What to put in a brand deal contract: a creator's checklist

A handshake deal in your DMs is how creators get burned — unpaid invoices, content used forever in ads you never agreed to, "exclusivity" you didn't know you signed. A simple contract protects you. Here's the checklist.

Deliverables — exactly what you owe

Spell out the specifics: "one 30–60s Reel + two story frames, posted between [dates]." Vague scope is how one post quietly becomes five.

Payment terms

• How much, in writing.
• When — split it: 50% upfront, 50% on posting is common and protects you.
• Net terms — "Net 30" means they pay 30 days after invoice. Know it going in.
• Kill fee — if they cancel after you've done the work, what do you get?

Usage rights

This is the big one creators miss. Ask:

• Where can they use your content? (Their organic channels? Paid ads? Their website?)
• For how long? "In perpetuity" means forever — charge a lot more for that.
• Whitelisting — running ads from your handle is a premium; price it separately.

Exclusivity

Are you barred from working with competitors? For how long, and how broadly defined? A month of category exclusivity is reasonable; a year for a single post is not — charge accordingly.

Approvals & revisions

How many rounds of edits are included? Cap it (one or two) so you're not stuck in endless revisions for a fixed fee.

FTC / disclosure

You're legally required to disclose paid partnerships (#ad, the paid-partnership label). Make sure the contract doesn't ask you to hide it — that's on you legally, not just them.

The simple rule

If it's not in writing, it doesn't exist. You don't need a lawyer for a $300 deal — a clear email that both sides confirm counts as an agreement. But for anything bigger, get the terms down.

Keeping each deal's terms attached to the deal itself (instead of buried in an email thread) means you never have to dig for "wait, what did we agree on?" — which is half of why creators track deals in a tool like Vantr in the first place.