---
title: 'How To Get Brand Deals - The No BS Approach For Beginners'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=Out_by9xUOU'
video_id: 'Out_by9xUOU'
date: 2026-06-14
duration_sec: 1410
---

# How To Get Brand Deals - The No BS Approach For Beginners

> Source: [How To Get Brand Deals - The No BS Approach For Beginners](https://youtube.com/watch?v=Out_by9xUOU)

## Summary

This video debunks the myth that you need thousands of followers to land lucrative brand deals. Justin, an expert in sponsorships, shares strategies for small creators to get paid partnerships by focusing on value, crafting effective pitches, and building long-term relationships with brands.

### Key Points

- **Myth of Large Following** [00:48] — You don't need a massive following; brands care about results and engaged audiences, not just numbers.
- **Value Proposition** [01:36] — Small creators should position themselves as specialized, not small, and focus on the specific value they bring to brands.
- **Common Mistake: Self-Centered Pitches** [03:51] — Avoid making pitches about yourself; instead, focus on how you can help the brand achieve its objectives.
- **Avoid Standard Pricing** [04:40] — Don't use a rate card; treat each brand as a unique partner and tailor proposals to their specific needs.
- **Handling Free Product Offers** [05:27] — Use free product offers as an opening to discuss paid partnerships by educating the brand on your value.
- **ROPE Method for Pitches** [09:58] — Pitches should be Relevant, Organic, Proof, and Easy to execute. Research the brand and show how you can help.
- **Target the Right Person** [12:44] — Send pitches to specific people (e.g., influencer marketing managers) via LinkedIn, not generic emails.
- **Quality Over Quantity** [13:54] — Focus on building long-term relationships with a few brands rather than mass pitching.
- **ARC Framework for Pricing** [16:39] — Price based on brand objectives: Awareness, Repurposing, or Conversion. Charge more for usage rights and exclusivity.
- **Surprising Transformative Promise (STP)** [20:01] — Create a clear STP that articulates the transformation you provide to your audience, making you attractive to brands.

### Conclusion

Small creators can land lucrative brand deals by focusing on their unique value, crafting personalized pitches, and building long-term partnerships. The key is to think of yourself as a specialized partner, not a small creator.

