What Happens After a Brand Says “Yes”?

Come Behind the Scenes of How I Actually Create for Brands

If you've ever wondered what actually happens after a brand sends me their products and says, “We want content,” this is it.

I spend at least one to two days a week in the studio, and honestly, I'm creating or editing content around five days out of the week.

It sounds like a lot, and sometimes it definitely is, but I genuinely love this part of my work.

On September 11, I headed into the studio with multiple brands to shoot content for their upcoming batches. I brought four different outfits, multiple products and a whole lot of ideas.

Here's what working with me actually looks like.

BEFORE THE CAMERA COMES OUT

Before I ever pick up my camera, I want to understand the brand.

What are you selling?

Who are you trying to reach?

What do you want people to feel when they see your content?

What are you trying to accomplish this month?

Once I understand the direction, I can actually create around it instead of just taking pretty pictures.

I don't want every brand to look the same.

STUDIO DAY

For this shoot, I had multiple brands to work through, so I planned each batch before arriving.

Different outfits.

Different setups.

Different visual directions.

Different products.

I'll usually create a mix of:

**Product photography

Editorial photography

Videography

Lifestyle content

Simple UGC style videos**

The goal is to give the brand enough variety that their feed doesn't feel like they posted the same photo 15 times.

Sometimes I'm behind the camera.

Sometimes I'm in front of it.

Sometimes my husband is helping me shoot.

Sometimes we're bringing in another model or creator.

That's the fun part.

THEN COMES THE PART NOBODY SEES

Once the photos are taken, I'm not finished.

This is where a lot of the work actually starts.

I take everything home, sort through the content, edit the photos and videos, organize the batch and start putting together the final direction.

For my solo clients, I also create a mockfeed.

Think of it as a little preview of what their content can look like once it's actually on Instagram.

Instead of just sending a folder with 15 random photos, I want the client to see how everything works together as a brand.

Then I send the completed batch over.

And yes...

They pay me. 😂

That part never gets old.

WHAT ARE MY “SOLO” CLIENTS?

These packages are actually an extension of what I already do through Zeal Social Management.

With our full social media management clients, we're handling much more.

**Social media management

Captions

Posting

Strategy

Meta ads

Additional models and creators

Content planning

Ongoing creative direction**

But not every brand needs all of that.

Some brands don't need someone running their entire Instagram.

They just need good content and a real person attached to their brand.

That's where these solo content packages come in.

WHY I LOVE THIS MODEL

Honestly, these have become some of my favourite clients to work with.

A lot of smaller brands don't necessarily want a huge agency package.

They don't need someone managing every single part of their business.

They just want someone they trust to create beautiful, usable content for them every month.

And in a world where so much content is becoming automated and AI generated, I think there's something really valuable about having an actual person behind the camera.

A real face.

A real creator.

A real relationship with the brand.

That's what I bring.

THE BUSINESS SIDE

These smaller content packages can bring in around $3K–$5K in additional monthly revenue on top of the larger clients we're already working with.

And here's the part I didn't expect.

Some of the brands that started with these smaller packages have eventually become some of our biggest clients.

They start small.

We build trust.

They see the work.

They see the consistency.

They see the results.

And eventually, the relationship grows.

That's something I've learned over and over again while building my businesses.

You don't always need to land the biggest client in the room.

Sometimes you just need to do really good work for the person who gave you a chance.

YOUR TURN: COULD YOU BE A CONTENT CREATOR?

Okay, let's make this fun.

Give yourself 1 point for every YES.

1. Do you already take photos of everything?

YES / NO

2. Do your friends ask you to take their photos?

YES / NO

3. Do you notice when a brand's Instagram looks really good?

YES / NO

4. Do you constantly think, “I could make that look better”?

YES / NO

5. Would you actually enjoy spending an afternoon taking photos and videos?

YES / NO

6. Do you like experimenting with outfits, lighting, makeup or locations?

YES / NO

7. Would you be comfortable reaching out to a small business?

YES / NO

8. Do you have a phone with a decent camera?

YES / NO

YOUR SCORE

0–2: You're probably still figuring out what you enjoy. Start creating for yourself.

3–5: Okayyy, there's something here. Start building a little portfolio.

6–8: Girl, what are we waiting for?

You don't need a studio to start.

YOUR MINI CHALLENGE

Before you leave this article, choose one product in your house.

Set a timer for 60 minutes.

Create your mini content batch.

Then ask yourself:

Did I enjoy doing this?

If the answer is yes...

Do it again tomorrow.

Then again next week.

Then start reaching out to brands.

Because that's genuinely how this started for me.

One shoot.

One idea.

One person saying yes.

Then another.

And another.

You don't need to know exactly where it's going yet.

You just need to start creating.

⁂