Getting that first paid sponsorship is among the most rewarding moments you’ll ever expertise as a creator.
It’s additionally step one in your journey in direction of monetary freedom and constructing a life that you simply’re excited to get up for.
Simply think about … you get to work with manufacturers you’re keen on, join your viewers with superb services, and make a ton of cash within the course of!
In the event you’re a creator, an influencer, a podcast host, or a publication author — sponsorships can and needs to be a important pillar that can assist you construct what you are promoting.
However the issue most creators face when arranging sponsorships is unpredictability.
Whether or not that’s getting lowball charges from manufacturers and even simply not understanding with certainty the place the subsequent partnership is coming from, determining your sponsorship technique might be type of exhausting.
Most creators assume the method appears to be like one thing like this:
However what if I informed you that the method of working with manufacturers doesn’t have 3 steps — it really has 8?
In the event you’re not acutely aware of those 8 steps, you’re by no means going to lock in long-term partnerships (which needs to be the aim)!
You may need landed a couple of profitable offers over your creator profession, however you wish to be hitting these each month, proper?
However the excellent news is that this:
The one factor between you and constant, predictable sponsorships is the proper system.
Introducing the Sponsorship Wheel.
The Sponsorship Wheel is a confirmed 8-step, rinse-and-repeat system that if carried out with a long-term mindset, will aid you land constant, well-paying model offers permitting you to lastly go full-time along with your creator enterprise and construct the life you need.
At its core, the sponsorship wheel is a system for monitoring what stage your numerous partnerships are at. The primary mistake I see creators make is taking their foot off the fuel too quickly.
Simply since you’ve signed the contract doesn’t imply you possibly can relaxation in your laurels. Simply since you’ve submitted the property to the model doesn’t imply it’s time to place your toes up.
It’s on you as a creator to maintain the sponsorship wheel turning (particularly after you hit publish).
However with a view to do this, you first want to know the 8 steps, so let’s break it down.
Step 1: Pitch
That is the section the place you are reaching out to a model chilly to suggest a collaboration or a model has reached out to you inquiring a few partnership.
When reaching out to them, your pitch must comply with what I name the ROPE technique:
- Relevant (to any present campaigns they’re operating or have run previously)
- Organic (might be tied again to work you’ve already printed)
- Proof (reveals the way you’ve helped one other model obtain outcomes)
- Easy to execute (after they say “sure”)
Hold this in thoughts throughout your pitch. Don’t write three paragraphs telling them how a lot you’re keen on their model and have at all times dreamed of working with them. That gained’t minimize it as a result of it’s precisely what everyone else is doing.
However what about when a model reaches out to you?
It’s vital to do not forget that simply because they did doesn’t imply you possibly can telephone it in and anticipate that they’re one hundred pc dedicated to working with you.
They most likely reached out to a bunch of different creators in your area of interest too.
So it’s as much as you to pitch them on why they made the correct name in emailing you, and why you could possibly really go above and past for them, such that the model ought to pay you 2-3x what they initially had in thoughts.
However what about when a model ghosts you after your pitch?
If you wish to see precise outcomes, I like to recommend you do at least 4 follow-ups.
- Observe-up 1 (If no response, 5 days after the preliminary chilly pitch or preliminary response to their inbound inquiry)
- Observe-up 2 (If no response, 6 days after Observe-up 1)
- Observe-up 3 (If no response, 7 days after Observe-up 2)
- Observe-up 4 (If no response, 14 days after Observe-up 3)
Step 2: Negotiate
That is the section the place you’ve got agreed in precept to collaborate with the model however you might be actively negotiating the deal phrases.
The length of this step needs to be 5 days, in any other case, comply with up with the model/company.
Throughout the negotiation, there are a couple of vital issues to recollect.
First, the particular person on the model who you’re involved with initially probably gained’t be the one one who has enter on the deal. Be ready to barter with a number of folks.
Second, that you must perceive what the model’s aim is. They might merely be trying to create consciousness of their new services or products, or perhaps they’re actively targeted on changing new clients to their enterprise. Or perhaps they wish to use the deliverables you create on their very own social platforms.
Third, that you must decide a pricing technique. This could primarily be primarily based on the worth you’re offering to the model, slightly than simply asking your buddy what they cost for, say, a publication integration, and copying that charge. Your pricing ought to change in relation to the model’s objectives.
Fourth, that you must study to beat model objections. For instance, in case you attain an deadlock the place the model simply gained’t go larger on their supply, you need to discover ways to negotiate a compromise, or else be okay strolling away from that deal.
Lastly, take note you and the model are on the identical group. They’ve come to you as a result of they assume you possibly can assist get their marketing campaign throughout the end line — and so they’re gonna pay you for it!
One downside creators face early on is manufacturers providing them free merchandise slightly than precise cost. This may really feel good the primary time it occurs, however it rapidly turns into extremely irritating. In spite of everything, a free packet of vegan beef jerky isn’t gonna pay your payments, proper?
Step 3: Contract
That is the section the place you’ve got agreed to the deal phrases and now are both reviewing the contract the model/company has offered or drafting your personal settlement to ship to them.
The length of this step needs to be seven days, in any other case comply with up with the model/company.
Crucially, throughout this step that you must align on the timeline of occasions transferring ahead.
