Accidentally Influential

How to Build a Community That Attracts Brand Deals Using Storytelling ft. Mackenzie Heflin

Followers are vanity. Community is currency. And nobody teaches that better than today's guest. Mackenzie Heflin is a storytelling specialist and content coach who went from losing her entire business overnight — her Facebook group got hacked and deleted at seven months pregnant — to rebuilding from scratch, going viral 27 days into a new storytelling strategy, and working with over 200 clients one-on-one, including Ariana Grande's photographer. In this episode we get into why storytelling is the most underrated strategy for EDUcreators who want to land brand deals — and how to write pitch emails, build community trust, and attract inbounds by just showing up as yourself. What We Cover: * Mackenzie's origin story — how losing everything led to building something better * Why she posted 5-7 times a day for four months before anything clicked (and what that means for you if you're early) * The mindset shift from chasing followers to building a community — and why it changes everything * Why TikTok is the greatest gift for educational content creators who don't want to perform * How storytelling content strategy leads to better brand deal inbounds — organically * The difference between a sponsored post that feels like an ad and one that feels like a story (and what brands are actually noticing) * How to write a pitch email that sounds human — not like ChatGPT wrote it * Why saying no to misaligned brand deals protects your community and your rates * The structure Mackenzie teaches for brand-ready storytelling content * The biggest storytelling mistake creators make in 2026 (spoiler: it involves production value) * Why authority-based content is the unlock for creators who don't trust themselves yet * Rapid fire: storytelling vs strategy, the content that changed her business, and the biggest mistake she sees Find Mackenzie: TikTok, Instagram & Threads: @mackenzie_heflin Episodes Referenced: * S2E1 [https://open.spotify.com/episode/2j8QMfg1zcbR4EVmxrPReK?si=hxHlvB9aQUK9Ekfk23t7Fg]: You're Already Doing This for Free — the unpaid brand work hiding in your content * S2E2: [https://open.spotify.com/episode/17fzsx9XPpSQQsl9vUMU2Z] Is Your Profile Brand Ready? — the 5-point checklist * Ep 22 [https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Tq2VF9fnkXpejkNQZzmTI?si=pyScAfRJQuuWXv1a5SEHWg]: What Brands Are Actually Looking For ft. Noam Giras of Tailor Brands * Ep 4 [https://open.spotify.com/episode/0sSWN9PfDKGaJu7ZytuE8f?si=rObYpCOLR5SByS68JSPvog]: The Obvious YES Pitch — the 5C Framework for pitching brands like a partner More From Us: * Join the Creator Club Waitlist [https://teanna-blees-444a.mykajabi.com/cc-waitlist] — coaching, templates, rate calculators, and direct help pitching brands * Follow us on IG & TikTok: @notaninfluencerco [https://www.instagram.com/notaninfluencerco/] A Note From Our Sponsor: We talk a lot on this show about treating your content creation like a business — and that means setting yourself up with the right foundation. When Tea and I made Not An Influencer Creator Agency official, we used Tailor Brands [https://tailorbrands.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=90&aff_id=9711] to form our LLC. The process was genuinely simple — we filed from our laptops in under an hour, tracked our filing status right inside the Tailor dashboard, and had everything we needed to keep moving. Tailor also offers additional services like EIN setup, business bank accounts, and a finance manager to track your income and expenses as you grow. Search "Tailor Business Builder" to get started today.

Is Your Profile Brand Ready? The 5-Point Checklist to Attract Brand Deals as a Content Creator

