If you want to start working with brands on your social media platforms, and want brands to take you seriously and want to work with you to grow their companies, you need to treat your platform like a business too.
I work with brands + influencers through my Digital Marketing business, so I have a good insight on what brands want to see. So here's what you must do.
1. Have a great audience. That does not necessarily mean a high number of followers, but a minimum (not just friends and family). The number of followers does indicate that you are producing interesting content and do influence others in one or many ways, so it is important. But what is most important is the quality of those followers: are they engaged? Are they targeted? Are they local? It's easy to buy followers and show a high number, but that will eventually do you wrong: brands will want to see your insights which tell them who that audience is. If they are too young, or all live in India, it will be easy to see they are not real. The followers have to match with your content and what your message is.
2. Have a great engagement. Sure, you can have a high number of followers, but if they are not interested in what you are saying, who cares? Likes, comments, saves, DMs... all of that shows engagement and it's what brands want to see.
3. Have targeted content. If you want to work with a healthy product, your page has to match that wellness lifestyle. If you want to work with a fashion brand, your page has to fit their style. If your content does not match with a product's demographic, that brand will most likely not want to work with you, even if you do have a great following and engagement.
Now, if you have the three points above, and you have a list of brands that you want to work with (that you use, that you love, that you think your followers will love too, and that match your content) then you have to do the following.
4. Build a press kit. Brands have no time to waste, and they receive a ton of daily emails just like yours . Create a document that sums up (with proof) everything mentioned above including up-to-date screenshots of the following data: impressions, reach, audience demographics (sex, age & location), story views, page views, post views, replies, saves, comments. ETC!
5. Write a pitch. You can write a draft but make sure that every time you approach a brand your pitch is personalized: what EXACTLY will you do for that brand, why is your audience the perfect to showcase their brand, what angle do you have in mind... if they see a clear idea why, it will be easier for them to accept.
6. Know your worth. As I said before, I know girls with 50k making a ton of contracted advertisement and girls with 1.5Mil making zero. Your content, your engagement, your following, your brand... everything will shape that number. Be realistic and negotiate right.