Updated
Price and what it covers
State the price and exactly what it is for: one finished video of a stated length, a stated number of revisions, and whether raw footage is included. Billo's own pricing, for comparison, bundles a $99 base video with two revisions and basic editing already defined, which is the kind of specificity worth matching in a direct agreement.
Usage rights, spelled out rather than assumed
- What the brand can do with the finished video: post it on their own channels, run it as a paid ad, put it on a product page, or some combination.
- For how long the grant lasts, if it is not meant to be forever. Several marketplaces default to unlimited, perpetual rights included in the base price (JoinBrands and Influee both state this plainly), which is worth matching or deliberately departing from, but either way it should be a decision, not a gap.
- Whether the right is exclusive, meaning you agree not to make similar content for a competing brand for some period, since an exclusivity clause is a real restriction on your other income and should be priced accordingly if it is requested.
- Whether raw, unedited footage is included in the grant or stays yours.
Revisions, and where they end
A revision limit protects both sides. Insense's pricing page states up to three revisions before its moderation team intervenes; without a stated limit in a direct agreement, a brand can reasonably expect you to keep revising indefinitely for the same price, since nothing on paper says otherwise.
Payment terms
- When payment is due relative to delivery or approval, not just "on completion," since "completion" can be disputed if a brand is slow to respond.
- How payment will be sent (bank transfer, PayPal, another method) and who covers any transfer fee.
- What happens if the brand asks for a kind of revision beyond what was originally scoped, for example a second completely different video rather than a tweak to the first.
Disclosure and compliance
If the finished video will run as a paid ad or be posted as sponsored content, note who is responsible for any required disclosure language or tag, since this is usually a legal requirement on the brand's side rather than an optional nicety, and a brief silent on it does not mean it does not apply.
What a marketplace already settles, versus what a direct agreement has to
Working inside a marketplace, several of the items above are often already fixed by the platform's own standing terms rather than negotiated per job. JoinBrands and Influee both state unlimited usage rights included on every purchase as a platform default; Insense caps revisions at three before its own moderation team steps in. A creator working inside one of these platforms inherits those defaults automatically, even on a brief that does not restate them.
None of that exists once you are working directly with a brand with no marketplace underneath the deal. Every item above, price, scope, revisions, rights, payment timing, disclosure responsibility, needs to be written down somewhere both sides can point back to, because there is no platform default to fall back on if a disagreement comes up later.
A minimal written agreement, in plain language
A full legal contract is not required for every small job, but a short written agreement, even a confirmed email thread, covering these points protects both sides: who is doing the work, what the finished deliverable is (length, format, number of revisions), what the brand may do with it afterward and for how long, the agreed price and when it is due, and who covers any payment-processing fee. Keep a copy of this agreement alongside the invoice you send for the job, the same way you would keep a record of a marketplace payout.
When it is worth asking for more than a short email thread
- A job large enough that a dispute would meaningfully hurt you financially.
- Any grant of exclusivity, since that restricts your other income for a period and deserves to be in clear writing, not implied from a conversation.
- A long or indefinite usage-rights grant, rather than a single post.
- Ongoing or repeat work with the same brand, where it is worth settling the terms once rather than renegotiating informally every time.
What to do if a brand pushes back on writing anything down
A brand reluctant to confirm scope and price in writing, even informally over email, is a signal worth taking seriously on its own, independent of anything else about the job. It does not necessarily mean the brand intends not to pay, but it does mean you have no record to point to if a disagreement comes up over scope, revisions or payment timing later. A short, friendly confirmation email summarizing what was agreed, sent after a call or chat, is usually enough to establish a record without requiring a brand to sign a formal document, and most brands with no bad intent will simply confirm it back.
Keeping the agreement somewhere you can find it later
A confirmed email thread is only useful as a record if you can actually find it again months later, when a dispute or a tax question comes up. Keeping a simple folder, physical or digital, with one file per direct brand job, holding the confirmation email, the invoice sent, and a note of when payment arrived, turns a scattered set of messages into something you can hand a tax preparer or point to in a disagreement without having to search through old email for it first.
Reviewed November 13, 2026. This is general guidance, not legal advice; a specific agreement should be reviewed against your own situation and, for anything with meaningful money or exclusivity attached, a professional.