Sponsor Magnet: Attract, Price, & Execute Dream Partnerships

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]