism boards often specifically target these markets because it’s easier to get travelers to their destination, and they even host events in cities with direct flights to ensure they capture these high-value audiences.

Pitch outside your niche: As mentioned above, pitching outside your niche helps you stand out. One travel creator in my community landed a $19,000 deal with a popcorn company by pitching it as a road trip essential and sharing how they could display the snack in front of beautiful backdrops.

6) When it comes to what to include in a pitch, how can travel creators confidently pitch paid partnerships without feeling awkward or salesy?

First off, never share rates in the first email. The only goal of that first contact is to get them on a call or get a response. A few tips:

Pitch a discovery call: Use a low-friction close by asking for a quick call so you can share what you’re working on and your vision for collaborating while also learning about their specific marketing goals.

Utilize mood boards: Brands are visual, and including a mood board in your pitch helps the brand see exactly how their product fits into your upcoming travel aesthetic.

Identify the problem: Going back to whether you’re pitching content or influence, ask yourself if you are giving them assets to sell more rooms or influence to drive more bookings. Keep in mind, you can also pitch both to provide even more value!

Add credibility markers: As mentioned above, things like testimonials and case studies can go a long way with helping brands trust you and get a sense of what they can expect from working with you.

7) Landing a 6-figure brand deal is a dream of many creators, so I’d love to go behind the scenes a bit of the $200k partnership you negotiated. How were you able to land such a high-paying collaboration?

One important thing to realize here is that high-ticket deals are rarely for a single post. Instead, they are long-term business partnerships.

Year-long commitment: The $200,000 deal I helped a creator in my audience negotiate was a 12-month collaboration involving a consistent content stream for the brand’s use and posts to the creator’s audience.

The retainer path: High fees often start small. In another example, a creator started with one food video, which led to a retainer, and eventually, the brand handed over their entire annual $70,000 video budget.

Think like a marketer: While the definition of a small business varies by industry, they often still earn millions of dollars and allocate six figures to their marketing budget. Understanding that these sums are standard business expenses—not favors—can help you better understand what is possible and reasonable when it comes to partnership rates.

Pitch the ROI: Brands are willing to pay these sums because they track results closely and expect to break even on their investment in you within a few months.

8) When a brand says they don’t have a budget for a collaboration, is that usually the end of the conversation, or is there a specific way to counter-offer that re-opens the door?

A “no” is the first place many conversations start. To keep the door open:

Be a sleuth: Use the discovery call to find out where the money is. A brand might not have a budget for Instagram, but on a call, you might find out they are launching a YouTube channel and need high-quality video production.

Post-trip monetization: Shoot the content, and then pitch a licensing package for the photo roll afterward. One creator did this and turned a “no” into an $8,000 asset sale. It’s a smart way to get paid when there isn’t a brand budget.

Repitch strategically: Track your leads and repitch in 3 or 6 months. A “no budget” today might be a “yes” when the new fiscal quarter starts.

9) What are the biggest mistakes you see creators make that can hurt their chances of getting a pitch accepted?

Here are some mistakes to avoid when trying to work with brands:

Pitching AI slop: Brands can feel when a pitch is a copy-pasted, non-customized template rather than a genuine connection. In your pitch, address the person you’re writing to by name and make it clear that you’ve done your research and that there is alignment between you.

Have a hobbyist media kit: You don’t want to share a long text-driven document that is an eyesore to look at. Instead, realize your media kit is a visual sales tool that gives the brand an idea of your work and what you do and signals to them that you are a safe and credible investment.

Ghosting your leads: If you aren’t tracking your pitches and leads with a dedicated system, you are leaving money on the table because you’ll likely never follow up on a “not right now”—which can frequently turn into a “yes” down the line.

Missing the decision-maker: Sending your pitch to a generic info@ or hello@ address likely won’t get it to the right person. Instead, you want to find the specific marketing or PR decision-maker to get a response. If you can’t find this email on the brand’s website, you can try reaching out to them on Instagram.

Overwhelming the brand: Attempting to share every detail and rate in the first email is a mistake. Remember, the goal of the first email is simply to get them excited enough to respond or take a call, as money and negotiation happen in the proposal stage.

10) Thank you so much for sharing your brand collaboration tips! Can you let everyone know where they can find you?

• Sidewalker Daily (website)
• @sidewalkerdaily (Instagram)
• @NinaZadeh (personal Instagram)

Recommended Brand Collaboration Tools

Travel Blogger Opportunities Newsletter (get 7 days free!). Get exclusive travel creator opportunities like brand and UGC partnerships, paid writing, press trips, and other assignments that lead to growth and income every Monday at 8am ET.

ManyChat (get 1 month of their Pro Plan free!). A powerful tool for capturing email leads via Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook that is perfect for bloggers looking to increase their engagement.

InfluenceKit (1 report free). Automate stat collection while creating beautiful post-campaign reports that impress brands and make your life easier.

SmarterQueue (extended free trial). My go-to tool for planning, organizing, and automating social media scheduling — so you can stay consistent without burning out.

Bonus Strategies For Working With Brands

Learn how to:

• Land brand partnerships at travel blogger conferences
• Collaborate with other creators to grow faster
• Get featured in the media to grow your visibility
• Land profitable UGC collaborations (no following required)
• Monetize your content in a variety of ways
  

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Do you have any tips for landing paid brand partnerships to add?