A paid brief is a job you're paying for, so the brief is the contract. A clear one gets you work you can approve the first time; a vague one gets you revisions, rejections and kill fees.
One goal per brief
Decide what the content is for before you write anything: a demo for a new feature, a tutorial for a common job, a review for people comparing tools. One goal makes everything else in the brief easy to decide.
Written requirements
You can only reject work for missing a written requirement, so write down everything you'd reject for, and nothing you wouldn't:
- What it must show: “the invoice being sent and paid in the app”.
- What it must say: “the free plan, and that it works with Stripe”.
- What it must not do: “no claims about saving a set amount of money”.
- Format: platform, length, orientation, captions.
“Make it engaging” isn't a requirement; it's a hope. Requirements are things a reviewer can check.
Deliverables, dates and products
List each deliverable on its own: where it's posted and in what format, with a due date. If creators need your product, use a product brief: we send it, their address stays sealed, and the clock starts when it arrives.
Pay
Pay a set fee for each approved deliverable, a monthly retainer for regular work, or a bounty for reaching a goal. The money is set aside when you publish, so creators know it's there, and anything unspent comes back to you. Our fee on paid content is 10%, on top.
Rights
Say where you'll use the content: only in the creator's post, on your own channels, or in your ads too, and for how many months. Ask for what you'll use; wider rights cost more and put creators off. Briefs that ask for synthetic versions of a creator's face or voice, for AI training or for ownership are refused.
What not to ask
- Never ask creators to drop or hide the ad label: the builder refuses text that does.
- Never script claims the creator hasn't experienced, or reviews they didn't write.
Check yourself
A quick check. Nothing is sent anywhere.