Almost every first brand deal is one of two things. Knowing which one is on the table keeps you from doing paid work for free.
UGC is a video the brand runs itself
UGC means user-generated content. You film a short video, you hand the file over, and the brand posts it on its own account or runs it as an ad. Your follower count never comes up, because the brand is not buying your audience. It is buying production — a real-looking person using the product, made faster and cheaper than a studio would. That is why the first thing a brand asks is whether it can see examples, not how many followers you have.
A first video for organic use sits in the $25 to $75 band. If the brand wants to run it as a paid ad, that is a separate line on top.
Gifted means product instead of money
A gifted collab is free product in exchange for content. No cash moves. It is a fair trade when you would have bought the product anyway, you want a relationship with that brand, and the ask is small. It stops being fair the moment it arrives with the deliverables list of a paid deal — three videos, a posting schedule, ad rights. That is unpaid work wearing a nicer name.
Take gifted selectively early on. The content you make from it is portfolio, and the contact has now watched you deliver. Just do not count product as income.
You can ask for both in one message. "I would love to be on the list, and if there is budget for a paid piece I can send a rate" gives the brand two ways to say yes.
Pick the trade you want, then see brands in your niche and start a list.