## Transcript

if you think you need thousands of
followers to get lucrative brand deals
you're wrong having followers is a bonus
of course but small channels get
lucrative brand deals all of the time
and so can you so over the next few
minutes my friend Justin who has made
millions of dollars in sponsorships and
helped content creators make tons of
money in sponsorships he's going to
share with you how channels regardless
of size can get lucrative brand
Partnerships by the time this video is
over you're going to learn what to do
when somebody offers you product instead
of money for your sponsorships you're
going to learn how to craft pitches that
actually get responses and you're going
to learn how to get started when it
comes to pricing yourself so let's jump
into the questions so we don't waste any
more time and we're starting right
now all right Justin so a lot of my
audience thinks you need to have a huge
follower account or at least a big
follower account in order to start
working with Brands what would you say
to somebody that has less than a th000
subscribers or let's say a th000
subscribers it's a great question Nick
you know one of the biggest myths is
that you need a massive following to
work with Brands you know I've helped
hundreds of creators with modest reach
land four and five fig sponsorships and
and the key is understanding that Brands
don't just care about your numbers
always they care about the results that
you can deliver think about it this way
you know if you're a small Creator in
the gardening Niche let's say with 800
YouTube subscribers but 750 of them are
passionate about sustainable gardening
and they trust your recommendations
that's incredibly valuable to certain
brands you know you might not be a fit
for giant companies yet but there are
plenty of of smaller and medium-sized
Brands who would love to reach your
engaged audience you know the mistake
most creators make is uh pitching random
Brands and saying oh I love your product
let me promote it instead you need to
think about uh what specific value you
bring you know maybe you're great at
creating educational content maybe you
can help them tell their Brand Story in
a more compelling way maybe you can
create content uh that they can
repurpose on their own channels on their
website on their own social media on an
e-commerce Partners you know page now
here's a specific example one of my
students uh had less than a thousand
followers but noticed a brand in her
Niche was only posting on social media
once a week she reached out and proposed
creating 12 pieces of content per month
for them uh that they could post
directly on their handles so not only
did she land that deal but it turned
into a long-term partnership because she
solved a real problem for them you
remember Brands they often work with
multiple creator at once they're not you
know just looking to one person with a
million followers they want a mix of
Partners uh who can help them achieve
different objectives and so as a smaller
Creator you might be perfect for testing
new messaging or maybe you know reaching
a a specific geographic area and so I
think that the key is to stop thinking
about yourself as small and start
thinking about yourself as specialized
you you're not competing with massive
influencers you're offering something
different and valuable in your own right
also you know working with with smaller
Brands when you're starting out can
actually be a huge Advantage you know
you'll learn basically you'll learn the
ropes you'll build case studies and
develop your NE negotiation skills and
then when bigger opportunities come
along uh you'll be ready to to handle
them uh professionally and so what what
matters most is having a clear
understanding of your value proposition
you know what I call your surprising
transformative promise which we'll talk
about in a little bit I think uh and so
this is again this is just about being
clear on who your audience is what
transformation you help them achieve and
why that's valuable to Brands yeah that
makes total sense so if you can't see
the value and what it is that you're
doing how in the world can you expect
somebody else to see the value and what
it is that you're doing makes total
sense so when it comes to Brand deals
what is a big mistake that you see
smaller content creators really any
content creators doing when it comes to
Brand deals one of the biggest mistakes
I see smaller creators making is making
everything about themselves instead of
the brand honestly uh you know they send
messages like oh I I love your product
I've been using it for 3 years I would
love to promote it or or maybe I have
you know X number of subscribers or
viewers I would I would love to
collaborate and so you know this
approach immediately positions you as
someone asking for a favor rather than a
potential business partner and so you
know what what creators need to
understand is that Brands they just
don't have piles of cash lying around
waiting to sponsor random people who
reach out however they do have money
allocated for their own specific Market
marketing initiatives and objectives and
so your job is to figure out what those
objectives are and propose ways to help
them achieve them you know another
massive mistake I think is having like
standard pricing that you send to every
brand and so if if this is you if you're
listening to this right now watching
this I want you to go right now into
your Media Kit delete that pricing page
that rate card or that place on your
website oh yeah click here just book a
integration with me right here see when
you do this you are encouraging Brands
to compare you to other creators purely
on price which is a which is a race to
the bottom that you can't win and so
instead you need to treat each brand as
a unique potential partner you know
research their current marketing
campaigns their you know social media
presence their press releases you know
look for gaps or opportunities where you
could add value and and then you craft a
proposal that directly addresses their
specific needs and goals you know I also
see you know see creators get really
discouraged when Brands offer them uh
free products instead of money and so
you know my perspective on this is like
rather than viewing this as an insult
use it as an opening for a deeper
conversation right ask questions about
their marketing objectives their target
audience uh their their current
challenges and then you can educate them
on why compensating you makes good
