It starts with a real relationship
If you have ever been asked, in a normal week, who someone should talk to about a problem, you already understand the raw material. An introduction is worth paying for when it grows out of a relationship that actually exists: you know the person, you have spoken recently, and they pick up when you call.
That is different from a large contact list or a big follower count, and brands know the difference within one conversation. A name harvested from a database is worth almost nothing, and everyone has those. A person who trusts your judgement is worth a great deal, and very few people can offer that on demand.
The right person, not just any person
Relevance is where the value sits. The buyer has to be someone who could plausibly need what the brand sells, in a role where the problem is actually theirs to solve. An introduction to the wrong person, however impressive their title, wastes three people's time, including yours.
This is why good introducers are choosy in both directions. They learn enough about the brand to judge the fit honestly, and they think about the buyer's real situation, not just their job title. When both sides thank you afterwards, you have done the job properly.
Permission is what makes it an introduction
Handing over someone's contact details without asking is not an introduction. It is a leak, and it can burn a relationship you spent years building. A paid introduction starts with you asking the buyer first: here is the company, here is why I thought of you, are you open to a conversation?
The buyer also knows a fee is involved, and the brand and the price are agreed before names move. That transparency protects you. Nobody feels sold, nobody feels ambushed, and your recommendation stays what it has always been: your honest word, with a fair fee attached when it leads somewhere.
Context does the heavy lifting
What you say in the introduction matters more than the introduction itself. Two or three honest sentences, why this brand is worth twenty minutes and why now, turn a polite favour into a meeting the buyer actually prepares for. You know things no outreach tool knows: what the buyer is working on, what they complained about last quarter, what a good outcome looks like for them.
Passing that context along, with permission, is the part nobody can automate. Tools can find a door. Only a person who is trusted on both sides can open it and explain why walking through it is worth it.
Your reputation is the real product
Be clear eyed about what is being bought and sold here. Brands are not paying for contact details. They are paying because your name, attached to a suggestion, makes a busy person stop and listen. That reputation took you years to build, and every introduction either strengthens it or spends it.
So protect it the way you always have. Decline when the fit is wrong, when there is a conflict, or when an employer policy says no. A good introducer who says no often is worth more, not less, because everyone learns that their yes actually means something.
How the money works
When an introduction leads to a meeting that actually happens, the brand pays per meeting held, from $150, capped at $500. You keep 80% of that fee and PayPerIntro takes 20%, before costs and taxes. Your share is paid within seven business days after you and the brand both confirm the work was completed. If the meeting never happens, no fee is owed, which is exactly why buyers trust the arrangement.
And the honest note, because it matters: PayPerIntro is currently a waitlist only pilot, reviewed by hand, and payouts are not active yet. Joining the waitlist does not guarantee opportunities or earnings. What it does is put your relationships on record, with your terms respected, so that when a brand needs exactly the person you know, the introduction can happen the right way.
- Real relationship: you know them, and they trust your word.
- Right person: the role and the need genuinely fit.
- Permission first: the buyer agrees before names move.
- Real context: a few honest sentences on why it matters.