First of all I have no budget is a lie in the same way that the check is in the mail is a lie. Those things are generally never true. There is somebody at the organization who has money and that can make that decision especially in PR and marketing. There's always a little bit of wiggle room maybe not for $200,000 campaign that includes private jet to Paris, but for one off sponsored post or something small there is a budget there. If you know that there's budget, and you talk to other influencers and they're getting paid, it's either that they don't want to work with you and they don't have the kahunas as it were to just tell you that they don't want to pay you and they don't work with you, in which case not worth your time, move on or you're not talking to the right person.

Sometimes it's simply that. Either you could be talking to the person that manages their Instagram account. Maybe you slid into the brand's DM's and you would chat with the social media manager, and they've been reposting your photos. That's awesome. Then you have this idea and you send them an email and say, “I would love to do that’’, and they like, ”I'm so sorry I don't have a budget.” Yes, they don’t have a budget, but the director of marketing has a budget, or the VP of PR has a budget. Sometimes you’re just simply not talking to the right person so if you get pushed back and you know that there's money there just go up the ladder and not only up the ladder but go to another department. If you're talking to PR, go to marketing. If you’re talking to marketing, go to PR. Keep the nose to the ground and you'll find the money eventually.