business sense you know I think also
many many creators make the mistake of
trying to handle everything via uh DMS
you know or like informal email threads
and this is just a recipe for disaster
you have to have proper contracts and
and clear deliverables and professional
communication even if you're small you
know you you need to operate like a like
a professional business another common
error is is trying to copy what bigger
creators are doing you know just because
someone with a million subscribers can
charge you know1 $20,000 for a singer
single YouTube integration doesn't mean
that oh well I only have 1% of that
audience so I guess I can only charge 1%
of what they are you know your unique
value proposition needs to be different
and specific to what you can offer
remember Brands aren't just buying
access to your audience they're buying
your creativity your ability to tell
stories your production capabilities and
your your understanding of what
resonates with your specific community
and so just focus on communicating that
value rather than just your numbers what
about when a brand reaches out and
they're offering you product in exchange
for promotion how do you turn that into
a paid brand deal so first it's
important to understand that that most
brands have different buckets of
marketing money you know when they when
they're offering you free products
they're usually working from their their
earned Media budget basically trying to
get free promotion uh and brands are
going to do this all day long okay but
almost every brand also has what's
called a paid Media budget and that's
the one that you want to tap into and so
instead of getting frustrated or
immediately saying no I'm only focusing
on pay Partnerships right now which is
what most people do uh use this as an
opportunity to open a deeper
conversation you might say something
like oh thanks so much for reaching out
you know your product looks amazing and
I can see my audience really resonating
with it I would love to create the
following one 90c video integration one
social post I'll Grant you ad rights to
all the assets for uh 3 months would you
be interested in that you know let me
know if you can pull from a different
budget for a collaboration like like
that and so this this response does
several important things it shows uh
well number one it shows enthusiasm for
their brand it demonstrates
professionalism uh and it clearly
outlines what value you could provide
also you're you're you're subtly
educating them that you're not just
someone who posts about free stuff
you're you're a business partner who can
create valuable content assets remember
Brands they don't care how much you love
them that's a good start but they don't
care about that really they care about
finding more customers so when you
respond you have to focus on uh how you
can help them achieve those specific
business objectives and you know maybe
you're great at creating educational
content that explains their product
maybe you have uh you know an audience
that perfectly matches their Target
Target demographic I I seen countless
creators transform free product offers
into paid Partnerships by helping Brands
understand the full scope of what
they're able to bring to the table you
know I I say this all the time you are
not just a Creator you're not just an
influencer right you are a production
company in a box right you're the
creative team you're the you do all the
ideation you are the production team you
shoot and edit the content you you you
have an organic distribution channel
right to distribute this content all
rolled into one by the way it's also
worth noting that you know sometimes
accepting the the free product first
again with no strings attached can lead
to paid opportunities later you can say
something like you know I would love to
try out the the product first to make
sure it's going to be a great fit for my
audience and I'm sure it's will and then
if it is we can discuss a comprehensive
paid partnership down the line and a
feature feature on my channel so again
most importantly you have to maintain
your professionalism even if you decide
to pass on the opportunity because you
never know when the brand might come
back with a bigger budget or when that
contact might move to another company
with that does have paid opportunities
so like so you just have to remember
that every brand that reaches out even
with a free product offer is showing
interest in working with you that is
valuable information so you use that as
an opening to build the relationship
that could lead to paid work down the
line this is good stuff can you walk us
through what a pitch email should look
like for somebody that's just getting
started like what should they say to
Brands when they're reaching out so let
me share what call the Rope method for
crafting pitches that actually get
responses so R stands for Relevant
organic proof and easy to execute and
this framework has helped thousands of
creators finally get on the radar of
their dream Brands and so first your
pitch needs to be relevant to something
that the brand is currently doing or has
done in the past a campaign that they've
run and so again this this requires a
bit of research looking at their social
media their press releases maybe even
their job boards are they launching a
new product right running a specific
maybe seasonal campaign maybe they're
looking to hire someone in Partnerships
you can use this information as your
hook um the O in the Rope method stands
for organic so you want to show them
that you've already created content
related to their brand or industry that
shows that your audience has an affinity
for their brand or their product or
their service right and so again this
doesn't mean that you have to have
mentioned them specifically but you
should be able to point to content that
shows that hey yeah this is perfect I
have a big pool of prospective customers
here that you want to tap into P is for
proof okay so you need to show how
you've helped other brands achieve
results and again if you're just
starting out this could uh be as simple
as sharing you know uh proof of how
you've driven affiliate performance or
maybe hey I told my audience to do a
thing and they did the thing I told them
to sign up for this free webinar and
they did it I have screenshots here as
proof right they're just looking for uh
like anecdotal even anecdotal evidence
that you have influence right and so the
e in the Rope method stands for easy to
execute so you need to make it Crystal
