[0:00] - If you wanna do brand deals [0:01] or sponsorships as a YouTube content creator [0:03] and you don't know where to start, [0:05] this video is going to help you a ton. [0:06] And to make sure you get the best information about this, [0:09] I called in my buddy Justin Moore. [0:11] He's gotten the content creators he works with [0:13] over $5 million in brand deals. [0:16] So he has tons of experience, [0:17] he knows what he's talking about, [0:19] and he's here to share that information with you. [0:21] So get ready to take some notes [0:22] because we're starting right now. [0:23] So, Justin, do you think creators should do some outreach [0:26] when it comes to brand deals [0:27] in order to get the ball rolling, [0:28] or should they wait for brands to reach out to them? [0:30] - Sure, Nick, it's a great question. [0:32] So, you know, when I was launching [0:33] my podcast, "Creator Debates," [0:35] I decided that I wanted to get a sponsor. [0:38] I mean, I'm a sponsorship coach, [0:39] so I should probably have a sponsor for my podcast, right? [0:41] But I had no data to back up [0:44] exactly how this podcast was gonna perform. [0:46] Remember, it was brand new, right? [0:48] To be fair, I did have some other platforms, right? [0:50] I had a newsletter, I had another YouTube channel and so on. [0:53] So I had a little bit of track record. [0:55] But essentially what I did was I approached ConvertKit, [0:58] which is a, you know, [0:58] an email marketing platform for creators. [1:01] And I basically gave him a pitch. [1:02] I said, "Look, I am launching this show [1:05] that has your exact persona of the types of customers [1:09] that you're trying to reach. [1:10] Will you sponsor me?" [1:11] This was basically the pitch. [1:12] They said, "Let's give it a shot." [1:14] The deal was essentially, you know, [1:15] we'll kind of review it every 30 days basically, [1:18] but they have continued to be the sponsor [1:20] through all of Season 1, and now have renewed for Season 2. [1:22] And so it's as much about approaching a brand [1:26] that you know has a very specific objective [1:28] that they're trying to reach a specific type of customer, [1:30] and knowing that that's, [1:32] you know, that type of personas in your audience, [1:34] and letting them know what's going on in your world. [1:37] A lot of times I think creators are frustrated [1:39] when they see another creator get a deal [1:40] from their dream brand, and they're like, [1:42] "How come the brand didn't know that, like, [1:45] I'm the one who was the most authentic fan of their brand? [1:47] I've been using it for three years." [1:49] And all this stuff too. [1:50] Brands don't have like a pulse check on, [1:52] like, every creator out there. [1:55] It actually takes you getting on their radar [1:57] and reaching out and saying, [1:58] "Hey, like, I'm a perfect fit [2:00] to help, you know, promote your brand." [2:02] And so I am a very, very big fan of shooting your shot [2:05] when you reach out to a brand. [2:06] And this is really, you know, kind of the number one mistake [2:09] is just sitting on your hands [2:10] waiting for brands to come to you. [2:12] And, you know, I think this is why most creators think [2:15] that brand deals are unpredictable, because they say, [2:17] "Oh, you know, brand deals are great when you can get 'em, [2:20] but you can never really rely on that income." [2:22] Well, that's because you're not supplementing [2:24] your inbound deal flow with outbound pitching. [2:27] - So how many views do you think content creators [2:29] should be getting on average [2:30] before they start seeking brand deals? [2:32] - So let me tell you a story about a YouTuber named Mike. [2:36] So back when I ran an influencer marketing agency, [2:39] we were approached by a major phone company. [2:42] And they were kind of a budget carrier. [2:44] And they knew that their product resonated [2:47] with folks in the fire community, [2:49] you know, financial independence, [2:50] retirement early, and so on. [2:51] But they were really struggling to find creators [2:53] that could authentically speak to that audience. [2:55] And so they approached my agency with this challenge. [2:58] They said, "Hey, can, can you help us?" [2:59] And so we said, "Absolutely." [3:00] And so we went out there and we did a bunch of discovery. [3:03] And so we looked across