Most creators think sponsors care about their download numbers. They're wrong.

I went booth-to-booth at a 30,000-person event and asked sponsors directly: why do you shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars for this? What I got back was a masterclass in how brands actually think about ROI, and it should completely change how you pitch.

• Why sophisticated brands filter out irrelevant leads even when they're walking right past their booth, and what that means for your pitch

• The two ROI buckets every marketer uses internally to justify sponsorship spend (and why most creators only pitch one)

• How a single booth conversation turned into a 7-figure deal... four years later

• The "Super Bowl" question you need to ask on every discovery call

• Why 6 months is the real window to get into a brand's biggest budget

• What your post-campaign report needs to show if you want a brand to double down

The brands who kept renewing? They weren't chasing vibes. They were looking for one thing: proof they reached their ideal customer. Here's exactly what that looks like, and how to give it to them.

Grab my book, Sponsor Magnet, to learn how to transform your influence into income: https://sponsormagnet.com

Want one-on-one sponsorship coaching? Join Wizard's Guild: https://wizardsguild.com

00:00 Why Sponsors Shell Out at Events
01:46 The Two ROI Buckets Brands Use Internally
03:47 The 4-to-5 Year Sales Cycle You're Ignoring
05:43 Spray and Pray vs. Fit-First Thinking
09:45 The "Super Bowl" Hierarchy and How to Find Your Place In It
13:29 Why Budget Decisions Are Made 6 Months Out
17:55 Retention Mode: The Sponsorship Goal Most Creators Miss
18:55 The Post-Campaign Report That Wins Renewals

For collaborations or partnerships, shoot us a note: [email protected]

Google flew me out to Google Cloud Next and I made a mistake on day one that still bothers me. Here's what went wrong, what I learned, and the exact playbook for turning brand trips into long-term partnerships.

Here's what we cover:

• Why being even 4 minutes late can set the wrong tone with a brand (and how to avoid it)

• The real-time posting mistake that kills your chances of getting reshared by the brand

• Why a LinkedIn thank you post is your secret weapon for landing future deals

• How to get crystal clear on deliverables before you ever board the plane

• The post-campaign report strategy that positions you for a bigger partnership

Grab my book, Sponsor Magnet, to learn how to transform your influence into income: https://sponsormagnet.com
Want one-on-one sponsorship coaching? Join Wizard's Guild: https://wizardsguild.com

Chapters:
00:00 The Mistake I Made on Day One
01:45 Why First Impressions Make or Break Brand Relationships
03:35 Post in Real Time or Miss the Window
05:15 The LinkedIn Thank You Post Hack
07:00 Get Clear on Deliverables Before You Go
08:30 The Post-Campaign Report That Unlocks Future Deals

For collaborations or partnerships, shoot us a note: [email protected]

Five brands sponsored a conference most people have never heard of, and it revealed exactly where sponsorship money is hiding right now.

I stumbled onto this at the Minnesota Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (yes, really) while watching my mom get honored for 50 years as a dietitian. What I saw on that sponsorship slide changed how I think about niche authority, and then I turned around and ran into one of my own coaching clients, Anna, who's living proof of everything I'm about to tell you.

Here's what we cover:

• Why small, niche conferences attract serious brand dollars (and what that means for you)

• How Anna went from "not a creator" to being flooded with brand deals — and the exact move she made at this conference

• The real reason traditional brands don't pay creators at first (and how to flip that into your biggest long-term advantage)

• Why being a big fish in a small pond beats chasing mass audiences every time

• How to introduce predictability into your sponsorship income, even when deals take 12–18 months to close

Grab my book, Sponsor Magnet, to learn how to transform your influence into income: https://sponsormagnet.com Want one-on-one sponsorship coaching? Join Wizard's Guild: https://wizardsguild.com

Chapters:

00:00 Where Sponsorship Money Is Actually Hiding
01:32 Anna's Story: From Practitioner to In-Demand Creator
03:15 Lessons from a Niche Conference's Sponsor Slide
05:00 Paul Jameson & Dr. Alex: Big Fish, Small Pond
06:35 How to Educate Brands Who've Never Paid a Creator
08:45 Playing the Long Game: Seeding Deals 12–18 Months Out
09:50 A Message for Professionals Afraid to Bet on Themselves
11:30 Ready for Help? Here's What Wizard's Guild Does

For collaborations or partnerships, shoot us a note: [email protected]

I lost $10,000 on Sponsor Games this year. And I'd do it again.

