I started the live stream with some truly terrible beatboxing.

Look, I've been doing these weekly streams for years. At some point, you've got to entertain yourself to keep the stamina going, right?

But today wasn't about my nonexistent beatboxing skills. Today was about the five scripts that will get brands to finally say yes to you—no matter how many followers you have.

Because here's the thing: most creators are sending generic "I love your brand" emails that get ignored. They're leading with follower counts. They're waiting for brands to magically discover them.

And it's not working.

So let me give you the exact scripts that will change that.

Script #1: The ROPE Cold Pitch

Most creators send pitches that are all about them. "I have X followers. I get Y views. I've loved using your product for 3 years. You should work with me."

That's not a compelling pitch. The brand doesn't care about you. They care about whether you can help them tap into a pool of prospective customers.

Enter the ROPE method from my book Sponsor Magnet:

R = Relevant. Tie your pitch back to a specific campaign they're running or have run. Not just their latest post—everyone does that. Reference a real campaign.

O = Organic. Link to organic work you've already published that shows your audience has existing affinity for their brand, product, or campaign. Not that YOU do. Does your audience represent a big pool of prospective customers?

P = Proof. Show how you've helped another brand achieve results.

E = Easy to Execute. Give them a specific set of deliverables they can react to. This, this, this, this, and this. Make it concrete.

Here's what that looks like in practice:

"Hi Stacy, loved that you were doing Mediterranean diet month last year. I just posted about [link to old content] and my audience went crazy for it. After my recent partnership with [Brand X], I have an idea for how we could amplify your next health campaign. We can do A, B, C, and D. Are you free Thursday at 10am to talk?"

That's the ROPE method in its purest form.

Script #2: The Budget Range Negotiation Script

Most creators ask: "What's your budget?"

Brands don't want to tell you. Because if they say $10K, what number are you coming back with? $10K. And then they have no wiggle room.

Remember: they're probably reaching out to 19 other people. They have to Tetris that budget together. You're going to come back at $5K, someone else at $20K, someone else at $1K. They need flexibility.

So instead of asking "What's your budget?" use this script:

"This call was very useful. I would love to put together three to four different packages to help you envision how we can bring this partnership to life. Do you have a sense of what I should set those three to four tiers at from a budget feasibility perspective?"

You're not asking what their budget is. You're asking them to give you a budget range.

And here's the surprising part: 75% of the time, they'll actually tell you.

Wild, right? They'll say "1-2-3K" or "5-10-15K" or "50-100-150K."

Now when they're Tetris-ing the budget, they have at least one package option to move forward with you. It gives them wiggle room while getting you the info you need to price competitively.

This is my Moneyball approach to sponsorships. You can create a very good life hitting singles and doubles all day long—$2K deals, $5K deals, $7,500 deals. You're not always going to get the $25K deals. But as long as they have one option to move forward with you at some amount, that leads to a very good business.

Script #3: The Free Stuff Pivot Script

Brand reaches out: "We only offer free products instead of compensation."

You try to pivot: "I'm only focusing on paid partnerships right now."

Brand hits back: "We've got a line of 99 other people willing to accept this free thing because it's expensive. Do you want it or not?"

Drop it in the chat if you've ever gotten that one.

Here's how you pivot:

"Thank you so much for the offer. I would love to learn more about what your objectives are when you collaborate with creators."

They'll give you one of three things from my ARC framework: Awareness, Repurposing, or Conversions.

Once you have that data, pivot like this:

"Great, glad to know repurposing is important to you. Out of curiosity, are you able to get revisions on those assets when people are just getting the thing for free? You may not actually have much creative stake in how that content is brought to life.

I can create that as part of a compensated agreement. I would look forward to rounds of revision, a more collaborative creative experience with you so you can ensure I'm displaying and recommending the product adequately. You're getting the sound bites you need to cut this down into a 15-second ad. I can create different versions with different hooks, different calls to action. I'll give you usage rights for 3 months.

This is going to give you a much better return on your investment than crossing your fingers and hoping that when you shotgun these 100 free things to people, two or three are going to be good.

So with that in mind, what budget can you allocate for a collaboration like this?"

See how you're talking strategically about what an engagement with you might look like?

And if they push back, you can offer to accept the free product just to test it, but clarify that airtime on your channel—a paid promotion—would be separate.

Script #4: The Concept Approval Script

You just signed the contract. Brand says "We trust you. We want this to be organic and authentic. Go create."

