Worked examples
Real numbers, real scores.
“earn $5K a month from brand deals”
80%
Industrial Grade Delulu
- Rate per sponsored post
- $100
- Paid posts needed / month
- 50
- Followers needed
- 115,075
“make $1K a month from sponsors by summer”
18%
Suspiciously Reasonable
- Rate per sponsored post
- $333
- Paid posts needed / month
- 3
- Followers needed
- 25,000
“go full-time on brand deals in a year”
36%
Bold, But Sane
- Rate per sponsored post
- $667
- Paid posts needed / month
- 9
- Followers needed
- 132,567
How it’s scored
Math, not vibes.
Every factor is scored on its own, capped, and added up to a score from 0 to 100. Same inputs, same score, every time. It measures how hard the plan leans on optimism, not your odds of success.
Full methodologyDeal load
Paid posts needed a month (target ÷ your rate per post) ÷ sponsored slots (a quarter of your posts) × 15. Your rate ≈ $10 per 1,000 followers × (engagement ÷ 3%), capped between 0.25× and 2×.
max 35
Audience gap
Monthly follower growth needed to reach the audience whose sponsored slots would cover the target × 0.5.
max 30
Income ramp
Monthly growth from your current deal income (or one post's rate) to the target × 0.5.
max 20
Engagement drag
(3 − engagement rate %) × 5.
max 15
Questions
Before you commit.
How much should I charge for a sponsored post?
A common starting point is about $10 per 1,000 followers per post, adjusted for engagement. So 10K followers is roughly $100 a post at a typical 3% engagement. Rates vary a lot: TikTok often pays less per follower, YouTube more, and niches like finance or beauty can pay well above average.
Does engagement rate matter more than followers?
Brands increasingly pay for attention, not follower counts. The calculator scales your rate by your engagement against a ~3% benchmark, from a quarter of the base rate up to double.
How many sponsored posts is too many?
The calculator assumes about 1 in 4 of your posts can be sponsored before your audience starts tuning out. Past that, growth and engagement usually suffer, which lowers your rate.
Is this financial advice?
No. It is simple math on rules of thumb. Real deals depend on your platform, niche, audience location and how well you pitch.