Many teens and young adults dream of becoming influencers these days and for good reason.
Influencer money is real.
On top of the freebies and high-paying deals that brand ambassadors receive, they also have fame beyond their wildest dreams and a “job” that never feels like they’re actually working.
Of course, before you get to the top of the chain, there’s a lot of work involved. From building up a sizable following, to learning everything you can about social media and online marketing, becoming an influencer is a business through and through.
If you or anyone you know is trying to get serious with influence marketing, make sure to bookmark this post. I’ve compiled a list of influencer platforms you can use to extend your reach and an up-to-date list of brands currently looking for their ambassadors.
If you’re just getting started, my guide on how to become a brand influencer is an absolute must-read.
50 Brands Looking for Influencers
If you’re not at the level required to join an influencer marketing agency and your profile at the influencer marketplace isn’t moving, you have another option.
You might want to try to do-it-yourself and try your chances with the following brands that are currently looking for ambassadors.
Clothing & Apparel Brands
- Breezy Swimwear – Like affiliates, ambassadors earn 15% commission for any referrals to the store that end up as sale. Brand ambassadors are given their own code to share to their followers. They also get discounts and freebies as part of the deal.
- Calamity Jane’s Apparel – Get a box of goodies once you’re chosen, followed by a monthly t-shirt freebie as long as you promote the brand with your family and friends.
- Dia&Co – Dia & Co is looking for plus-sized Dia brand ambassador who live and breathe fashion. Get to earn real cash, freebies and access to new products.
- Dollschino – This London-based clothing store is always looking for two kinds of help: junior influencers with less than 10k followers and brand ambassadors with over 10k followers. If you’d like to work with Dollschino, learn more about these programs here.
- Enjoy Leggings – Get free leggings and first dibs on new products as a brand ambassador.
- Evy’s Tree – This company may have begun as a company known for hoodies, but it has now expanded to anything dainty women’s wear. As ambassador, you receive quarterly gift boxes and affiliate commissions to sales you’ve referred.
- FINDRA – This company is looking for outdoorsy ambassadors willing to showcase their passion for bikes, skis, snowboards, canoes and overall travelers to help promote their brand.
- Izzy & Liv – Celebrate black culture with likeminded ambassadors and get a free #Brownsugarbox free. Izzy and Liv is looking for adult and kid ambassadors.
- Leela and Lavender – This multi-brand store is always looking for ambassadors to expand the reach of the company. Fill-out this form to learn about the perks you get when you’re chosen as Leela & Lavender ambassador.
- NUYU – This company is specifically looking for college students, who would like to earn free clothes and extra cash just by promoting their products on Instagram.
- Sand Cloud – This is both a cause (they help preserve marine life) and a complete line-up of clothes, accessories and other sustainable products.
- Sunny Co Clothing – Calling all beachlovers with an active Instagram following. This company gives away a pair of sunglasses or swimsuit to their ambassadors.
- The Copper Closet – Different levels of perks and required posts are available for the Copper Closet’s brand ambassadors.
- The Jacket Maker – Makers of luxurious jackets for men and women, this company is looking for ambassadors to promote the brand. In return, ambassadors get to earn 20% commissions for referred sales, 50% off on purchased items, and lifetime discount for you and your friends.
- Brava Fabrics – Get a handful of free clothes, plus big discounts for you and your friends to share.
- Trendy & Tipsy – Vintage style wear seeking ambassadors to talk about their brand. Perks include getting featured, discounts, and commissions on referrals.
- Amazing Lace – Another clothing company seeking influencers. They do ask if you have any upcoming trips planned to bring their clothes along.
Sports and Active Wear Brands
- Kona Surf Co. – As an ambassador for this surf company, you get to receive free swag and be included in insider contests and giveaways.
- Born Tough – Makers of cool-looking duffle bags, gym bags, gym accessories, and workout clothes, this company is always looking for brand ambassadors who can promote the company and get paid for 15% commissions in return.
- Outdoor Products – While there isn’t an application to fill out, they are looking for ambassadors to promote their outdoor lifestyle products.
Jewelry and Accessories Brands
- Blue Planet Eyewear – Aside from getting free and discounted eyewear, you can also earn commissions from promoting the brand any way possible.
- LÍLLÉbaby – If you have a sizable following on Instagram or other social media and you’re a family with a baby, this brand is a perfect match for you.
- Mulu Jewelry – Those who have significant followers on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest or YouTube could be chosen as Mulu’s ambassador and earn in-store credit to purchase jewelry from the store.