After fumbling the sponsorship strategy at Year 1, I made it a mission to fix everything—the pitching, the pricing, the activations, and how deeply brands were integrated into the event. Here's exactly what changed, what worked, and what I'm still figuring out.

Here's what we cover:

• Why requiring physical presence from sponsors is non-negotiable (and how it almost cost us a deal)

• The mistake I made by keeping sponsors off stage—and how fixing it made Kit's Haley say she'd "never gotten so much stage time"

• How giving away live brand deals at the event unlocked something most conferences can't replicate

• Why bespoke sponsorship packages beat tiered decks every single time (straight from our title sponsor's mouth)

• How I used the post-campaign report to pitch an ongoing ambassadorship—and why you should too

Grab my book, Sponsor Magnet, to learn how to transform your influence into income: https://sponsormagnet.com Want one-on-one sponsorship coaching? Join Wizard's Guild: https://wizardsguild.com Get early bird tickets to Sponsor Games: https://www.sponsorgames.com

00:00 Why I Lost $10K on Sponsor Games (And Don't Regret It)
01:22 Lesson 1: Physical Sponsor Presence Is Non-Negotiable
04:08 Lesson 2: Stop Keeping Sponsors Off Stage
07:19 Lesson 3: Give Away Real Brand Deals at the Event
11:21 Lesson 4: Bespoke Packages Beat Tiered Decks Every Time 16:51 Lesson 5: Use Your Post-Campaign Report to Pitch More 19:01 What Year 3 of Sponsor Games Could Look Like

For collaborations or partnerships, shoot us a note: [email protected]

I've never sponsored someone else's event before… so when George pitched me on putting $2,000 behind his live creator intensive in the UK, I took a leap. George put together a full post-campaign report and walked me through it live, so we could both see what worked, what didn't, and what we'd do differently next time.

Here's what we cover:

• How to create a post-campaign report for a sponsor

• Why you should never assume a brand is upset — even when the KPIs didn't land

• The follow-up move that could turn a low-converting event into high-value leads

• Why event sponsorships are nearly worthless without physical presence — and what to do instead

Follow our guest: George Blackman: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc8UWM1E_aKr0Hh-8wuxMRw

Grab my book, Sponsor Magnet, to learn how to transform your influence into income: https://sponsormagnet.com

Want one-on-one sponsorship coaching? Join Wizard's Guild: https://wizardsguild.com

00:00 Kicking Off the Post-Campaign Review

03:30 Event Overview & Attendee Profile

08:15 Deliverables Breakdown

13:00 Newsletter vs. Event: Where the Clicks Came From

19:45 Swipe Copy for Sponsors

24:00 What the Numbers Actually Showed

29:30 Why Physical Presence Is Everything at Events

34:15 The Follow-Up Strategy Justin Wishes Had Happened

38:45 What a Second Partnership Could Look Like

41:00 Why You Should Never Assume the Brand Is Mad

For collaborations or partnerships, shoot us a note: [email protected]

Arnov and Julian manage everything for one of YouTube's biggest learning channels, Dr. Justin Sun. One year ago, brand deals were an afterthought. Now? They've 10x'd their sponsorship revenue, landed a deal that generated a 20x ROI for the brand, and turned a one-off partnership into an ongoing multi-platform relationship. Here's exactly how they did it.