all sorts of different creators [3:05] and we found Mike. [3:06] At the time, he had less than 1000 subscribers. [3:11] I mean, he was probably getting [3:12] a couple hundred views on average. [3:14] They moved forward with him, they paid him a bunch of money. [3:17] And you're probably thinking, [3:18] "Wait a minute, he had less than 1000 subscribers, [3:20] only a couple hundred views on average, what gives?" [3:23] Well, it's because Mike didn't just talk about budgeting. [3:26] He talked about budgeting for active duty military, [3:31] budgeting for active duty military. [3:33] And so the brand was thrilled. [3:35] Again, they paid him a bunch of money, [3:36] and you wanna know why? [3:37] It's because they turned around [3:38] and they used that content that he made, they cut it down, [3:42] and they ran a bunch of ads to reach other people like him. [3:47] So it's not always just about the average views [3:50] that you're getting on your videos, [3:52] because there's all these other ways [3:53] in which brands can receive value [3:56] from the content that you create, [3:57] not the least of, which is repurposing it, right? [3:59] Embedding it on their website, repurposing it, [4:01] reposting it on their social channels, [4:03] running paid advertising with it, and so on. [4:05] - So from your experience, [4:06] what should content creators prepare [4:09] when they are wanting to start on brand deals? [4:10] - So this is an easy one. Nothing. [4:12] You don't have to prepare anything, and you wanna know why? [4:15] It's because it's not about you. [4:18] It's about how you can help the brand achieve [4:21] their business objectives. [4:22] And so this is a really important learning lesson, [4:24] which is that when a lot of creators reach out [4:27] to a brand and propose a collaboration, [4:29] oftentimes it takes the form of this, [4:31] "Hi, my name is Justin. [4:32] I have 45,000 YouTube subscribers. [4:35] I, you know, get this many average views per video. [4:37] This is my audience demographics." [4:38] Blah blah blah blah blah right? [4:40] They just made the brand fall asleep, right, [4:42] or delete their email, right? [4:44] Because that's what every single creator says [4:46] when they reach out and try and pitch a collaboration. [4:48] And so the mindset shift here is you have to understand [4:51] what is going on in the brand's world. [4:53] Because remember, brands do not have random pools of money [4:57] to just dole out, divvy out to random creators [5:00] that reach out and pitch them. [5:01] You know what they do have money for? [5:03] They have budget set aside for their own initiatives. [5:07] So maybe it's a new product launch or a new feature launch, [5:10] or maybe they're launching in a, you know, [5:11] and they were in the UK [5:12] and they're coming to the US or something, right? [5:14] And so they have money allocated for that. [5:16] And so your job is to try to research and understand [5:22] and make an assumption about what is going on [5:24] and important to them in their world right now. [5:27] And when you reach out and you say, [5:28] "Hey, it seems like you're trying to do this. [5:30] You're trying to move the needle on this objective. [5:33] I can help you do that by sponsoring me." [5:36] So at the end of the day, [5:37] it's actually a positioning exercise. [5:39] So it's not about you. [5:40] It's not about a dog and pony show that you have to do [5:42] to convince the brand that you're the best fit. [5:44] Now there's an element of that, but at the end of the day, [5:46] it's helping them understand that, [5:48] hey, if you part with this money, [5:49] this budget that you've allocated, [5:51] I'm gonna help you get to this objective faster. [5:53] And so I think [5:54] it's a really, really important thing to understand. [5:56] - So one question that I get a lot [5:57] from content creators is pricing. [5:59] A lot of people don't know where to start [6:01] when it comes to pricing their sponsorships. [6:03] What do you recommend when it comes to pricing? [6:05] Do you have a formula of some kind? [6:07] Or how do you work that out? [6:08] - Okay, so there are two main buckets of pricing levers [6:12] that you need to consider, [6:13] so let's talk about the first one, [6:14] which is understanding the brand's success metrics. [6:18] Literally, what would be a win for them? [6:20] And