For instance, when does the model want the property to go dwell? And earlier than that, when could be ultimate to ship your draft content material for evaluate? When you’ve despatched that draft, how lengthy do you have to anticipate to attend earlier than receiving suggestions and/or revision requests?
All of this issues. With out agreeing on these timelines you possibly can’t determine whenever you’ll be integrating the sponsorship inside your content material, or when to put aside time to finish their revisions.
You’ve additionally acquired to align on some key expectations so they do not come again to chew you later. For instance, agreeing on what number of rounds of revisions you’ll do and what constitutes an affordable revision is paramount.
As a Sponsorship Coach who has remodeled $4,000,000 personally working with manufacturers and has helped different creators land over $3,000,000 in sponsorships, I’ll say that this step (if accomplished incorrect) could cause the most important complications down the highway.
Step 4: Idea
That is the section the place you evaluate the artistic transient and submit an idea to the model/company (even when they have not requested you!) for evaluate/approval previous to creating the content material.
The length of this step needs to be 5 days, in any other case, comply with up with the model/company.
First up, if the model hasn’t offered you with an idea, ask them straight away.
I’ve seen so many partnerships derail when the model says they belief the creator to create the property with no transient, however then finally ends up giving them a stack of revisions as a result of it “wasn’t actually what that they had in thoughts.”
Make them inform you what they take note of.
What are the principle speaking factors? What’s the call-to-action? Any do’s or don’ts?
Then, on a extra granular stage, how do they like to be launched in your content material? (“This week I’m partnering with…”? “This podcast is sponsored by…”?)
If the model offers you this data out the gate, you’ll save a lot time afterward.
And don’t fear, it may well really feel like there are so many questions you could possibly ask the model that it’s exhausting to know the place to begin (and in case you’re lacking something vital).
Step 5: Produce
That is the section the place you create the content material and ship it to the model/company.
The length of this step needs to be relative to your draft supply date.
When sending the deliverables to the model, I counsel placing every little thing right into a single doc, like a Google Doc.
This makes it simpler for the model to see every little thing in a single place and permits them to remark straight on, say, wording selection on the advert learn or the phase of your publication the place you speak about them.
Step 6: Suggestions
That is the section the place the model/company critiques your content material and requests revisions, edits, or reshoots.
The length of this step needs to be seven days, in any other case, comply with up with the model/company.
That is the place the steps we took earlier save us a while. As a result of it’s now as much as you to determine whether or not the revisions they’re asking for are cheap and whether or not you’ll do them without spending a dime or cost them extra.
Clearly, in case you didn’t adhere to the permitted transient and idea, you have to be open to free revisions.
You must also be open to minor revisions if it would support your relationship-building with that model, as long as they’re not being completely unreasonable.
If it would take you 5 minutes to make the modifications they requested, simply do it.
However this equally means you’ve acquired to place your foot down if they’re clearly not being cheap.
Possibly they’ve gone well past the variety of agreed-upon revision rounds, or now they’re asking you to create some totally new content material not beforehand outlined within the transient.
In circumstances like this, charging the model further could be warranted.
Step 7: Publish
That is the section the place you publish the content material and ship the dwell hyperlinks to the model/company.
The length of this step needs to be relative to the go-live date.
For this, I’ve a guidelines that takes you all the way in which from the second you signal the contract proper by to the second you hit publish in your sponsored content material.
That’s accessible as a useful resource to all Model Deal Wizard college students.
Step 8: Analyze
That is the section the place you bill the model/company and supply your tax and vendor paperwork. Inside this section, there are additionally some sub-steps. For instance, after you ship the bill and tax and vendor paperwork:
- Observe-up 1 (If no response, 5 days after submission)
- Observe-up 2 (If no response, name or e mail 3 days after Observe-up 1)
- Observe-up 3 (If no response is acquired, 7 days previous to bill due date)
You additionally wish to present the model with a post-campaign report summarizing the marketing campaign goals and key insights about its success.
This may look completely different relying on the marketing campaign objectives.
You may share the variety of views/impressions your content material acquired relative to the model’s expectations.
If this was an consciousness marketing campaign, you could possibly embody screenshots of feedback from folks saying they’d by no means beforehand heard of the model earlier than.
The intention of that is to indicate the model that this marketing campaign was successful, proper?
By the way in which, now that we’ve reached Step 8, hopefully, it’s clear why this method is just not structured as a horizontal timeline, however slightly as a wheel.
The second you full this partnership, you need to pitch them in your subsequent concept!
The worst potential factor you are able to do is to gather that verify after which by no means speak to the model once more.
Bizarrely, a large quantity of creators do that and find yourself again on the market hustling for the subsequent partnership with a brand new model.
It’s so, so, a lot simpler to nurture the model relationships you have already got than it’s to always win over new shoppers … belief me.
Subsequent Steps for Creators
So now you know the way the Sponsorship Wheel works, I’ve acquired one thing actually thrilling for you…
The Sponsorship Wheel Snapshot is designed to generate a personalised report that highlights your particular person areas of energy in every of those 8 key areas and the place you’ve gotten essentially the most room to enhance.
By figuring out these areas, you possibly can determine precisely easy methods to make extra profitable offers persistently.
You’ll be able to take the Sponsorship Wheel Snapshot for FREE right here.
Thanks for studying, and better of luck along with your subsequent sponsorship!
— Justin