You're faced with advertiser requests on social media. How do you maintain editorial integrity?

Work collaboratively. Simply chasing impressions benefits neither the publisher nor the advertiser, so work together to connect with audiences in a collaborative way. Big numbers are becoming irrelevant. So what if you've reached ten million people, you're just throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. Meaningful metrics are everything, so work on the basis that less is more, better is more and relevant is more. That's how we try to work with advertisers.

The main thing about upholding values is the spirit of fighting the food fight. The money is going to sound good. You’re like finally! You get some action! Now hold up, what are your long term goals looking like? What does your brand stand for? These two questions will help ground you on what truly matters to you and your business. Don’t just go all money eyes and think that this decision is an easy one. I know from experience, it’s not an easy decision. I’ve had a situation not turn out the way I wanted and have multiple people targeting me because of money. Make no light thing when it comes to this decision.

My favorite thing is setting boundaries. But this might be tough for you. The reason I say that because the concept is counterintuitive. On one hand you’re in a place where your effort is showing. Good job. On the other hand, the mere fact that you can say no and that no could definitely lead you to even more money, that’s hard to understand. You need to quit thinking that a quick response and not counting your desires for your audience in this deal will lead to anywhere other than where it’s really going to go - down the toilet. The opportunity may be good now, but decisions have consequences. And if you can focus on setting the appropriate guard rails to your heart, and your business, out of it comes the tree of life.

The number 1 thing I recommend is making sure that everything that is a part of the post that you’re putting up: and I’m talking about the video, I’m talking about the photos, I’m talking about the text, I’m talking about the music. All these things you need to make sure that you are in ownership of these things. Because if you’re not in ownership, this will lead to trouble long ways down the road. Another thing that you gotta pay attention to, is making sure that you focused on what you want to create. If advertiser is just going into your channel look at to just put something up on a random video, it’s not for you. You need to make sure that you’re focused on ad, that wants a collaborator ideas with you.

Make sure you set expectations before any work is agreed or undertaken. You can often avoid any tricky situations and weed out any troublesome advertisers by having a very honest conversation about your editorial morals early on. When you've had that chat, put it in writing via email. Put everything in writing.

Now the first thing you need to do is find common ground. You can’t come to a win win situation if you are not involving yourself in the details of the deal. If the deal is too long or complicated, it’s not that easy to just find help. I get that. But what you need to realize is that maybe this isn’t a deal but a relationship for the future and future interactions. Hence the length. You need to also get all the cards on the table. Honesty is always the best policy. If you don’t get something, ask them to explain, look it up online through search engines if you have the rights to do so. Even general searches, not about specific terms but what you think they mean, will go a long way.

This one is a doozy. You want to see in the future where you want your audience to be and what you want your audience to look like. Doing a survey monkey or a X survey will go a long way too. But what if your link doesn’t get views? Focus on content that refers to the subject in question and engage that engagement. You can talk about the problems, trends, topics, explanations, and other content related to the potential partnership, and see if people watch that. A 1 minute video uploaded to tik tok can do the trick, you just have to put it out there. If you’re still not getting any responses, then you need more time to get more info. Don’t rush into it. The topic may be something your audience doesn’t like at all.

1. Clear Guidelines and Policies: Establish clear guidelines: Create a set of guidelines that outline the boundaries of acceptable advertising content. These guidelines should align with your brand's values and mission. Communicate expectations: Clearly communicate these guidelines to advertisers before they submit their requests. This helps prevent misunderstandings and ensures they adhere to your standards. 2. Fact-Checking and Verification: Verify claims: Before promoting any product or service, ensure that the claims made by the advertiser are accurate and supported by evidence.