Adrian had 3,000 subscribers on YouTube and 25,000 followers on TikTok. He charged more for YouTube. Every brand said yes immediately, which he now knows means he undercharged. Eighteen months later YouTube is his single largest income stream. Our guest Adrian Vonarx is a print on demand educator and longtime listener of this show, and this conversation is genuinely one of the most tactical we've recorded. If you've been sitting on YouTube thinking you need a big channel before brands will pay you, this episode dismantles that. Also, fair warning, Kate cries a little. Adrian tells the story of a Google Meet the two of them had in December 2024 that changed the entire trajectory of his business. What We Cover: Adrian's 30-day TikTok challenge and why his first 30 videos being terrible was the whole point How five years of print on demand turned into an education business almost by accident Why the giving economy means you have to serve before you earn, and how that produces brand deals as a byproduct The DM Adrian sent Kate offering to pay for her time, the 90-minute call that followed, and what it changed Why Adrian had never renegotiated a single brand rate before that conversation, and what happened when he did How he pitched YouTube to three existing TikTok brand partners and got three yeses Why brands paid him more for 1,500 YouTube views than for 5,000 TikTok views The three YouTube sponsorship deal structures: mid-roll ads, dedicated videos, and integrations Why integrations are his favorite and how leading with value before the pitch changes the comment section entirely How Adrian stacks three to four aligned sponsors into a single YouTube video and why no brand has ever objected How to price a YouTube sponsorship when you have no benchmark, and Adrian's honest admission that he threw out a number and every brand said yes Kate's pushback: why letting the brand name the number first costs you, and when to set the anchor yourself Why YouTube content has a longer shelf life, lower click friction, and better link tracking than short form, and why brands pay for that The TikTokification of YouTube and why average views now matter more than subscriber count The metrics Adrian actually sends brands: average views per video, engagement rate, average watch time, and audience geography Why a 10-minute YouTube video is really just ten TikToks stacked, and how to repurpose your best performing short form into long form Why you should commit to mastery of one platform before adding another The guerrilla tactic Adrian used to land deals: integrate a brand for free, then show them the performance Episodes Referenced: Episode 5, Season 1: What You Should Charge, the 4R Pricing Framework Season 2 Episode 7: How to Renegotiate Your Brand Deal Rates Season 2 Episode 13: How to Respond When a Brand Asks What Are Your Rates Season 2 Episode 4: How to Make a Media Kit That Gets Brand Deals More From Us: Join the Creator Club Waitlist — coaching, templates, rate calculators, and direct help pitching brands Follow us on IG & TikTok: @notaninfluencerco A Note From Our Sponsor: We talk a lot on this show about treating your content creation like a business — and that means setting yourself up with the right foundation. When Tea and I made Not An Influencer Creator Agency official, we used Tailor Brands to form our LLC. The process was genuinely simple — we filed from our laptops in under an hour, tracked our filing status right inside the Tailor dashboard, and had everything we needed to keep moving. Tailor also offers additional services like EIN setup, business bank accounts, and a finance manager to track your income and expenses as you grow. Search "Tailor Business Builder" to get started today.
