Cal AI · B2C · photo calorie tracking app
Pay creators $100-200 when a friend they refer signs a deal
Really helped; got direct numbers and deals around talent agents
Workedcreator-opsreferral-program
What they did
Message signed creators monthly: 'Do any of your friends want brand deals?' Pay ~$100-200 to the creator if a referred friend signs. Referred creators send a personal phone number, so you call the influencer directly, sometimes bypassing their management.
What happened
Guest says it really helped and let them get around agencies.
“So we we'd send messages like each month saying like, "Hey, do any of your friends or any of your friends looking for brand deals?" And we would actually pay the influencer if we ended up signing one of their friends or one of their referrals.”
“Um, so that really did help us, actually. And again, it also kind of helped us get around the agencies, cuz they would just send us their personal number, and we would call the influencer directly.”
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- Open 20 brand accounts so each outreach person can DM hundreds of creators dailyHundreds of creators contacted per account per day
- Show a spin wheel that lands on 80% off instead of just showing the discountDouble-digit conversion lift vs a plain discount screen in an A/B test
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- Let creators make their normal videos; only set timing and a caption tagCreators called it their easiest brand deal; keeps views predictable
More from this episode
- Cal AI: Agree with a creator's view boast, then guarantee 700-800K views when they claim 1MGuaranteed a profitable CPM on every deal; creators couldn't back down
- Cal AI: Have 25 hired assistants each email 100 creators a day~220K creators contacted, 2-3K signed; roughly 1 signed per 1,000 emailed
- Cal AI: Let AI answer creators' email replies and hand warm ones to a managerAssistants' job ends at the first email; no results reported
- Cal AI: Pitch 'keep making your normal videos, just sneak us in', then ask for a callCalls ~10x the chance of signing; the pitch often lowered creators' prices
- Cal AI: Have creators show the photo-scan naturally in the first 15 seconds, with no scriptCalled one of the biggest rules; no numbers
- Cal AI: Pay big lifestyle creators to scan their breakfast in day-in-the-life vlogs, 4 times a monthMost profitable content; one video drove hundreds to thousands of promo code uses
- Cal AI: Schedule a reality-TV star's posts just before and after her new season airsVery low CPM for a famous creator; no exact figure
- Cal AI: Buy only very cheap views at first, then pay more per deal once people know youDeals got more profitable over time, not less
- Cal AI: Test creators beyond fitness: moms, comedy, and fitness sub-nichesMixed: some moms profitable at $10 CPM; comedy got views but low intent
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- Cal AI: Pay a Love Island contestant for day-in-the-life videosStarted well but underperformed; viewers mostly came for his partner
- Cal AI: Give outreach assistants monthly prizes for most creators contacted or signedKept assistants motivated; no numbers
- Cal AI: Befriend creators' managers, then ask to add the creator to the group chatLanded deals with a TV star; guest calls relationships the key
- Cal AI: Sign a second creator in the same niche as your best oneDidn't work at all; the first creator made $100K profit in a month
- Cal AI: Have a UGC creator post on the brand's own page, and restart as influencers get pricierPaused while influencer CPMs were cheap; now restarting for cheaper views