Sponsor Magnet: Attract, Price, & Execute Dream Partnerships

Want help landing bigger brand deals? See if you qualify for a free sponsorship strategy session with my team. Apply here: https://wizardsguild.com/qualify
Lew Smith spent 26 years in IT, squeezing content creation into early mornings, nights, and weekends. Then one brand deal, $6,000 a month for 12 months, gave him the green light to type his resignation letter.
How a networking group Lew almost didn't pay for led to a $72K brand deal
The 3-tier offer that turned a small consulting gig into a full-time client
Why Lew refuses to give brands rights in perpetuity, even when they push back
How switching from gifted to paid changed his sponsorship business overnight
Why video pitches have gotten Lew a response 100% of the time
Lew breaks down exactly how he used the ROPE pitch method to position his offer, how he handled the brand's biggest objection around content ownership, and the three lessons he'd give any creator trying to turn brand deals into a full-time income.
Follow our guest: Lew Smith https://www.youtube.com/@reluctantdiyers
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 One Brand Deal, One Resignation Letter
00:20 How a Networking Group Led to a $72K Brand Deal
01:28 Turning a Consulting Gig Into a Full-Time Client
03:10 The 3-Tier Pitch That Landed $6K/Month
04:27 Why You Never Give Away Rights in Perpetuity
05:52 Closing the 12-Month Deal
07:09 The Resignation Letter
08:04 Gifted to Paid: The First Shift That Worked
08:36 Lou's Journey Before Brand Deal Wizard
10:03 Negotiating Content Rights With Newborn Brothers
11:44 Using the ROPE Pitch Method
14:18 When Brands Balk at Paying Creators
16:23 Staying Sticky When the Timing Is Wrong
18:17 Why Video Pitches Always Get a Response
19:27 Lou's 3 Biggest Brand Deal Lessons
For collaborations or partnerships, shoot us a note: inquiries@creatorwizard.com

Want help landing bigger brand deals? See if you qualify for a free sponsorship strategy session with my team. Apply here: https://wizardsguild.com/qualify

Lew Smith spent 26 years in IT, squeezing content creation into early mornings, nights, and weekends. Then one brand deal, $6,000 a month for 12 months, gave him the green light to type his resignation letter.

How a networking group Lew almost didn't pay for led to a $72K brand deal

The 3-tier offer that turned a small consulting gig into a full-time client

Why Lew refuses to give brands rights in perpetuity, even when they push back

How switching from gifted to paid changed his sponsorship business overnight

Why video pitches have gotten Lew a response 100% of the time

Lew breaks down exactly how he used the ROPE pitch method to position his offer, how he handled the brand's biggest objection around content ownership, and the three lessons he'd give any creator trying to turn brand deals into a full-time income.

Follow our guest: Lew Smith https://www.youtube.com/@reluctantdiyers

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 One Brand Deal, One Resignation Letter
00:20 How a Networking Group Led to a $72K Brand Deal
01:28 Turning a Consulting Gig Into a Full-Time Client
03:10 The 3-Tier Pitch That Landed $6K/Month
04:27 Why You Never Give Away Rights in Perpetuity
05:52 Closing the 12-Month Deal
07:09 The Resignation Letter
08:04 Gifted to Paid: The First Shift That Worked
08:36 Lou's Journey Before Brand Deal Wizard
10:03 Negotiating Content Rights With Newborn Brothers
11:44 Using the ROPE Pitch Method
14:18 When Brands Balk at Paying Creators
16:23 Staying Sticky When the Timing Is Wrong
18:17 Why Video Pitches Always Get a Response
19:27 Lou's 3 Biggest Brand Deal Lessons