If you've been posting consistently and still haven't landed a brand deal, your content might not be the problem. Your profile might be. This is Season 2, Episode 2 of Accidentally Influential — and this season is a full curriculum. Every episode builds on the last. If you haven't listened to Season 2 Episode 1 yet, start there — then come back here. Today we're walking you through our 5-point Brand Ready Page Checklist: the exact things a brand looks at when they land on your profile and decide whether to reach out. Not your follower count. Not your aesthetics. These five things. What We Cover: * How brands actually review your page before they decide to reach out — and what they're really looking for * Why follower count is one of the last things brands care about (and what they look at instead) * Check 1: Niche clarity — can a brand tell within seconds who you're talking to and why they'd want to be there? * Check 2: Natural brand fit — are there visible gaps in your content where a brand could naturally live? * Check 3: Evidence of movement — are people in your community actually taking action on your content, or just watching? * Check 4: Consistency — what your posting cadence tells a brand about whether you're a reliable partner * Check 5: Reachability — the embarrassingly simple thing that's blocking more brand deals than anything else (Kate's origin story) * The red flags that kill brand deals even when your content is good — mismatched past partnerships, undisclosed ads, and fake engagement * Why FTC disclosure isn't just a legal requirement — it's a trust signal that brands are actively looking for * Your challenge: run your own page through all 5 checks before you close this episode Your Homework: Pull up your page right now. Cover your username and bio. Can a total stranger tell within the first few seconds what you talk about and who you talk to? If not — that's where you start. Episodes Referenced: * S2E1 [https://open.spotify.com/episode/2j8QMfg1zcbR4EVmxrPReK?si=hxHlvB9aQUK9Ekfk23t7Fg]: You're Probably Already Doing This for Free — the unpaid brand work hiding in your content * Ep 22 [https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Tq2VF9fnkXpejkNQZzmTI?si=pyScAfRJQuuWXv1a5SEHWg]: What Brands Are Actually Looking For ft. Noam Giras of Tailor Brands — the brand-side perspective that informs this entire checklist * Ep 25 [https://open.spotify.com/episode/1oh3BOo5zekVi6brUhPXgC?si=qqTBPzAhQUSBexIIzqWjWA]: How to Grow on TikTok as a Business Owner ft. Sarah Weiss — the live 4R pricing exercise we reference More From Us: * Join the Creator Club Waitlist [https://teanna-blees-444a.mykajabi.com/cc-waitlist] — coaching, templates, rate calculators, and direct help pitching brands * Follow us on IG & TikTok: @notaninfluencerco [https://www.instagram.com/notaninfluencerco/] A Note From Our Sponsor: We talk a lot on this show about treating your content creation like a business — and that means setting yourself up with the right foundation. When Tea and I made Not An Influencer Creator Agency official, we used Tailor Brands [https://tailorbrands.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=90&aff_id=9711] to form our LLC. The process was genuinely simple — we filed from our laptops in under an hour, tracked our filing status right inside the Tailor dashboard, and had everything we needed to keep moving. Tailor also offers additional services like EIN setup, business bank accounts, and a finance manager to track your income and expenses as you grow. Search "Tailor Business Builder" to get started today.

5 Types of Content You're Already Creating That Brands Will Pay For (Season 2 Premiere)

You're Already Doing Brand Deal Work for Free (Here's How to Get Paid for It) Welcome to Season 2 of Accidentally Influential. We're calling this season Land It — because every episode this season is built around one goal: helping you land your first and ongoing paid brand partnerships. And we're starting with the episode we wish existed before we ever landed our first deal. Here's the thing nobody tells you: you are probably already creating content that brands would pay for. Right now. Without knowing it. You're just not getting paid for it yet. This episode is about changing that — not by overhauling your content strategy, not by becoming someone you're not, but by learning to look at what you're already doing through a completely different lens. This is not an influencer thing. It never was. What We Cover: * Why EDUcreators and online educators have been conditioned to think brand deals aren't for them — and why that assumption is costing them money * The 5 types of unpaid brand work creators are already doing (and how to start getting paid for each one) * Type 1: The direct tool mention — why casually name-dropping a product is already brand deal content * Type 2: The comparison or opinion moment — how contrasting two options creates the exact space a brand wants to live in * Type 3: The problem you're naming — how pain point content is silently building a pitch for a brand that solves it * Type 4: The process that needs a solution — why tutorial-style content is the most valuable real estate for brand partnerships * Type 5: The lifestyle or workflow reveal — how showing your day, your bag, your run, your desk is brand deal content hiding in plain sight * How to start looking at your content through a brand's eyes — without changing a single thing about how you create * Why your email needs to be in your bio (Kate learned this the hard way) * & Homework so ya'll can take the steps to LAND IT this season. Episodes Referenced: * Ep 20 [https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Nz1tIAuHF6HyEWharAEAw?si=jlC4_M1hRCuYISZtt5FSlg]: Your first brand deal blueprint PART 1 * Ep 21 [https://open.spotify.com/episode/0zy7OmHqcz9kubWWWoKQTV?si=T_q961fhTVy3RToeEyjm0g]: Your first brand deal blueprint PART 2 * Ep 5 [https://open.spotify.com/episode/497metIfbg3iUhaXpK6sqS?si=p_ddGmWuS0qrIrWWlxk5iQ]: What You Should Actually Charge — the 4R Pricing Framework * Ep 4 [https://open.spotify.com/episode/0sSWN9PfDKGaJu7ZytuE8f?si=rObYpCOLR5SByS68JSPvog]: The Obvious YES Pitch — how to pitch brands like a strategic partner More From Us: * Tailor Brands: t [https://tailorbrands.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=90&aff_id=9711]he EASIEST way to legitimize your creator business, form your LLC, and build a business hub to make that side of earning an income SIMPLE. * Join the Creator Club waitlist [https://bit.ly/NAICAclub] — coaching, templates, rate calculators, and direct help pitching brands * Follow us on IG & TikTok: @notaninfluencerco [https://www.instagram.com/notaninfluencerco]