Here's what we cover:

• Why hopping on a discovery call (before talking money) completely changed how brands perceived them

• The three-package pitch strategy that closed a deal in the same week, with almost no back-and-forth

• How a 6-million-view video started generating ROI for the brand at just 60,000 views

• The post-campaign review process that made them their brand partner's favorite creators to work with

• How a YouTube sponsorship evolved into CEO-level conversations about a full product integration

Follow our guests: Arnov & Julian - Strategists for Dr. Justin Sun Dr. Justin Sun's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@JustinSung

Grab my book, Sponsor Magnet, to learn how to transform your influence into income: https://sponsormagnet.com Want one-on-one sponsorship coaching? Join Wizard's Guild: https://wizardsguild.com

00:00 From Guesswork to 10x Revenue: The Transformation
02:00 Why They Ditched Email-Only Negotiations
04:00 How to Research a Brand Before You Ever Get on a Call
06:30 The Discovery Call Framework That Blew Brands Away
08:00 The Three-Package Pitch and How It Closed Fast
10:00 Identifying the Content Gap That Led to 6 Million Views
12:30 Setting Honest Expectations on an Organic Platform
14:30 The 5 Things That Sealed the Second Deal
17:00 Evolving a YouTube Sponsorship Into a Full Business Partnership

For collaborations or partnerships, shoot us a note: [email protected]

Apply for sponsorship coaching: https://www.wizardsguild.com

You're not imagining it. Here's exactly why it's happening and what to do about it:

• Why follower count is no longer a proxy for influence — and what brands actually care about now

• How the explosion of creator supply is turning you into a commodity (and how to escape it)

• The pricing mistake that's quietly killing your deal flow

• How to get brands off the spreadsheet and into a real conversation with you

Grab my book, Sponsor Magnet, to learn how to transform your influence into income: https://sponsormagnet.com

00:00 Why Brand Deals Feel Harder to Get

01:00 Following Is No Longer a Proxy for Influence

03:40 The Creator Supply Explosion

05:32 How to Stand Out with Professionalism

07:03 Why Spitting Back One Number is Killing Your Deals

08:44 How to Get Off the Spreadsheet

10:56 Outreach Strategy if Your Inbox Has Gone Cold

For collaborations or partnerships, shoot us a note: [email protected]

Apply for sponsorship coaching: https://wizardsguild.com

More followers. More brand inquiries. Same rates. If that's you, the problem isn't your audience… it's the way you're pricing yourself. Here's exactly how to fix it. Today, I’ll discuss:

• Why asking friends what to charge is keeping you stuck under an invisible ceiling

• The price anchor trap that makes brands push back when you try to raise rates

• How dynamic pricing quietly gets you removed from brands' future plans

• The one question to ask before you ever quote a number

• The ARC Framework: Awareness, Repurposing, and Conversion and why each one changes your pricing strategy completely

Grab my book, Sponsor Magnet, to learn how to transform your influence into income: https://sponsormagnet.com

00:00 Why Audience Growth Doesn't Raise Your Rates

01:02 Trap #1: The Pricing Ceiling from Guessing Together

02:24 Trap #2: The Price Anchor That Caps Every Future Deal

04:32 Trap #3: Dynamic Pricing Kills Long-Term Brand Relationships

06:39 The One Question to Ask Before You Quote Anything

07:38 The ARC Framework: Awareness, Repurposing, Conversion

09:08 How Brand Goals Determine What They'll Pay You

12:23 Your New Pricing Strategy in One Sentence

For collaborations or partnerships, shoot us a note: [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

Howie Chan has 100K+ followers on LinkedIn, a newsletter, and a podcast — and he's barely made $10K from sponsorships all year. The problem isn't his audience. It's the story he's been telling himself about what sponsors actually want from him.

