“My next video is gonna blow up! How do I find a sponsor?!”
One of the most common DMs I get is a version of the following:
"My videos/podcast/newsletter/posts are killin’ it right now! I’m getting XYZ,000 views/downloads/opens/impressions every month…Can you help find brands to sponsor me?"
Now, on this surface, this seems like a reasonable question.
However, there’s a critical flaw with the framing of this mindset.
It’s not about you (sorry).
Firstly, when you reach out to brands, your pitch/proposal should focus on them, not you.
I know how stoked you might feel that your latest podcast episode got 5x the usual downloads…
…BUT to be honest?
The brand doesn’t care. They don’t know who you are.
OOPS. They just deleted your email.
Your #1 priority must be to articulate how you can help the brand achieve a set of specific business outcomes.
Outcomes which are rarely as simple as “get more views”.
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The brand's perspective.
“Wait, hold up Justin!
Won’t brands be excited about getting tons of eyes and ears on their products/services? My audience is a perfect fit for their brand!”
Not really.
Again, they don’t know you. Delete.
Remember, even if you’re trying to pitch them something “low-risk” where they only compensate you based on performance (like a CPM model), they don’t have heaping piles of cash lying around to pay random creators that reach out.
There’s another huge problem here...
It's bad for you, too.
Not only is this “any sponsor will do” approach a big turn off for the brand…but if you DO somehow land a deal, you’re now trapped with a sub-optimal rate precedent.
What happens when your content starts doing even better than it is now?
One of the biggest opportunities for creators I coach is helping them detach their rates from their views/downloads/impressions.
Especially for smaller creators, this is often the biggest barrier to landing lucrative sponsorships.
The secret to unlocking brands’ budgets.
A critical mindset shift for you, dear creator, is realizing that while brands don’t have piles of cash lying around to sponsor your viral content…
They DO have piles of cash they’ve already allocated for their own internal initiatives.
So your job is to do research & identify those initiatives by:
Analyzing the content/campaigns they’re posting online
Reading their press releases & interpreting their marketing strategy
Sleuthing through their job boards to see what they need help with
ASKING THEM DIRECTLY lol
Then once you have the brand's objectives in hand…
You turn around and submit a comprehensive proposal illustrating how sponsoring you and your content will help them achieve the results they're after.
Wanna know what'll happen next?
Your contact will then forward that along to their colleagues/boss (or client if it’s an agency), have a pow-wow, then collectively decide, “let’s just slide $20,000 of our marketing budget over to Justin because it seems like he'll get us closer to our goals."
Simple, right? ✌️