Season 2 of Accidentally Influential: LAND IT

Season 2 of Accidentally Influential is here — and we're calling it: Land It. Season 1 was the wake-up call. Season 2 is the plan. If you're an educator, course creator, coach, or digital product seller who's been building an audience and wondering how to monetize it beyond your own offers — this season was made for you. Because brand deals aren't just for lifestyle influencers with half a million followers. They're for you. And this season, we're showing you exactly how to land them. Hosted by Tea and Kate — two content creators who've built nearly 500,000 followers and secured over $700,000 in brand partnerships — Accidentally Influential is the podcast that teaches EDUcreators how to pitch brands, price their content, negotiate paid partnerships, and build brand deals into a real, consistent income stream. Season 2 covers everything: how to make your page brand-ready, how to build a media kit that actually gets responses, how to pitch brands and get replies, how to price yourself using our 4R Pricing Framework, how to negotiate without losing the deal, and how to turn one-off partnerships into long-term retainers. New episodes every Monday. If you're ready to stop leaving money on the table — follow the show and start with Episode 1. Topics covered: brand deals, how to get brand deals, brand partnerships for creators, how to pitch brands, content creator monetization, sponsored content, influencer marketing, how to make money as a content creator, micro influencer brand deals, paid partnerships, how to land brand deals with a small following, course creator monetization, digital products, EDUcreator, creator economy

TikTok Content Strategy for Business Owners: Hooks, Structure & Brand Deals ft. Sarah Weiss (& bonus - LIVE pricing a brand deal)

If your videos aren't stopping the scroll, this episode is for you. We brought on Sarah Weiss — speech therapist turned TikTok content and marketing expert, creator of Online Business Talk, and the woman we're officially crowning the Hook Queen — to break down exactly how educational content creators and online business owners can use TikTok to grow, sell, and attract brand deals without ever chasing virality. Sarah has been on TikTok since 2021, built an audience of 77K on her business account, and accidentally built a second income stream through brand partnerships on her personal account — all by showing up as herself. BONUSSSSSS → We also walked Sarah live through our 4R Pricing Framework [https://open.spotify.com/episode/0sSWN9PfDKGaJu7ZytuE8f?si=rObYpCOLR5SByS68JSPvog] to show her exactly what she could be charging for brand deals on her TikTok page. Spoiler: the floor for a single video will surprise you :p What We Cover: * Why you need to stop starting your videos with "hey guys, happy Saturday" — and what to do instead * The two hook formulas that work every single time for educational content creators * Why TikTok is a search engine now — and how to use that to get discovered * Sarah's content structure: hook, call to action, juice (and why most creators get this backwards) * Why you don't need to go viral — you need to reach the right people * How TikTok and Instagram work together like an old married couple * Why "asking your audience a question" counts as a call to action * How Sarah accidentally built a second income stream through brand partnerships on her personal account * The live 4R Pricing Framework walkthrough — we priced Sarah's brand deal value in real time * Why ManyChat would be a dream brand deal for Sarah (and why alignment matters more than follower count) * What brands are looking for in educational content creators right now * TikTok Shop: worth it for EDUcreators or overhyped? Sarah gives her honest take Episodes Referenced: * Ep 5 [https://open.spotify.com/episode/497metIfbg3iUhaXpK6sqS?si=p_ddGmWuS0qrIrWWlxk5iQ]: What You Should Actually Charge — the full 4R Pricing Framework we walked through live * Ep 4 [https://open.spotify.com/episode/0sSWN9PfDKGaJu7ZytuE8f?si=rObYpCOLR5SByS68JSPvog]:The Obvious YES Pitch — how to pitch brands like a strategic partner * Ep 8 [https://open.spotify.com/episode/3yJayWIDgdVwdCoiUTPrhx?si=JUQUxkIoSEKqkAa7DChamA]: Affiliate Income the Right Way — on using affiliates strategically before going after paid deals Find Sarah: TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@onbrandbysarah] & Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/onbrandbysarah/]: @onbrandbysarah. Check out Online Business Tok here [https://onbrandbysarah.thrivecart.com/online-business-tok-2026/]! More From Us: * Join the Creator Club Waitlist [https://teanna-blees-444a.mykajabi.com/cc-waitlist] — coaching, templates, rate calculators, and direct help pitching brands * Follow us on IG & TikTok: @notaninfluencerco [https://www.instagram.com/notaninfluencerco/]