Sponsor Magnet: Attract, Price, & Execute Dream Partnerships

What happens when a brand with zero ad experience spends $8,000 to sponsor a creator’s left thigh? Kimmy Green, co-founder of Sam’s List, gives us the brand’s side of the viral sponsorship. She explains why she said yes, what it actually returned, and what she wishes creators would pitch her instead.
Why one creator’s audience made an $8K sponsorship worth the risk for a bootstrapped brand
How Kimmy measured ROI when brand awareness was the whole point
The copycat sponsorship pitches flooding her DMs, and why she ignored every one
How going beyond the contracted deliverables turned “meh” into “worth it”
Exactly what a creator would need to pitch to land a content partnership with a founder like Kimmy
Kimmy shares the panic attack she had when she realized she’d won the bid and the moment she woke up to find her logo completely sweated off. She also explains why a 7-day storm of scrappy, documented content became the best-performing video work she’s ever done.
Follow our guest: Kimmy Green
https://www.instagram.com/kimigreen1/
Sam’s List: https://samslist.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
00:00 The $8,000 Thigh Sponsorship
00:31 Why Sam’s List Said Yes
02:31 Justifying an $8K Sponsorship Budget
05:03 Measuring ROI on Brand Awareness
07:50 How a Brand Deal Forced Better Content
10:46 The Copycat Sponsorship Pitches
13:02 Going Beyond Contracted Deliverables
16:50 When the Logo Sweated Off
18:13 What Brands Want Creators to Pitch
21:31 Biggest Lessons for Brands and Creators
For collaborations or partnerships, shoot us a note: inquiries@creatorwizard.com

Should you hire a talent manager to handle your brand deals, or keep your sponsorships in-house? Justin sits down with talent manager Patrick right after a heated debate in the lobby at VidSummit, and they dig into what separates a great manager from a glorified inbox responder.
* The roster-dumping move that proves a manager doesn't care where their 20% comes from
* Why non-exclusive representation is killing your renewals
* Hiring a salesperson in-house vs. partnering with a management agency
* Do agencies actually get you access to more sponsorships? (Justin pushes back)
* Why B2B and subject matter expert creators often don't need a manager at all
Patrick also shares how his team built a ZipRecruiter integration so organic that retention didn't dip, and gives his honest reaction to Justin's hot take that 99% of creators shouldn't hire a manager.
Follow our guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-israel/
Check out Creator Hub Live: https://creatorhublive.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
00:00 Should Creators Hire a Manager?
00:36 The Manager Who Pitched 19 Other Creators
01:47 Red Flags: No Transparency, No Values
03:34 Holistic Manager vs. Glorified Inbox Responder
04:47 Should Early Creators Work Commission-Only?
07:23 When a Creator Isn't a Fit for Management
08:45 The Non-Exclusive Representation Problem
09:55 Hiring In-House vs. Partnering with an Agency
10:41 Do Agencies Actually Get You Brand Access?
14:20 B2B Creators and Going Direct to Brands
17:01 Beyond the 60-Second YouTube Integration
18:47 The ZipRecruiter Integration That Didn't Dip Retention
19:29 "99% of Creators Shouldn't Hire a Manager"
20:14 Creator Hub Live
For collaborations or partnerships, shoot us a note: inquiries@creatorwizard.com

Get 25% off your first year of Sponsor Mole (annual plans) with code POD25: https://www.sponsormole.com
Who do you pitch, what do you say, and which brands would even want to sponsor you? I walk you through Sponsor Mole, the software I built to answer all three of these questions and take the busywork out of landing brand deals.
How to find the actual decision-maker at a brand in seconds
Pitch angles from brand research, including Black Friday campaigns, product launches, and job postings
Why AI-written pitches get ignored, and the “happy medium” approach that still gets responses
How to turn one-off sponsors into repeat clients with a deal tracker built on the sponsorship wheel
Generating a full sponsor proposal deck from a call transcript, plus the MCP server that connects it all to Claude or ChatGPT
I also break down how every generated pitch follows the ROPE method from Sponsor Magnet, and why I recommend sending it as a video instead of another email in a marketer’s inbox.
Tools mentioned: Tella for video pitches: creatorwizard.com/tella
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 The 3 Biggest Sponsorship Outreach Questions
00:54 What Is Sponsor Mole?
01:20 Finding the Right Brand Contact
02:00 Researching Pitch Angles
05:01 Generating a Custom Pitch
05:35 Training Your Mole
07:27 Influencer vs. UGC Pitches
09:05 The ROPE Method in Action
09:43 Why You Should Send Video Pitches
11:41 Finding Brands to Pitch
13:36 Search History
13:55 The Deal Tracker and Repeat Sponsors
16:03 The Proposal Deck Builder
17:52 Multiple Profiles and Team Access
19:23 The Sponsor Mole MCP Server
20:54 Why I Built Sponsor Mole
21:29 25% Off Discount Code
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