Before You Begin
Read the creator's profile first: their offerings, availability, channels and featured work. A brief that quotes something specific from the profile gets a faster, better answer. Have a budget range and dates, even rough ones.
What a Useful Brief Contains
- Goal. The one result you want.
- Audience. Who it’s for, specifically.
- Why this creator. One sentence that proves you read the profile.
- Deliverables. Formats and counts.
- Budget range. Even a wide one.
- Timing. Live dates and any script or review deadlines.
- Location. Remote, or where and when.
- Usage rights. Where the content appears, for how long, and whether it’s promoted with paid media.
- Exclusivity. None, category, or full, and for how long.
- Approvals. Who signs off. You can agree on the number of rounds after you’re introduced.
How This Maps to the MIC Index Form
The inquiry and shortlist forms ask for your name, work email, organization, the kind of collaboration and the opportunity, with an optional link. An optional section adds budget range, campaign or event timing, requested deliverables, usage (organic, paid, brand channels), usage duration and exclusivity. Put your goal, audience, why they’re a fit, location, and approvals in the opportunity field. You’ll talk rates, contracts, and scripts after you’re introduced.
A Completed Example Brief
This example is made up, so feel free to copy the structure.
- Objective
- Drive sign-ups for a free financial-readiness course among junior enlisted families before the spring PCS season.
- Audience
- Enlisted service members E-3 to E-6 and their spouses, mostly 22 to 34, on Instagram and in podcast audiences about military family life.
- Why this creator
- Your episodes on first PCS moves and your Instagram series on budgeting between paychecks reach exactly the families this course is for, and your tone is practical rather than promotional.
- Deliverables
- One 60-second podcast mid-roll read in two episodes, one Instagram Reel, two story frames with the link sticker, and a newsletter mention.
- Budget range
- $1,000 to $5,000 for the package, to be agreed with you directly.
- Timing
- Content live between March 2 and March 20, 2027. Scripts shared by February 16.
- Location
- Remote. No travel.
- Usage rights
- Organic posting on your channels. We would like to repost the Reel on our own channels for 90 days; paid amplification isn’t planned.
- Exclusivity
- Category exclusivity in personal-finance education for 30 days from the last post. No other restrictions.
- Approvals
- One round of script review by our team, within two business days. Creative control stays with you.
- Contact
- Priya Natarajan, Partnerships Lead, Example Readiness Fund. priya@example.org.
Everything above the Contact line fits in the opportunity field and the optional section. It doesn’t promise a rate. You and the creator agree on that.
What Happens After the Introduction
The team forwards the brief according to each creator's preferences. Interested creators reply to you directly. From there you agree rates, contract, scripts, approval rounds and payment terms between you. The Index doesn’t take a fee and isn’t a party to the agreement. See Send an inquiry or brief.
What Success Looks Like
A creator can read your brief in two minutes and answer three questions: is this for my audience, can I deliver it in that window, and is the budget in range. If they can, you get a reply instead of a list of questions.
Common Problems
- No budget. "Not sure yet" is an option, but nothing gets you a faster reply than a budget range, even a wide one.
- Too many deliverables. Ask for the smallest package that tests the fit. Expand after the first one works.
- Usage rights left vague. Say where the content will appear, for how long, and whether it will be promoted with paid media. Creators price these differently.
Questions People Ask
Is there a creator brief template on the Index?
Yes. The inquiry and shortlist forms ask for the essentials: name, work email, organization, collaboration type, the opportunity, an optional link, and an optional section for budget range, timing, deliverables, usage and exclusivity. The completed example on this page shows how to fill them.
What goes in the form, and what do we talk about later?
The form carries objective, audience and fit in the opportunity field, plus budget range, timing, deliverables, usage and exclusivity in the optional section. You and the creator work out rates, contracts, scripts, approval rounds, and payment terms after you’re introduced.
Can I attach a document?
Not through the form. Paste the brief into the opportunity field and add a link to a page or shared document if you’ve one.
Should I send one brief to many creators?
Send one shortlist brief to the people it genuinely fits. A brief that reads as a mass mailing gets fewer replies than three targeted ones.
Send a brief from your shortlist
Related Guides
- Send an Inquiry or Brief: Reach one creator or your whole shortlist through the team, and see what happens next.
- Find Creators: Search and filter to find the right voices, see what each creator offers, and save the ones who fit.
- Build and Use a Shortlist: Save creators as you browse, trim your list, and send one brief to the people you pick.
Found a step that no longer matches the product? Report an outdated step and the team will re-check it.