the framework that I have is called ARC, A-R-C. [6:24] So when you reach out to a brand [6:26] or they're reaching out to you and you say, [6:27] "Hey, what would success look like to you?" [6:30] They're gonna say one of three things. [6:31] Number one, they're gonna say, [6:32] "This is an awareness campaign. [6:33] We are just trying to spread the word." [6:35] Secondly, it's going to be a repurposing campaign, right? [6:39] Where they're going to take that content that you create [6:41] and use it in all these different ways, right? [6:43] Embed it on their website, [6:44] use it for paid advertising, et cetera. [6:46] And then the final goal type is a conversion campaign. [6:49] And this is where they're trying to drive [6:51] some sort of very specific outcome, right, [6:53] measurable outcome, right? [6:54] Sales, you know, app downloads, [6:56] trial signups for a software program, and so on, okay? [6:59] And the reason it's so critical [7:01] that you need to ascertain the campaign goal [7:04] is that your pricing should change based on the goal. [7:07] The simple explanation is, [7:08] imagine if the brand is trying to drive sales. [7:11] Well, they have what's called a very specific CPA, [7:15] cost per acquisition metric that they're adhering to. [7:18] So if they say, "Okay, we're gonna hire Justin. [7:20] He gets 1000 views on average per video. [7:22] Of the 1000 people, maybe 10% are gonna click on this link. [7:25] So that's 100 people, right? [7:26] Of the 100 people that are gonna click on the link, [7:28] maybe 50 are gonna sign up for a free trial. [7:30] Of the 50, maybe 20 are gonna sign up for the paid version. [7:33] And each paying customer stays with our company on average [7:37] for, let's say, 10 months. [7:39] And our software costs $10 a month. [7:41] So that's $100 is the lifetime value of that customer. [7:44] So $100 times those 10 paying customers is $1000 dollars. [7:47] That's the max we're gonna pay Justin [7:49] because this is a conversion-focused campaign." [7:51] And by the way, they don't just wanna break even. [7:53] That's the break even. [7:54] They wanna make a profit, [7:55] which is why they're doing influencer marketing. [7:57] So it should be more like 2, 3x that, right? [7:59] And so this is why sometimes when the brand tells you, [8:02] sales, that's our primary metric [8:03] and they're trying to lowball you, [8:05] it's because they're beholden [8:06] to this napkin math that they have internally. [8:09] Contrast that with an awareness campaign [8:11] where they're just trying to spread the word, right? [8:13] What are the metrics there? [8:14] Views, likes, engagement, comments, this type of thing. [8:17] It's squishier, right? [8:18] And so that contact's boss isn't breathing down their neck [8:21] and being like, "How many sales did you drive with that? [8:23] You know, a promotion with Justin." [8:24] They're not thinking that. [8:25] And so your ability to negotiate [8:27] in an awareness campaign goal type is so, so much higher. [8:31] So this is ARC, okay? [8:32] And then the other bucket of pricing levers [8:35] is what I call the DUE rule. [8:37] That's D-U-E, okay? [8:39] And this is about actually scoping the deal. [8:41] D stands for deliverables. [8:43] What does the brand actually want you to do for them, right? [8:46] Sometimes they'll reach out and be like, [8:47] "Oh, you know, we just wanna collaborate." [8:49] And you're like, "It'll be a couple of posts." [8:51] This type of thing. [8:52] No, like is it two posts? [8:53] Is it three posts, right? [8:54] If it is an integrated video, is it a dedicated video? [8:57] You need to know these things [8:58] 'cause those are differing levels of work, right? [9:00] You in the DUE rule stands for usage rights. [9:03] Again, does this brand want to repurpose it? [9:05] Do they wanna run paid advertising with it? [9:07] If so, for how long? [9:08] That's something that you need to price into the deal. [9:10] And then the E in the DUE rule is the exclusivity. [9:13] So is this brand saying, [9:14] "Hey, you cannot work with our competitors [9:16] for a certain duration"? [9:17] Well, that represents a direct opportunity costs. [9:21] So if you're exclusive for six months and on, [9:24] you know, day on month five, their competitor reaches out [9:27] and wants to pay you a bunch of money, you can't do that [9:29] because you