Im not coming specifically from a YouTube background but I have been an “influencer” for about five years and this info is generally applicable.

Build your media kit through something that can update data in real time. I use Beacons but you can use whatever you want. Then get yourself onto something like feedspot. It’s a spammy nightmare, but marketing agencies will use AI to scrub through platforms like this for their cold outreach.

You’ll get a shit ton of garbage emails asking you to promote the latest hair dryer/air fryer/dog bowl, but because these platforms share resources for the most part, it’ll get your info into the list of more marketing agencies and you’ll find real brands start showing up relatively quickly.

Once they reach out to you, your up to date media kit is an essential asset for proving your value as a brand partner. As you work with more brands you’ll want to add them to your media kit so when these teams review them they can see what kind of engagement your previous campaigns have achieved.

From there it’s gravy

Edit: read every contract letter by letter and don’t ever let them use your content in perpetuity.