Posting a contract

A contract is the other way to buy a shout-out. Instead of bidding on an Orbit a creator already opened, you say what you want and creators come to you. You post what you're promoting, a pitch and a link, your budget for one shout-out, who should hear about it, where, and the day it should be live by. Creators who fit send you a request, and you pick one. Posting is free, and there is no plan or subscription to buy.

How it works

1. Sign in. Posting needs an account. Your contract shows under your ShoutOrbit handle, and if you pick someone, that handle is the name on your shout-out.
2. Fill in the contract. It asks for:
   • What you're promoting, in a few words.
   • The link to it. The same rules as a bid's link: https://, one link, no shorteners, no redirects to another site.
   • Your pitch, up to 150 characters, with no link inside it. This is what the creator will say, so write it to be said out loud.
   • Your budget for one shout-out, in whole dollars, from $10 to $300.
   • Who should hear about it, in your own words ("people paying off student loans").
   • Where: YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, X, Twitch or Substack. Tick as many as you like.
   • The live-by date: the day you want it out by, between 7 and 90 days from today.
3. Hold the budget on your card. You enter a card and press "Hold $X and post", with your budget in place of $X. Your bank puts a pending hold on the card for exactly your budget. Nothing is charged yet. The contract goes public only once the hold is in place.
4. Creators send requests. Your contract is on the public contracts board for 3 days. Each request says what the creator will do and the day it will be live by, with their channels beside it. You're emailed as each one arrives, and you can chat with any of them before you choose.
5. Pick one. The others are told they weren't picked. Your hold becomes the one bid on a one-slot Orbit for that creator, and from there it runs like any Orbit. See After the pick.

You can have up to 3 contracts open at once. All of them are listed on your contracts page.

How each contract ends

A released hold leaves your card on your bank's schedule, usually within a few days.

Why it works this way

Why the budget is held before anyone sees it. A budget on a public board is an offer. If anyone could type "$1,000 for a shout-out" without backing it, creators would waste time answering offers that were never real. Every budget on the board is already held on a card, so a creator who answers yours knows the money is there. That is what gets you serious replies.

Why posting is free. The hold already shows you mean it. We earn our usual cut of the shout-out if you pick someone, and nothing if you don't.

Why 3 days. A hold on a card doesn't last forever: the card networks end it after a few days. A short window means your hold is still there when the creator's Orbit charges it.

Why the budget stops at $300. It's held on a card, and that is the most one card bid can be anywhere on ShoutOrbit.

Why requests are private. Only you and the creator who sent a request can see it. A creator can say plainly what they'd do without other creators copying the offer.

What can go wrong

• Your card can't be held. The contract never goes public. Try another card. After too many declined cards the form closes ("This form closed after too many tries."), and "Try another card" starts the same contract again with a fresh hold.
• "Too many tries in the last hour." There's a limit on how many contracts one account can start in an hour. Wait and try again.
• You already have 3 open. Withdraw one, or wait for one to close.
• Your pitch or link is turned down. Every contract gets the same automated check as a bid before your card is touched, and the reason shows under the field.
• Nobody sends a request, or nobody fits. Let it close. The hold is released and you pay nothing.
• You pick and change your mind. A pick can't be undone. See After the pick for what you can still do.

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