signed a deal for the original brand [9:31] saying that you wouldn't. [9:32] And so, again, these are all factors [9:34] that you need to consider with respect to your pricing. [9:36] - So what if we do all of that, [9:38] but the person that we're talking to [9:39] says that they don't have the budget for it [9:41] or it's too expensive? [9:42] How do we navigate that? [9:43] - Okay, so first of all, [9:45] if a brand comes back to you and says it's too expensive [9:47] or they just don't have that kind of budget, [9:48] well that's because you didn't provide a package to them [9:52] that fit within their zone of budget feasibility. [9:54] And so prior to providing them pricing [9:56] or packages or anything like that, [9:58] you need to say something very simple to them. [9:59] When you get on a call [10:01] and when you're kind of scoping out the deal [10:03] and you ask them what a win would look like, [10:04] all this type of thing, and then at the very end, [10:06] you say this, almost verbatim, you say, [10:08] "Look, this was very useful. [10:10] I'm gonna go back and put together a proposal. [10:12] And usually what I like to do on these proposals [10:15] is put together a couple different packages [10:17] to give you an understanding [10:18] of what a collaboration could look like. [10:20] Do you have a sense of what those three tiers look like [10:23] from a budget feasibility perspective?" [10:25] And then you shut up, you don't say anything, [10:27] you lean into the silence. [10:29] Okay, and what does this accomplish? [10:30] Well, now they're gonna say something like 1, 2, 3K, [10:34] or 10, 15, 20K, or 50, 75, 100K, right? [10:38] You don't know, right? [10:39] And so it accomplishes a couple things. [10:40] One, it gives you a super useful directional sense [10:44] of, like, what is even the ballpark? [10:45] What's their appetite here for a partnership? [10:47] 'Cause I bet you're gonna spend a lot more time [10:48] on a 50K proposal than you do [10:50] on the 1, 2, 3K proposal, right? [10:51] But it also accomplishes another thing, [10:53] which is that, remember, when you're negotiating with brand, [10:56] they're almost never just talking to you. [10:58] They're probably talking with 10 other people, right? [11:00] And so what they're trying to do [11:01] is kind of Tetris their overall budget together. [11:04] So let's say they have 100K [11:05] and they're talking with 10 people. [11:07] Everyone comes in at different rates. [11:08] And so what you do by providing them [11:10] several different packages is, now, [11:12] when they're going and trying to fit everything together, [11:14] they're gonna pick and pull [11:15] from here and here and here and be like, [11:16] "Okay, oh yeah, so glad Justin gave us that package two [11:19] or that package one 'cause we still wanna work with them. [11:21] He is coming in a little higher than all these other people, [11:23] but we really do wanna work with them, [11:24] so let's go with package two [11:25] or package one, or whatever," right? [11:26] And so that's one of the reasons why they may come back [11:29] and say, "Oh, you're too expensive," [11:30] or they don't have the budget [11:31] is because you just spit back one number. [11:33] You say, "Oh, it's gonna be 5K to work with me," [11:35] or, "Oh, it's gonna be 500 bucks," right? [11:36] And so now there's no wiggle room, right, [11:38] for them to try to fit you into their plan. [11:40] And the other thing too [11:41] is that you should not just come down on your rate [11:44] and concede nothing. [11:46] Oftentimes when they say that, you say, [11:47] "Oh, okay, it's too expensive? [11:49] Well, instead of 1500, I can do a 750." [11:51] For the same deliverables, [11:53] you literally have just came down, you've conceded nothing, [11:55] and now you have completely eroded [11:57] your future pricing power. [11:59] Don't do that, okay? [12:00] And lastly, you should be willing to walk away, right? [12:03] Accept that not every deal you do is gonna work out. [12:08] And that is just part of the game. [12:10] - When it comes to brand deals, [12:11] what are some ways that brands take advantage [12:13] of content creators? [12:14] So people that are just getting into this [12:16] they know things to look out for [12:18] or just things that they should avoid. [12:20] - Okay, so, you know, honestly, [12:22] some brands