Clear what you are proposing to do for
the brand you can't just say oh let's
collaborate right they don't know what
what you'd be good at doing right you
have to outline specific deliverables
and how they will help the brand achieve
their goals and so okay here here's
you're probably thinking okay yeah this
is all good and well but what does this
actually look like uh in practice okay
so instead of saying hey I love your
brand I would love to collaborate right
your email might say hey I noticed that
you're focusing on sustainability this
quarter I saw this campaign maybe the
hashtag you know in the subject line
hashtag you know sustainability you know
2025 whatever you know I recently
created some content about eco-friendly
practices that strongly resonated with
my audience then you link to that
content I would love to create a series
of educational posts highlighting your
recycling program similar to what I did
for this other brand that drove XYZ
results right here's EX L what I'm
thinking I'll make this post I'll make
this post I'll turn it around in 10 days
I'll Grant you usage rights for for a
year you know XYZ right so you're you're
giving them something actually tangible
that they could react to okay so this is
actually what you're saying but what
about like who am I actually sending
this to so this is one crucial crucial
detail do not send your pitch to generic
email addresses right like press
brand.com or through the DMS on social
media okay it's way more effective to
use platforms like LinkedIn for example
or other research tools to find the
right person at the company and
different job titles matter depending on
the brand size so for for small Brands
look for you know might be the director
of marketing might be the marketing
manager that they're probably the only
person working on you know doing
marketing at their company that's
probably the right person but for for
medium-sized brands or larger Siz Brands
a lot of them now have influencer
marketing managers partnership marketing
managers uh which again they didn't have
that 10 years ago so it's a lot easier
to find these people now which is
awesome uh and so just again keep your
pitch concise but specific and remember
it is not about you it's about them
right and so every sentence should focus
on how you can help them achieve their
objectives so what would you say is more
important when you're first getting
started just reaching out to tons of
people so basically finding everybody
that you can possibly find and reaching
out to everybody or trying to build just
nice core solid relationships with a few
companies what do you recommend you know
from from my perspective uh quality
absolutely trumps quantity when it comes
to Brand Partnerships I you know there's
this um thing called the exploit explore
tradeoff it's a phenomenon that I talk
about in my book sponsor magnet um and
it's actually inspired by how honeybees
operate of all things so in a hive While
most bees exploit known food sources
about 20% of those Scout bees explore
for new locations that guarantee the
continued survival of the hive right and
so similarly you want to balance
building deeper relationships with
existing Partners while still exploring
New Opportunities you know the problem I
think with uh with mass pitching Brands
is that you often end up with shallow
one-off deals that don't lead anywhere
and so instead when you land a deal with
a brand treat it like the beginning of a
long-term relationship right go above
and beyond with your deliverables be
proactive uh with your communication and
always think about how you can add more
value you know here's what most creators
don't realize is that Landing New Brand
deals is much harder and more time
consuming than getting repeat business
from bands that you already worked with
and just did you know amazing work with
like you know when you do a great job
for a brand you become a known quantity
to them right they they've seen your
work quality they know you're
professional and they trust that you can
deliver think think about it from the
Brand's perspective right they are
constantly being pitched by creators
that they don't know and when they need
to run a new campaign who are they
likely to turn to First the random
Creator in their inbox or the person who
knocked it out of the park on their last
campaign right and so this this is why I
teach creators to uh to create something
called a post campaign report after
every sponsorships and after every
sponsorship and this isn't just uh
analytic screenshots it's a
comprehensive analysis of what worked
right what could be improved and ideas
for future collaborations almost no
creators do this which means that you
will immediately stand out okay and so
that said you shouldn't put all your
eggs in one basket either right you need
to maintain a a steady pipeline of
potential new Partnerships right
especially when you're just starting out
and so this is where the explore part
comes in right you have to set aside
dedicated time each week to research and
Pitch new brands so remember your goal
isn't just to land deals it's to build a
sustainable business right and that
comes from having a mix of reliable
repeat partners and new opportunities in
the pipeline okay so I've got the
question that is always the big elephant
in the room when it comes to
conversations about brand deals and it's
what should you charge so when somebody
is just getting started I know a lot of
content creators they just take a guess
at pricing or they price what their
friends you know priced on their last
deal or whatever the thing is what do
you recommend when it comes to getting
started with pricing okay let me
completely change how you think about
pricing um instead of starting with what
other creators charge your friends you
know when you DM them you have to start
with the Brand's objectives I teach a
framework called arc Arc so awareness
repurposing or conversion so every brand
partner parip that you do is going to
fall into one or more of these
categories okay and so when a Brand's
goal is awareness which is you know
getting their name out there or a new
product launch for example uh they
typically have more flexibility with
their budget because you know the
metrics that they're tracking are
squishier right it's like views and
engagement and comments right did we
spread the word hopefully right and so
when they want repurposing which is the
r basically like using your content on
uh their platforms like their site or
