You can spend more time arranging a sponsorship than filming the segment. There’s the fee to settle, a brief to work through, a contract to read and another email asking whether you can add a Short.
A manager can take on that work. They can also pitch you to brands, negotiate better terms and help keep campaigns moving while you make the videos. Consider a manager when sponsorship work is regularly getting in the way of making videos, or you need help finding and negotiating suitable deals. Before hiring, compare what they would do with what their fee would cost you.
You don’t need to reach a particular subscriber milestone to start that conversation. You do need a proposal that makes sense for your business.
What would you hand over?
Look at where your sponsorships get stuck. Good inquiries might sit unanswered because you’re busy filming. You might spend evenings going back and forth about the price, or agree to extra work because you aren’t sure how to push back. Those are specific problems a prospective manager can discuss with you.
For streamer and creator iamBrandon, the pressure came from combining content creation with a full-time job. In his 2022 account of working with talent agencies, he explains that he had managed himself for years but couldn’t attend every meeting or pursue every opportunity. He needed another person involved in the business.
If you rarely hear from sponsors, the job is different: finding opportunities. Ask a candidate which brands they would approach and what they would pitch about your channel. A manager also has to decide whether to take you on. Show them your audience and relevant videos so they can judge whether they have suitable opportunities for you.
You might only need help with one part. A lawyer can review an agreement you’re unsure about. An assistant can help keep campaign dates and invoices organized. If making the videos is taking all your time and the deals are manageable, an editor could be the more useful hire.
If you’re comfortable handling a few deals yourself, there’s no need to hand them over just because your channel is growing. Our sponsor-discovery guide covers finding brands and reaching the right contact.
What does a manager actually do?
For sponsorships, ask whether the service covers these three jobs:
- Finding and assessing opportunities: responding to brands that contact you, often called inbound inquiries, and approaching brands on your behalf, or outbound pitching.
- Negotiating the deal: settling the fee, the videos or segments you’ll produce, the schedule and how the sponsor can reuse your content.
- Coordinating delivery and payment: coordinating feedback, tracking delivery, sending reports and following up on invoices.
For example, talent agency Digital Fox describes a service spanning sponsor outreach, negotiation, campaign administration and payment chasing. Other managers take on a wider role. In an interview published by management company Underscore Talent, Linnea Toney and Athena Nash discuss helping creators develop opportunities such as podcasts and product lines. Ask a candidate what they would actually handle for you.
Better negotiation doesn’t always mean a higher price. In a Mixed Makeup interview with talent manager Ali Grant, creator Susan Yara explains that a representative can reduce the requested work when a brand can’t increase its budget. The 2024 conversation draws on their work together at The Digital Department.
Suppose a sponsor offers $2,000 for a segment in your video, a separate Short and six months of permission to run your footage in ads. Removing the standalone Short or shortening the ad permission could make that fee much more attractive. You’d earn the same fee for a smaller job or a more limited use of your footage.
Also check whose interests the person represents. An agency arranging a campaign for a brand isn’t automatically your manager. It may be hiring you on the sponsor’s behalf. Your representative needs a separate agreement about the work they do for you.
What do you keep after commission?
With a commission arrangement, the manager takes a percentage of the income your agreement covers. Attorney Kristen Weiss describes 10% to 20% as common in creator management. Ask each candidate for their actual rate and any additional fees.
Let’s use 20% commission to compare three outcomes for the same sponsored segment and usage rights. You could arrange the deal yourself for $2,000:
| Arrangement | Sponsor pays | You keep |
|---|---|---|
| You handle it | $2,000 | $2,000 |
| Manager takes 20% | $2,400 | $1,920 |
| Manager takes 20% | $2,500 | $2,000 |
These amounts are before your production costs and taxes. At $2,500, the manager receives $500 and you keep $2,000. The fee needs to rise 25% to offset a 20% commission. A bigger number on the sponsorship agreement doesn’t necessarily mean more money for you.
That doesn’t make the $2,400 deal a bad choice. You’d keep $80 less, but someone else would handle the negotiations and administration you’ve agreed to delegate. Look at the hours you spent on your last deal: would getting that time back be worth $80? A deal they find for an otherwise unsold sponsor slot can add income even without a higher rate.
The percentage is only half the price. Weiss also flags which income it applies to: deals a manager finds, inquiries you receive yourself, existing sponsors, or a broader share of your business. Don’t assume your AdSense income or products are outside the agreement. Get the covered income in writing. Check whether commission is calculated before or after agreed costs, such as paying an editor.
Suppose an existing sponsor offers you $2,000 again. If your agreement charges 20% on incoming deals too, you’d keep $1,600 even though the manager didn’t find the brand. Ask what service you’ll receive on those deals. Handling negotiation, approvals and payment is different from merely forwarding an email.
Where to find someone worth talking to
Ask creators in a similar niche who handles their deals and whether they’d recommend them. Start with people whose sponsorship work you respect. If you don’t know anyone to ask, look for a representation contact in relevant channels’ About sections or linked websites. Visit the firm’s site, check its creator roster and use its talent-inquiry or contact page. Look for channels at a similar stage, not just its biggest names.
Compare a few candidates, and meet the person who would handle your day-to-day work. Financial adviser Rustin Cavel recommends checking relevant experience and speaking with client references. Ask current or former clients what the manager took over, whether they brought suitable opportunities and how responsive they were when something went wrong.
In the same 2022 account, iamBrandon describes leaving two earlier agencies because he felt he wasn’t getting enough attention or suitable opportunities. Knowing people at the first firm had helped persuade him to sign; the working relationship still disappointed him.
Bring a recent offer to the conversation, with confidential details removed. Ask the candidate to walk through how they would handle it: what would they negotiate, what would they need from you, and who would manage it after signing? For finding new work, a useful answer connects particular brands to your audience and videos. For running campaigns, it names who handles feedback and payment follow-up. “We have great brand relationships” leaves both jobs unexplained.
Agree how you’ll see progress too. Will you get updates on pitches, incoming offers, negotiations and payment? You need enough visibility to tell whether the promised work is happening, without having to run every conversation yourself.
Settle the terms before you sign
The service you discussed should match the written agreement. Have an independent lawyer familiar with creator businesses review it before committing.
Keep approval of your deals. iamBrandon emphasizes being able to see proposed terms and say yes or no. Set out who can negotiate, who can sign and when your approval is required. Delegating the emails shouldn’t leave you discovering that someone has already committed you to a campaign.
Define exclusive representation. If the manager wants to be your only representative, which work does that cover? YouTube sponsorships alone, deals across all your channels, or wider projects? You should know which opportunities you can still handle independently.
Follow the payment. Does the sponsor pay you, or does the manager receive the money first? If the manager collects it, agree on itemized statements and a deadline for transferring your share.
Understand the exit. Check the term, automatic renewal and notice needed to leave. A post-term or “sunset” clause can keep commissions running after representation ends. Settle which deals and renewals it covers, and when those payments stop.
Before signing, agree on a date to review how the arrangement is working. Compare the money you keep, the work taken off your plate and the opportunities brought to you with the proposal you accepted. If the manager promised to pitch new brands but has only handled existing inquiries, that is a specific gap you can raise.