try to gaslight creators [12:24] by comparing them to other creators. [12:27] You know, for example, I came to a brand [12:30] proposing a very large, very comprehensive collaboration. [12:33] And they said, "Well, you know, [12:34] all the other creators that we work with [12:37] have been fine doing it for affiliate commissions. [12:40] Well, you would you be willing to do that?" [12:41] They asked me, and I basically simply, [12:44] like very simply laid out for them [12:46] why what I am proposing is so different. [12:48] Number one, it's control. [12:50] I said, "Hey, do you have control [12:51] over what your affiliates are posting? [12:53] I don't think you do." [12:54] Number two, rights, right, usage rights. [12:58] Do you have the ability to repurpose the content [13:01] that your affiliates are creating? [13:03] I don't think you do. [13:03] That's something that I specialize in. [13:05] Number three is unique content formats, right? [13:08] What I was talking about is, [13:09] "Hey, I would love to do some webinars [13:11] with your brand, right, where..." [13:13] Like, look, brands are so desperate [13:15] to talk about anything other than their product, right? [13:18] 'Cause that's what they're talking about all day long. [13:20] "Oh, a new feature," like blah, blah, blah. [13:22] It's like putting their customers to sleep. [13:24] So imagine if they're able to say, [13:25] "Hey, we're doing this awesome webinar with Justin, [13:28] the Creator Wizard. [13:29] He's gonna talk about X, Y, Z. [13:30] You gotta show up, right?" [13:31] And it positions their brand [13:33] as an advocate for the community, right? [13:35] And so here I am being able to be an extension almost [13:38] of their marketing team, right? [13:39] And so these are very unique things that I'm pitching. [13:42] And so you just have to be confident [13:44] in what your value proposition is [13:47] so that you don't let brands gaslight you. [13:49] - Is there a way for content creators [13:51] to get more out of a brand deal or essentially upsell [13:54] the brands that they're working with? [13:55] - So the easiest way to upsell [13:57] is honestly to tie the packages [14:00] that you're providing in your proposal [14:01] to the brand's goals, a meaning. [14:03] So let's say you have a conversation with the brand [14:05] and they list out all these different objectives they have. [14:08] They have, yeah, awareness is a goal [14:09] and conversions is a goal. [14:11] And yeah, we'd love to get the content to repurpose it [14:12] and all these things, right? [14:13] And so in your proposal, page one better be what I heard. [14:17] Here's your goals. List it out. [14:19] One, two, three, four. This type of idea, right? [14:20] And then your packages, when you list them all out, [14:23] you say, "Okay, package one." [14:24] With package one, you are gonna accomplish goal one, right? [14:28] You said awareness is important or conversions, whatever, [14:30] like that's gonna be, you know, what I'm proposing to you [14:33] in this package is gonna help you do that. [14:35] Then moving on to package two, [14:36] well, you're gonna accomplish goal, [14:38] you're gonna accomplish everything in package one, [14:40] and in addition to that, [14:41] I'm gonna help you accomplish goal two, [14:42] which is the repurposing thing. [14:43] I'm gonna give you the rights to use that for advertising [14:46] and yada, yada, yada, right? [14:47] And so what you start to see [14:48] is that the higher you go in your packages, [14:51] the only way for them to accomplish all of their goals [14:54] is to go for package five or package six, right? [14:57] And so this is a really, really critical, like, thing [14:59] that you have to consider [15:00] when you're putting your proposals together, [15:02] because otherwise, like the biggest mistake [15:04] that a lot of creators do [15:04] is they just make it linear, right? [15:06] "Package one is one YouTube video, [15:08] package two is two YouTube videos, [15:09] package three is, you know, three YouTube videos," whatever. [15:11] And maybe they're getting [15:12] some sort of like price concession, [15:14] right, when they go higher. [15:16] Like, "If you go for package three, [15:17] I'll give you a 10% discount or something." [15:18] It's just like pointless. [15:19] There's no reason for them to... [15:21] They'll just be