- Twelve Little – If you’re a lover of gorgeous bags (backpacks, bottle bags, diaper bags, lunch bags, etc.), becoming a brand ambassador for Twelve Little makes sense. You’ll get discounts of up to 50% for you and your followers.
Skin Care, Cosmetics, and Health Care Brands
- Amire – As a brand ambassador for Amire, get free cosmetic products shipped to you once or twice a month free. In return, you have to post about the brand each week and get a chance to earn more cash.
- CLN & DRTY – Makers of aromatherapy, oils and other organic skincare products.
- HD Beauty Skincare Boutique – Ambassadors earn commissions, receive discounts and get to try out new products.
- Move Makeup – From the creators of the famous Move Makeup kits, concealers, blush, eyeshadow, and more, this opportunity is limited to the first 100 applications each month. The form may be closed temporarily, but opens at the start of the next month.
- One CBD – If you are a living proof of the benefits of CBD, One CBD is looking for you to become a brand ambassador, share your story, and get a chance to earn through commissions and get significant discounts on One CBD products.
- Orglamix – This company gives away free products, discounts, and first dibs to their new oils, skincare, makeup products.
- PMD Beauty – Influencers both men and women are welcome to send a form to collaborate, as long as you have something to offer. Make sure to indicate your social media platforms so the company could verify your clout.
- The Better Skin Co. – The cosmetics and skincare company is accepting influencers who have at least 5,000 followers with 200 likes on each of the most recent 10 photos.
Food and Drink Brands
- Celsius – This company is looking for ambassadors who already love the Celsius health drinks. To apply, fill out the form and share you YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok links.
Tech Brands
- Zagg.com – This site is home to famous phone accessory brands like Invisible Shield and Mophie, so if you’re a fan and have an active social media life, then fill out this form.
Non-Profit Brands
- Happy Earth – Get involved in protecting the earth as an ambassador for Happy Earth apparel and you receive discounts and gain plenty of friends who participate in tree planting or trash-pickup activities.
- The Great North – Help this company with their environmental efforts by promoting the brand on Instagram. Every time someone buys swimwear, a shirt, or other lifestyle apparel, 10% goes into planting trees, removing garbage from oceans, and contributing to sustainable environment.
Everything Else
- Not Sorry – Join the Not Sorry Crew and be unapologetic about who you are and what you believe.
- The Honest Company – Co-founded by actress Jessica Alba, this company has been producing plenty of good-quality, non-toxic household products. Pay here is legit – ambassadors earn $15/hour instead of commissions.
- Junobie – This company produces eco-friendly household products designed for the breastfeeding mom. If you have a sizable following on social media and want to share your love of the brand while getting some perks, fill out the form here.
- RimBlades USA – RimBlades USA has provided consumers with a patented wheel protection accessory that’s easy to install and looks great. If you’re a fan, this could be your chance to get free products and earn commissions through this ambassador program.
- Singer – Are you passionate about sewing and love the SINGER brand? The company is continuously looking for people to share the joy of sewing.
12 Influencer Platforms to Help You Find Sponsorship & Deals
If you’re trying to be proactive and wanted to go where businesses find influencers, I have important news for you:
- The platforms aimed at businesses in search of influencers to team up with are unfortunately, only for businesses. For example, Traackr, was designed specifically to discover and manage influencers, as well as track the progress of campaigns.
- Most of the time, there is no way to sign-up as an influencer on these sites or apps. It’s because the business-geared platforms use robots and algorithms to find potential brand ambassadors based on various factors, such as number and age of followers, niche, location, level of activity, and so on.
If you do find a platform that allows influencers to join and make a profile, expect these platforms to be more biased to businesses (or lack features beneficial to your influencer life). This is because the businesses are the ones paying for access to this data.
Check some of them out here:
1. Tap Influence
Create an account. Complete your profile. Then when a marketer is interested in collaborating with you, you’ll receive an invitation to bid on an opportunity.
The invitation isn’t a guarantee you’ll be chosen.
- PROS: Marketers can see your profile and if your business matches the brand’s needs, your name will be included in the “options”
- CONS: You are not given a chance to message marketers directly. If you are chosen, communication and payments go through TapInfluence.
2. FameBit.com
Before YouTube acquired the branded content marketplace FameBit.com, this site let creators find sponsorship, submit proposals to brands, and get paid all in one platform. But starting on July 31, this self-service feature will no longer be available.
- PROS: The full service program still helps creators by matching them with brands. Best for YouTubers.
- CONS: You don’t have the freedom you enjoyed with self-service.