NEVER start creating without getting buy-in from the brand on your concept.

You want the brand to come back and say "Hey, that's not what we had in mind." You want them to say "Change this, this, and this." You want them to catch errors—"The promo starts on this date, not that date" or "Demonstrate it this way because creators last month screwed it up."

Give me all that feedback BEFORE I press record. I don't want to redo this stuff.

Here's the script:

"Before I begin production, I want to make sure we're aligned. Here is exactly what I am planning to create. I'm going to be filming at this location. I'm featuring these people. I'm going to say these key messages. I've got this call to action and this landing page link. Does this align with your vision or would you like me to adjust anything?"

This prevents re-shoots. It prevents revisions. It prevents scope creep.

And scope creep is the number one thing that causes creators to develop a sour taste about working with brands. "I'm never working with them again" or "They're not paying me enough to do all this."

Probably because you didn't prepare them for how you were going to bring this to life.

Script #5: The Post-Campaign Report Follow-Up Script

Most creators completely disappear after posting. They get their money, send the invoice, ghost.

You're going to send a professional analysis that completely differentiates you from anyone else they worked with.

Here's the script:

"Hey [Name], here's the results from our campaign. Here's the key metrics. Here's audience feedback I received. I noticed a particular insight about your market—I had five or six comments asking a specific question that maybe I didn't cover adequately. Maybe there was an objection people can't get past, which is why they didn't redeem the offer.

This leads me to an idea for our next collaboration. Here's what I'm proposing. When would be a good time to discuss this for next quarter?"

Always end these analyses with a pitch for the next campaign.

This is how you turn one-off deals into ongoing partnerships where you're working with the brand month over month or quarter over quarter.

The Brutal Truth About Follower Counts

I had a creator reach out with close to 10 million followers. They were frustrated that brands weren't responding.

"I've got all these followers. Why aren't brands responding?"

I had to give them the toughest piece of advice: The brand doesn't care that you have 9 million followers.

They were shell-shocked. That was their identity. Everyone else in their life is impressed by that—friends, family, other creators.

But brands? They don't know who you are. In their mind, they're thinking about that AdWeek article where some brand sponsored a mega-influencer and generated zero sales.

You can't lead with follower count. It's not a compelling pitch.

The Flip Side: You Don't Need Big Numbers

My friend Joe's podcast was sponsored pre-launch. Zero views. Zero downloads. Sponsor on day one.

Why? He could reach their audience. Their goal was to promote something. They didn't ask "What's your CPM? What's your CPV?" They just said "Yes, we want to support you and you talk to the people we're trying to talk to."

I got a DM yesterday from someone in Uzbekistan who grabbed my Sponsor Magnet ebook for $9. They wrote:

"I followed your exact pitch, pricing, and negotiation strategies, and I landed four figures in brand deals. My channel just crossed 1K subs. Before this, I hadn't made a single dollar."

1,000 subscribers. Four-figure deals. From Uzbekistan.

It's not about where you live. It's not about how many followers you have. It's about framing it so brands realize they can accomplish their goals by sponsoring you.

The Math That Makes $130K Make Sense

Someone asked me about the pricing example on page 112 of the book. If you're averaging 2 million views, that math works out to $130,000. "That seems crazy."

Let me walk you through why it's not.

A million people watch your video. Conservatively, 10% click the landing page—100,000 people. Of those, 10% sign up for a free trial of the software—10,000 people. Of those, 50% convert to paid—5,000 customers.

The software costs $10/month. Average customer sticks around 10 months. Lifetime value = $100.

5,000 customers × $100 = $500,000 in revenue from one video.

Brands understand this math. Even with more conservative assumptions, even if they only want to pay you half or a third of that (because they want profit, not breakeven), you very quickly realize why a brand might spend $130K for a 2 million view video.

I regularly saw deals in that price range when I ran my agency, especially for awareness campaigns with large creators.

Where else can you get 2 million global eyeballs on your product? Basically nowhere.

Join the 10K Brand Deal Challenge

Look, I'm running the 10K Brand Deal Challenge starting September 11th. It's 7 days where I help you craft your version of a 10K brand deal.

We cover exactly how to apply these scripts. We do live pitch roasts where I review your pitches. People actually hit send during the challenge and hear back from brands.

It's $97. VIP upgrade with live Q&As is $197.

Perfect timing for Q4 holiday brand deals. Brands are organizing campaigns right now.