Sending a request

A contract is a sponsor saying "here's my budget for one shout-out, here's who should hear about it, and here's the day it should be out by." The money is already held on their card. A request is your answer: what you'll do, in your own words, and the day it will be live. If the sponsor picks you, that becomes your promise and you're paid for it like any Orbit win, for content you were making anyway.

How it works

1. Find a contract on the contracts board. Each one shows what's being promoted, the sponsor's pitch, the link's site, the budget, who it's for, which platforms, the live-by date and how long it's open.
2. Set up payouts first. You can't send a request until Stripe can pay you. See Setting up payouts.
3. Say what you'll do. Up to 200 characters, like "I'll talk about it for 60 seconds in Sunday's video, link in the description." If you're picked, this is your promise word for word, so write only what you'll actually do.
4. Pick your live-by day. Any day from tomorrow up to the sponsor's live-by date, and no later.
5. Send it. The sponsor is emailed, and sees your request with your channels beside it: each platform and handle on your account, whether it's verified, and its subscriber count where we have one.
6. Wait for the pick. If they pick you, you're emailed with what you'll get and your new Orbit for the deal. If they pick someone else, you're told that too. A contract nobody picks closes 3 days after it was posted.

You can send one request per contract. Only you and the sponsor can see it. Other creators never see what you offered.

The deal chat

Each request opens a chat between you and the sponsor, from the moment you send it. Before the pick it's the interview: the sponsor may ask what you'd say, when, or how your audience usually reacts. After the pick, your chat carries on as the deal chat. Use it to agree the script, how to say the product's name, and the timing. Chats are text only, and only the two of you can read yours.

If the sponsor picks someone else, or the contract closes, your chat closes too. You can still read it.

The rule on contact details. Above every chat it says: sharing phone numbers, emails or social handles can get your account banned for up to 6 months, and deals made outside ShoutOrbit aren't protected. Nothing you type is blocked. Messages are checked automatically for contact sharing, and a person looks at anything flagged. They either let it go, warn you, or ban the account.

Why it works this way

Why you must be payable before you ask. A pick hands you money that's already held. If Stripe couldn't pay you, the sponsor's money would sit stuck with nowhere to go, and the deal would fall apart after they'd turned everyone else down.

Why your live-by day can't be after theirs. The sponsor chose that date for a reason, a launch or a sale. A later date isn't the thing they asked for.

Why requests are private. You can say exactly what you'd do, and for how much effort, without another creator reading it and offering a little more.

Why deals stay on ShoutOrbit. On ShoutOrbit the sponsor's money is held before you start, and you're paid once you publish. Outside it you have none of that: no hold, no payout on delivery, and nobody to help if the other side doesn't pay.

What can go wrong

• "Set up payouts first." Finish payouts in your settings, then send the request again.
• "This contract isn't taking requests any more." It was picked, withdrawn or closed while you were writing.
• "Pick a day between tomorrow and the sponsor's live-by date." Choose an earlier day.
• You're picked but can't do it. Say no in your creator check. The sponsor isn't charged, and you aren't paid. Better: only send requests you can keep.
• Your account is suspended, or has no handle. You can't send requests until that's sorted.

Next step