If they run the ads, that is a line item.

The job is not over when you send the file. The job is over when you know where that file is allowed to live.

Brands will say “we’ll just boost it” after you have agreed to a creator fee. That is how a $900 post becomes a $40,000 media plan you did not invoice. Usage is the line that stops that.

If you do not name usage in the brief, you already said yes to everything.

Organic

They may post it on their organic channels — feed, Stories, a website page — for a time you name. 30, 60, 90 days. Then it comes down, or they pay again.

Organic is not ads. If it is in Ads Manager, it is paid. Call it paid.

Paid social / 90 days

They may run the file as an ad for 90 days. Meta, TikTok, YouTube. This is the most common extra. It is not a favor. It is a media plan using your face.

Price it as a percentage of the creator fee, or a flat. Many Hispanic creators add 20–50% for 90-day paid. Say the number. Do not say “we can talk after.”

After 90 days they buy another term, or they stop. Put the end date on the SOW.

Whitelisting / Spark

They run your post, from your handle, as an ad. The comments stay on your page. The room still thinks it is you.

That is a different product than a file they run as themselves. It uses your distribution and your reputation. Charge more than file usage. You will be the one answering “is this an ad” in the comments.

What they do not get unless you sell it

• TV, CTV, out-of-home, in-store screens
• Editing you out of the deal so a celebrity VO can sit on your footage
• Perpetuity. “In perpetuity” is a red line unless the number is a buyout you like
• Exclusivity in the category. If they want you silent for a competitor for 90 days, that is a hold fee

The brief, in order

Before you shoot:

1. What am I making. One vertical? Three? A post on my channel?
2. Where does it live. Organic, paid, Spark, all of it.
3. For how long.
4. Who approves. One round of brand-safety notes is enough. Two is a reshoot — price it.
5. When I get paid. 50% on start is normal for first-time pairs. Net-30 after delivery if you trust them.

If a brand cannot answer 1–3, they do not have a brief. They have a vibe. Do not shoot a vibe.

How we run it

We write usage on the SOW. The creator sees it. The brand signs it. If they want to run ads after, that is a new line — or our paid-media offer, which is a different invoice.

If a brand asks you to go around us and “just send the files,” forward it. The safety and the report live with the usage. That is the job.

When you apply here, you do not need a lawyer. You need to know that usage is a number. Put a starting paid-usage line on the kit. We will not let a client treat your face as free media.