How Do You Know If A Brand Email Is A Scam?

How do I choose sponsorships or campaigns? How do I decide if it's worth doing or not? How do I know if it's a scam?

Sponsor: Avocado Mattress

Sponsor: Coterieparty

Sponsor: MoenXInly

Let’s start with the easy question:

It’s a scam if they’re asking you to spend money on them. Doesn’t matter if they provide a discount code. YOU SAY NO! Check their email. If it’s not xxx@companyname.com, ignore. If they start the email with “Hi @corinthsuarez,” or “hello influencer” or if you feel like it’s a scam, just ignore. If your compensation is exposure on their 3.2M Instagram account, kindly ignore. 😂

Some initial questions I ask myself when deciding whether to take on a campaign or not:

Does this align with my lifestyle? Is this something my followers would be interested in? Is this something that will provide value, information, or convenience to my followers? Is this a brand I want in my portfolio? Are the products something I see myself actually using even after the campaign ends? Etc.
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If my answer is no, I respectfully decline the offer. If I answer yes to at least one of the questions above, I then ask myself: do they have the budget? Can they accommodate my rate? Is the compensation fair for the work they’re asking me to do? Should I negotiate my rates? Should I negotiate the deliverables?

Short answer, I accept campaigns that align with me and/or are valuable to my followers, and if the compensation is fair. And note that compensation here doesn’t always mean CASH. I still accept “gifts” as compensation if 1, I know the campaign will help improve my skills. 2, the campaign will be a gateway for more (possibly paid) campaigns in the future (this is also building a good relationship with a brand), and 3, if the product is something worth working for free for. Do you want me to get more specific about this? Let me know!