Here's what we cover:

• Why brands almost never ask for "results" — and how the fear of being asked is silently killing your outreach

• How to use your audience survey data to reverse-engineer the perfect brand pitch

• The consultant mindset shift that makes sponsorship conversations feel natural

• Why you should stop chasing inbound AI pitches and start targeting brands your audience actually needs

• How to ask your own audience to sponsor you (yes, really)

Follow our guest: Howie Chan https://www.howiechan.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/howiechaniam/

Grab my book, Sponsor Magnet, to learn how to transform your influence into income: https://sponsormagnet.com Want one-on-one sponsorship coaching? Join Wizard's Guild: https://wizardsguild.com

Chapters:

00:00 From Consultant to Creator: The Sponsorship Gap

03:00 The Mindset Block Stopping Your Outreach

07:30 Using Your Consultant Skills to Pitch Brands

12:00 Surveying Your Audience to Find Brand Fits

17:30 Turning Inbound Guest Pitches Into Deal Opportunities

22:00 Outcome-Based Thinking vs. Price-Based Pitching

28:00 Tier 1 vs. Tier 2 Brands: Where to Focus Your Energy

33:30 Live Brand Research: Breaking Down Neurogum as a Case Study

40:00 Ask Your Own Audience to Sponsor You

43:00 Quick Wins: Reactivating Past Sponsors

For collaborations or partnerships, shoot us a note: [email protected]

Stop hackers from stealing your accounts with Bitdefender Security for Creators. Claim your 30-day free trial today: https://go.creatorwizard.com/bitdefender-pod-q425 Thanks to Bitdefender for sponsoring this episode!

Mark Horvath built Invisible People into a million-subscriber nonprofit media publisher covering homelessness—and landed deals with Ford, Pepsi, and Ritz Crackers. Then COVID killed the in-person events that made those partnerships work, and his revenue started going backwards.

Here's what we cover:

• Why nonprofit pitch decks are killing your deals (and what to do instead)

• The research method that landed Mark a Ford sponsorship by finding their honeymoon road trip campaign

• Why separating your podcast audience from your YouTube audience is leaving six figures on the table

• How video pitches get 10x better response rates than AI-written emails (one creator: 2,000 email pitches = 6 responses, 1 video pitch = same-day meeting)

• The "cost-plus" pricing trap that caps your deals at break-even when brands might have $500K budgets

Mark's sitting on a million Facebook followers and a million YouTube subscribers, but he's pitching to cover podcast costs instead of scaling revenue. We fix that—and tackle the creative challenge of brand integration without losing editorial control.

Follow our guest(s): Mark Horvath - https://invisiblepeople.tv
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mhorvath/

Grab my book, Sponsor Magnet, to learn how to transform your influence into income: https://sponsormagnet.com Want one-on-one sponsorship coaching? Join Wizard's Guild: https://wizardsguild.com

Chapters:

• 0:00 - From Major Brand Deals to Revenue Going Backwards

• 3:16 - The Nonprofit Mindset Trap (Stop Trying to "Break Even")

• 4:33 - How to Make Walmart Care (Hint: It's Not About Changing the World)

• 6:40 - Why COVID Killed Mark's Sponsorship Model

• 9:47 - The Bandwidth Problem (And Why You Haven't Tried Events Again)

• 11:06 - When Revenue Tanks: Individual Donations Are Disappearing

• 13:41 - Researching Competitors Who Are Already Landing Deals

• 16:52 - The Email Subject Line Formula That Gets Responses

• 18:04 - Mark's Original Ford Pitch: "I'll Sell You More Cars"

• 20:47 - Two Audiences, One Business (And Why That's a Problem)

• 24:04 - The Podcast Strategy That's Limiting Your Sponsors

• 28:33 - Your Big Q1 2026 Project: Survey Every Platform

• 31:04 - Throw Your Pitch Deck in the Trash Can

• 36:42 - Why Video Pitches Outperform Email by 10x

• 38:46 - Fishing Where the Fish Are (Target Brands Already Doing This)

• 40:35 - How to Structure Packages Tied to Their Goals

• 41:15 - The Charity Influencer Genre (And Why You Avoid It)

• 43:27 - The Johnny Harris Fear: Losing Editorial Control

• 45:27 - Creating Sponsorship-Friendly Content Without Mission Creep

• 48:51 - Key Takeaways: No Pitch Deck, Balance, and Flexibility

For collaborations or partnerships, shoot us a note: [email protected]