For collaborations or partnerships, shoot us a note: inquiries@creatorwizard.com

Charlotte turned a free event invite into a paid, multi-thousand dollar brand partnership — and she did it with one email. In this episode, my client Charlotte (travel & aviation creator) breaks down exactly how she turns "free trip" offers from tourism boards, airlines, and embassies into real paid deals, why she still says yes to some unpaid opportunities, and the LinkedIn strategy that's made her a go-to for decision-makers in her niche.
How Charlotte reframed a free event ask into a paid UGC + influencer package
The "Vine swing" method for deciding when a free opportunity is actually worth it
Why a $3 thank-you card can outperform a follow-up email
Her approach to slow-moving, high-red-tape deals with government and embassy clients
The LinkedIn strategy that gets her in front of brand decision-makers directly
Follow our guest:
Charlotte Thompson — https://www.instagram.com/yourpalcharlotte/
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 Charlotte's Free-to-Paid Partnership Win
1:00 Deciding When to Say Yes to Free Trips
4:01 The Power of Following Up After "No"
8:49 Small Gestures That Build Brand Trust
11:46 How to Know When an Opportunity Is Worth It
17:04 Systemizing Your Follow-Up Process
21:03 Working Through Complex Government & Regulated Deals
24:41 B2C vs. B2B Content Strategy
25:22 Charlotte's LinkedIn Playbook
30:16 Getting Started on LinkedIn With Confidence
For collaborations or partnerships, shoot us a note: inquiries@creatorwizard.com

What happens when a creator who's built an 18-year business decides to sell it — sponsors, audience, and all? Pat Flynn just sold Smart Passive Income to Liz Wilcox, and in this episode, we get into the real anxieties, the sponsor conversations nobody talks about, and how Liz plans to reset the entire sponsorship strategy for SPI.

Why Pat turned down multiple 8-figure offers before finally saying yes to Liz

The exact way Pat and Liz introduced the transition to sponsors without spooking them

Liz's plan to lean into email over YouTube subscriber counts when pitching brands

How Pat's Vault X binder deal went from a random shoutout to a six-figure sponsorship

Why "closed mouths don't get fed" applies to pitching brands on surfaces they don't know you have

Follow our guests:
Pat Flynn: https://patflynn.com/
Liz Wilcox: https://lizwilcox.com/

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

0:00 Pat Flynn's Confession: Selling Smart Passive Income
0:19 Meet Liz Wilcox, the New Owner of SPI
1:35 The Anxiety Behind Handing Off an 18-Year-Old Business
4:54 Liz's Sponsorship Philosophy: Doubling Down on Email
8:42 Passing the Baton: Rebuilding Sponsor Trust
10:03 Involving Your Audience in Sponsorship Decisions
13:05 Merging Two Brands Into One
14:06 The Video Content Opportunity for SPI
18:19 Pat's Vault X Deal and the Power of Giving Wins First
21:30 Where to Follow the New SPI

For collaborations or partnerships, shoot us a note: inquiries@creatorwizard.com

What happens when a B2B consultant who's never called himself a "creator" ends up with his face on a banner seen by over a million people? Jay Acunzo breaks down how he turned cold, cobbled-together sponsor arrangements into a systematic revenue engine — without ever sending a rate sheet.

Why Jay refuses to call himself a YouTuber, podcaster, or newsletter writer — and how he still built a sponsorship engine anyway

The "stacking" strategy that turned a Mailchimp partnership into content he wanted to make anyway

How reigniting a cold relationship with Wistia turned into a 4-webinar series that outperformed their biggest marketing expense of the year

The licensing lesson that got Jay thousands of extra dollars he never would've asked for

Why goal-based proposals beat rate sheets every single time

Follow our guest:
Jay Acunzo — https://linkedin.com/in/jayacunzo

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

0:00 Meet Jay Acunzo: The B2B Consultant Who Isn't a "Creator"
0:31 Premise & IP: What Jay Actually Sells
1:36 Why Jay Refuses to Call Himself a YouTuber or Podcaster
2:30 How the Sponsorship Wheel Rewired Jay's Thinking
3:55 The Problem With Reactive, "Slap-a-Logo-On-It" Sponsorships
6:04 The Mailchimp Deal: Stacking Sponsorship on Top of What You Already Do
8:36 Reigniting a Cold Sponsor Relationship With Wistia
11:03 Pitching "Fix My Webinar": Turning an Idea Into a Sponsored Series
13:34 Being the Guinea Pig for a Brand's First Creator Partnership
15:54 The Licensing Lesson That Made Jay Thousands More
19:57 Why Goal-Based Proposals Beat Rate Sheets Every Time
23:08 Behind the Scenes: Shooting "Shenanigans" With Wistia
26:25 The Results: Doubling Wistia's Average Webinar Numbers
29:56 The Payoff: A Banner in Front of a Million Users
32:19 Sponsorship Done the Creator Wizard Way

For collaborations or partnerships, shoot us a note: inquiries@creatorwizard.com