Audience-First Offers: How to sell stuff (and be thanked for it)
Wanna know the two biggest fears I hear from creators about doing sponsorships?
"My audience is gonna call me a sell-out"
"Doing ad reads is gonna ruin the creative purity/integrity of my craft"
Strap in because I've got a simple exercise that's gonna make you:
Excited to pitch brands
Completely change the way you think about your relationship with your audience
Audience-First Offers
Many creators first float into sponsorships because it seems like the easiest and most obvious way to monetize their influence.
They start by DMing or emailing brands they already love:
"I've been using your product for three years and it'd be great to collaborate!"
Not only is that a terrible pitch lol...
But it completely ignores the most important thing:
It's not about you.
Here's what I want you to do instead:
Ask Your Audience
Create a simple Google Form or Typeform survey and link it in your next post:
What type of job do you have?
Relationship status?
Do you have kids?
How and when do you typically consume my content?
Is it in line at Starbucks for two minutes?
Or do you sit down every Sunday and catch up on the last 3 hours of my podcast or newsletters or YouTube videos?
What problems do you have and what keeps you up at night?
Is there anything that you wish I talked about more in my content?
Is there any type of product that you wished I sold or offered that I don't?
What types of brands/products/services have you been using and loving right now?
Are there other creators that you'd like to see me collaborate with? Why?
BTW, if you don't wanna do a full-blown survey, just ask these questions on Instagram Stories, your YouTube community tab, or say "Hit reply to this email!"
This doesn't have to be complicated!
Why do an Audience-First Offers Survey?
Rather than relying solely on your demographics, you're now gathering powerful psychographic texture to better understand what makes your audience tick.
And here comes the fun part...
You now have three distinct ways to serve your audience, which I call your P.S.A.:
Products: this is the stuff you sell—digital products, courses, coaching, merch, books, software, etc.
Sponsors: these are brands who offer a product or solution that your audience told you they need! Now, when you reach out, your pitch shifts from "I love you, please pay me" to "Would you like to access this big pool of your ideal customers?"
Alliances: these are other creators or peers who can help your audience with something that you're never going to offer. Maybe it's coaching. Maybe it's courses. You better be actively trying to forge some joint ventures or affiliate deals that will be a WIN for everyone!
Scarcity Sucks and Abundance Rocks
"But Justin. If I tell my audience about other brands' or creators' stuff they'll have less money to buy my stuff!"
Look, when you have an audience-first mindset, what do you think is gonna happen when you introduce them to something that actually solves a problem in their lives in a profound way?!
They're gonna love & trust you even more!!!
And surprise, surprise: they're probably gonna be way more likely to buy your stuff since you're now a hero in their eyes.
Whoa, wait a minute.
Selling doesn't feel so scary now, huh?
It's not icky or dirty or something you do just to keep the lights on.
No...
Selling is serving.
And do you want to know the most remarkable part of Audience-First Offers?
You'll actually make more money in the end. ✌️