3. Heepsy.com
Heepsy is mostly for businesses and marketers looking for influencers. On their side, brands can filter influencers based on past deals, audience demographics, and other useful filters. As an influencer, you could also find and contact other influencers near you or within your niche if you’re feeling a bit lost and need advice with pricing deals, finding brands, or even setting up a collaboration.
- PROS: The influencer-friendly feature is pretty useful. Try out the free trial before paying though.
- CONS: Not enough features available for influencers. This is mostly a business-aimed platform.
4. Aspire IQ (formerly Revfluence)
Known formerly as Revfluence, Aspire IQ is a self-service solution for brands and marketers looking for influencers to work with. It offers plenty of analytical data about influencers and provide brands with a platform to collaborate, manage and assist in tracking campaigns. If you’re an influencer, you just need to join and Aspire IQ would match you with brands and handle payments for you as well.
- PROS: Big companies like Quest Nutrition and Birchbox are some examples of the brands they work with. Sends payment through PayPal.
- CONS: Influencers cannot send brands proposals
5. FOHR.co
FOHR has a goldmine of resources for influencers starting out in this business. Make sure to follow the blog and join their email list. It’s free to join as influencers, and the company seems to be serious at helping both sides make the collaborations into a win-win scenario. All influencers who sign-up to FOHR gets their own Instagram Follower Health Score, which is a pretty cool ‘scoring’ feature.
- PROS: Awesome choice for fashion bloggers and influencers
- CONS: Not for beginners with little to no clout on Instagram
6. Influential
Influential helps you connect with businesses across different social media platforms. Although Influential is like other companies that use a software for matching influencers with brands, but this is quite exciting because it is powered by Watson, IBM’s artificial intelligence (AI) software.
- PROS: AI software that knows your profile and followers down to the T
- CONS: No way to join as influencers
7. Linqia
This influencer marketing platform is also AI-driven and focuses more on the brands. Features include a social content lab, where brands can test and analyze various influencers for any particular campaign. The requirements for influencers are pretty easy: at least 2 social accounts, over 2500 followers a month, and at least 1 post monthly.
- PROS: Pays in about 10 days, unlike the standard 30-day
- CONS: Canada and US-based influencers only.
8. Mavrck
The Mavrck platform is pretty unique. In most cases, the software collects a list of influencers, weigh the level of clout each one has, verify the followers and information, then match these verified influencers with brands. With Mavrck, a brand’s real customers are invited to become brand ambassadors.
- PROS: Big-time brands like Universal Studios, New Balance, Proctor & Gamble, Gillette, Dunkin’ Donuts, Sears, and JetBlue.
- CONS: Influencers have to trust the system and wish that they get picked to become ambassadors.
9. Tidal Labs
Tidal Labs is a full-service influence platform. Through its AI, Tidal finds and groups influencers into certain categories. Brands can create two kinds of campaigns: a public one that any influencer can apply to, and a private one that is only offered to certain influencers.
- PROS: Tidal Labs claim of giving beginners a fair shot as experienced influencers
- CONS: More private campaigns than public campaigns available
10. SocialBook
Dubbed as the world’s best real-time YouTube/Instagram influencer analytical, marketing and advertising machine learning engine, SocialBook was designed to help both influencers and brands arrive at a win-win situation.
- PROS: Good set of features for influencers: from the ability to check other influencers’ reports to getting brand offers from within the platform.
- CONS: Free plan is good, but lacks the juicy features available with the paid plans ($14 to $34/month).
11. BrandSnob
This platform is a self-service influencer marketplace, where brands post their campaign and wait for offers from influencers. The brand chooses the influencer to promote their product/service.
- PROS: Access to this platform is totally free for influencers
- CONS: The competition is high and you are not given a chance to send proposals to any brand you like
12. Webfluential
Webfluential really means what its name suggest – this platform helps influencers of YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and even bloggers using the WordPress platform. It provides beginner to experienced influencers with all the right tools to be able to deal with even the biggest companies like Coca-Cola, P& G, Nokia, KFC, Barclays, ABSOLUT, and more.
- PROS: It is made with influencers in mind
- CONS: Can’t find anything wrong with this platform.
The Bottom Line
If you’re interested in starting with just one social media platform, these following resources could be useful to you:
- How to Make Money on Facebook
- How to Make Money on Twitter
- How to Make Money on Instagram
- How to Make Money on Pinterest
- How to Make Money on Tik-Tok
If everything you just read about the business of becoming an influencer is new to you, but you feel that this career path is speaking to you, make sure to read this guide on how to become a brand ambassador.