their social media or for ads maybe um
you could charge more because you're
saving them for example production costs
um for conversion Focus campaigns which
is the C which is basically driving
sales they often have very specific Roi
targets or return on investment targets
that they need to hit and so I think the
mistake that most small creators make is
charging less just because they're small
but let's say that you're uh a niche
creator with I don't know 2,000
subscribers who gets 30% engagement on
your posts that is often way more
valuable than someone with 50,000
subscribers who gets 1% engagement and
again it's it's not just about reach
it's about results okay next you need to
factor in what I call the do rule due
deliverables usage rights and
exclusivity and so each of these
elements should uh affect your pricing
so for example if a brand wants to run
ads with your content for I don't know 6
months that should cost significantly
more than just organic posting rights I
can actually give you like a real a rule
of thumb formula here if a brand wants
to let's say license your content right
the rule of thumb that I give is you
should be charging an incremental 15% of
the base deal size per 30-day period so
if they're you know you're they're
paying you $1,000 let's say for the
content creation that should be an
incremental $150 per month okay now
let's say it's they want paid usage
rights where they're going to actually
be boosting your content uh should be
more like 25% of the base deal size per
30-day period so let's even say they're
paying you $10,000 for the content that
would be an incremental $2500 per month
and if they want this for six months you
can quickly see wow I'm I might actually
make more on the paid usage rights than
I do on the content creation itself it's
crazy right also never ever send a brand
your standard rates okay instead you
always have to be providing multiple
packages that are tied to their specific
objectives right and so your base
package might focus on one main
deliverable with higher tiers uh that
include things like usage rights and
additional platform amplification or or
longer partnership terms so remember
charging too little can actually hurt
you in the long run it sets a bad
precedent with Brands and can make them
like question your professionalism right
it's better to charge what you're worth
and deliver except exceptional value
than to compete on price awesome so
what's one thing that content creators
can do right now big or small to make
themselves more attractive to Brands you
know I I think the single most powerful
thing that you can do is create what I
call a surprising transformative promise
or STP and this is completely different
from just saying hey I make make videos
about X or I have y you know number of
followers uh it's about clearly
articulating the transformation that you
create for your audience or or how you
can serve a brand let me let me give you
a real example so one of my students was
a fashion Creator and her bio basically
said the cutest everyday style and the
best sales petite outfits this is this
is what her bio said and so after
working with her through the uh through
the STP process she changed it to
helping you find petite outfits to look
and feel your best notice the difference
so the first was all about her but the
second one is about the transformation
that she creates for her audience and so
why does this matter to Brand so because
when they are looking for partners they
are trying to figure out if your
audience matches their ideal customer
customer and so when they see a clear
STP they can instantly understand if
there's alignment and so in the example
I just mentioned if a brand specializes
in petite clothing they immediately know
that everyone in that Creator's audience
has the exact problem their product
solves and so if you're thinking okay
well how do I actually do this in real
life so here's how to create your own
SCP so first it has to be surprising
what makes you unique in your space then
it needs to be transformative right what
specific outcome are you going to help
people achieve and finally it needs to
be a promise how are you consistently
delivering this value to your audience
and so you can actually test your SCP by
adding two or so that to articulate the
transformation so for for example uh my
STP for my business which is called
Creator wizard is helping you find and
negotiate your dream sponsorships so
that you stop leaving thousands on the
table and so you know the the
transformation I'm promising is pretty
clear right and here's the here's the
most amazing thing actually about um
about the SCP when you have a strong one
you'll not only attract more Brands but
your audience is going to grow too uh
because you know people they just they
don't honestly follow you for you they
follow you for how you can make them
feel or you know what you can help them
achieve basically and so when you are
clear about what that transformation is
most people are going to want to come
along for the ride and actually most
importantly your SCP becomes the
foundation for all your brand pitches
right and so instead of saying you know
I have X number of followers you can say
everyone in my audience is actively
trying to achieve why which is exactly
what your product helps them do this is
great thank you Justin for bringing all
this value as always so for people that
want to pick up a copy of your book
sponsor Magnet or if they want to
sponsor you online where can they do all
that thank you so much again nick uh
this was this was such a blast uh so the
best place to uh get the book is at
sponsor magnet.com uh and that's also
where you can access all the free
bonuses that I mentioned throughout the
book like all the templates and the
scripts and checklists and all that
basically to help you start making more
money on your on your sponsorships ASAP
you know my goal is to help creators big
and small land a million paid brand
Partnerships in the next 10 years and I
would love for each and every one of you
who is watching this to be added to that
list and I would love for you to be one
of them too so check out Justin's book
sponsor magnet at sponsor magnet.com and
I'll put a link to Justin's channel
right here so you can check that out and
if you want to learn other ways to make
money on YouTube besides sponsorships
then you can click into this playlist
right here where it's all about
money-making stuff as it relates to
YouTube thank you so much for watching
I'll see you next time