like, "Oh, we'll just come back, [15:22] and like if we wanna do it again, we'll come back," right? [15:24] There's no incentive for them to do that immediately. [15:26] But once you tie it to the goals, everything changes. [15:28] - When you're working with content creators [15:30] to get them brand deals and sponsorships [15:31] through your courses over creatorwizard.com [15:34] or your one-on-one services that you offer, [15:36] what's the number one thing [15:38] you hear the most from content creators? [15:40] - Yeah, I mean, you know, one of the coolest things [15:42] about working with so many different types of creators [15:44] is this tremendous breadth of deal flow that I'm able to, [15:49] you know, glean insights from. [15:50] You know, so it's different content verticals, [15:52] it's different platforms, [15:53] different types of creators, and so on. [15:55] And honestly, the number one issue I hear the most [15:57] is that every deal they do feels super different. [16:00] Which is 100% true. [16:01] I mean, if you are approaching sponsorships [16:02] as kind of one-size-fits-all, right, [16:04] sending brands your media kit [16:06] with your standardized pricing, your rate card, whatever, [16:08] yeah, you may make some money, [16:10] but you are leaving thousands on the table. [16:12] Imagine if when you come to a brand, [16:15] right, you have a conversation, [16:16] you ask them about their success metrics, [16:18] their objectives, right, what they're trying to achieve, [16:20] you help them understand that you are invested [16:23] in the outcome of this partnership, right? [16:26] Even if you might be two or three times more expensive [16:29] than other creators that they're talking to, [16:31] they're probably gonna choose to go with you [16:33] because it just seems like the campaign [16:35] is gonna go better, right? [16:37] I know firsthand, because again, [16:39] I ran an influencer agency for many years, [16:41] and we chose to go, like move forward with partners [16:44] that we worked with before over and over and over again [16:47] because we just knew it was gonna go better, right? [16:49] They were super professional, [16:50] they were super communicative, right? [16:52] And like that is a very, very prized asset [16:56] when it comes to campaigns [16:57] that especially have very quick turnaround times. [17:00] So man, so critical. [17:01] - From your experience, if there was one piece of advice [17:05] that you would give to content creators [17:06] who are interested in working with brands [17:08] or getting sponsorships for their channel, [17:09] what would that be? [17:10] - Honestly, don't be a victim. [17:12] Sure, there are some companies out there [17:15] who purposefully prey on creators who don't know any better, [17:19] but the majority of brands in my experience are good people. [17:23] But they may just not understand like what is fair [17:27] when it comes to compensation or collaboration, right? [17:30] And it is part of your job as a creator to educate brands. [17:34] And you have to realize [17:35] that there is, like, gonna be situations [17:37] where you have a bunch of conversations with the brand, [17:40] it's gonna seem super promising, [17:42] and then nothing comes from it, right? [17:43] But that is business, that is life, right? [17:46] And so once you shift from a mindset of just being passive [17:50] and waiting for brands to make the next move [17:53] and you shift to one of being active [17:55] and taking control of the conversation, [17:57] everything is going to change. [17:58] If anyone is looking to make more money working with brands, [18:01] I would highly recommend signing up [18:03] for my free weekly newsletter at creatorwizard.com/join [18:07] where I send you paid sponsorship opportunities, [18:10] as well as like, you know, videos and articles [18:12] to help you create a smarter brand deal strategy. [18:15] - Make sure you signed up for his newsletter. [18:17] It is packed with value. [18:18] You are going to love it. [18:19] Now, if this is your first time being introduced to Justin, [18:21] you can check out his YouTube channel here, [18:23] and I'm gonna put a playlist right here [18:25] of other ways that you can make money from your channel. [18:27] Go ahead and click into either one of those now. [18:29] Thank you so much for watching. [18:30] I'll see you next time.