Hey! Welcome back to the Creator Economy NYC newsletter, your weekly hit of insights and strategies to help you build, monetize, and scale as a creator.
First and foremost, happy Father’s Day to all the creator dads out there. We appreciate everything you do.
I'm writing this from Cannes, France with Cannes Lions kicking off tomorrow, and my inbox is already a mess of "let's grab a coffee on the croisette" messages. EYE ROLL!
Jk, but if you’re here - come say hi on the Creator Beach and bring the NYC energy.
This week I want to get into something I get asked about constantly: how to actually land a tech brand deal. And I say that today with Later as the sponsor of this newsletter.
So we sat down with Danielle Ito, who spent three and a half years deciding which creators got paid at Notion and now runs creator partnerships at Lovable, on what creator’s should know.
Let's get into it.
Cannes, I'll see you Later.
(Yes, the pun was too easy.)
I'm excited to be partnering with Later as I head to Cannes Lions this week to emcee Creator Beach.
While my feed is already flooded with Cannes announcements, I'm genuinely curious to see how the creator presence has evolved since last year. Not just influencers, but founders, operators, B2B creators, and knowledge creators too.
I'll be on the ground all week sharing what I'm seeing, learning, and hearing.
A big thank you to Later, the influencer marketing and social media management platform helping brands and creators manage content, partnerships, and performance all in one place, for making the trip possible.
How to work with tech brands as a creator
If you’re just starting out, landing a tech brand deal can feel elusive at best.
Maybe you spend time polishing the media kit, agonizing over your follower count, fire off a cold DM, and hear nothing back.
So you decide the big brands just aren’t for creators at your level.
They are, though. The process is just opaque.
That's part of why we’re building CENYC in the first place. And the fastest way to crack it open is to hear straight from the person reading your pitch.
Danielle Ito has spent the last four years on the other side of that inbox. Three and a half at Notion, building their creator program from scratch. Now she runs creator partnerships at Lovable, the vibe coding platform you've probably seen everywhere this year.
Before you write another pitch, know who you're actually pitching to.
Most pitches fail before they're even read because the creator never figured out what the brand is trying to do.
Danielle, for example, is building Lovable's program around three specific audiences: non-technical users dipping into the product for the first time, founders actually building businesses on it, and AI educators translating what it can do (do with that info what you will).
Almost every tech brand has a version of this list. Your job is to find which bucket you fit and make content that moves their goal forward, not just yours.
"I always say every creator is a founder, technically," Danielle told us. "Any creator looking to launch something, build something, offer something to their audience, that's really what we're focused on."
Once you know who you are to them, here's the actual signal she's scanning for.
1. Your whole feed is the pitch
Before Danielle signs anyone, she watches everything they've posted. Not the highlight reel you'd send in a pitch deck, the actual feed.
"I'm looking through every single video they're posting," she said. "If I notice a disparity in quality across their content, that's a flag to me, because I don't want to be one of those videos."
So her advice runs against every growth tactic you've probably been told to follow: post less, better.
"I'd rather see higher quality content and know a creator is actually putting time into it, versus just trying to post as much as they can to build their profile."
2. Follower count is barely on the list
Every creator wants the magic number that unlocks brand deals. Danielle barely looks at it. What she's actually checking:
Consistency. Are your views steady, or is your whole feed one viral spike surrounded by silence?
Comment quality. Are people responding to the actual idea, or just dropping fire emojis? (oh hey, Siftsy)
Ad potential. "They might not have a ton of followers, but I really think their content would resonate as an ad. So we can run it as an ad."
That last one is the real unlock. Brands aren't just buying your reach, they're buying creative they can reuse.
3. You're already in before the DM
Danielle's favorite creators to sign are the ones already using the product before any money's on the table. I see this constantly with B2B deals. Take notes.
"I'm always asking my social team, is anyone mentioning us? We're always having the conversation of, wow, this person tagged us, look at what they built."
So talk about the tools you're already using and loving, before you ever pitch them. And when you do reach out, don't overthink it.
"Shoot your shot. Get in the email or the DMs of the person you know is doing partnerships, and do your research."
4. Show the outcome, not the tool
Once you've picked your brand and you're brainstorming ideas, Danielle says she's looking for builds: real, in-depth use cases that make someone watching go "wait, I could do that."
"I like to do the most simple brief possible. Of course I'll give you the product messaging and what you can and can't say. But ultimately I prefer the creator to talk about how they're using the product, and lead with that."
5. Get more creative when pitching ideas
"I don't think any idea is a bad idea. Every creator I work with wants the content to perform. So why would they pitch me a bad idea?"
The proof is Creator Camp, a creator community Danielle's worked with since her Notion days.
They pitched her the concept behind Lovable's hero video: three creators featured in one piece, collab-posted across all their channels, so one video carried three audiences' worth of reach.
It shipped within her first two months at Lovable, and it led directly to Creator Camp producing in-house videos for the brand.
Finally, play the long game
Here's the shift happening across tech brands right now: the one-post, one-invoice, goodbye deal is dying. Danielle's already thinking in seasons, not single posts:
"How do we make this larger and more meaningful over a six-month period of time, versus two months? Content on their channels, an event with their community, a customer story on our channels, bringing them into the work we're doing as a company."
And the format she's most excited about probably won't surprise you:
"I really like newsletters and newsletter communities. Creators who do in-person events or connect with their audience through a gated community, I think that's going to be the next big thing."
Given where you're reading this, that tracks. And hey, maybe CENYC x Lovable is next?? Danielle, if you're reading this...
So this week, pick one brand you already use and love. Don't pitch them yet. Just post about it like nobody's watching.
Thanks, Danielle, for all the great insight. You should follow Danielle here.
Next Event: July 28th Mixer & Panel
Summer is in full swing and after a packed few months of events, launches, conferences, and creator chaos, we're bringing the community back together.
Join Creator Economy NYC and our friends at TopFan for an evening of networking, conversation, and connection with creators, marketers, platforms, and industry leaders shaping what's next.
We'll explore what it means to build a creator business that lasts, from audience ownership and direct fan relationships to creating opportunities beyond the platforms we rely on every day.
Oh, and it’s the night before Creator Economy LIVE East conference happening here in nyc (more on that next week).
Two free tools top creators use to keep themselves moving
The Creator Goal Setting Guide (FREE): A simple but powerful document to help you declare who you want to BECOME in 2026. Get it here.
The Creator Accountability System (FREE): Your visual companion for consistent creation in 2026. Get it here.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be on the ground at Cannes all week, so expect some takeaways in upcoming newsletters. And, be sure to follow along on my IG for daily updates!
F*ck It, Create It,
Brett
+ With research, interview and editorial support by Taylor Cromwell - a newsletter and creator economy expert and founder of Creator Diaries. Follow Taylor on LinkedIn.
