Getting brand deals when you're just starting out as a creator can feel impossible.

You're looking around at other creators in your niche—people with smaller audiences than you—and thinking: "How are they getting so many deals? What am I missing?"

I'm about to give you my honest advice. Not the sanitized, feel-good version. The real stuff that actually works.

Some of this might sting. But if you're a smaller creator who wants to start getting sponsorships, here's what you need to hear.

Tip #1: Get Out of Your Head About Follower Count

Maybe one brand told you one time that they only work with creators who have 10,000 followers.

Or you tried to apply on some sponsorship platform, entered your follower count, and got an error message: "We only work with creators who have [arbitrary milestone]."

And you got frustrated. Rightfully so.

"I've built up a really solid platform. I have great engagement. Why does it matter that I don't have this random threshold?"

Here's the mistaken belief that probably followed: "If this one brand has that requirement, I guess that's what every brand thinks. So I should just stop reaching out."

That could not be further from the truth.

Especially if you're a creator with a very specific niche.

The Large Fish, Small Pond Advantage

I've got about 50 creators in my Wizard's Guild coaching program. The overwhelming majority have a very specific content focus.

One of my favorite examples is Dr. Alex. She runs Digital Pathology Place. She's got decision makers in her audience—other physicians, other professionals listening to her podcast or following her on LinkedIn.

She doesn't have millions of followers. Because she covers a very niche topic.

And she's absolutely crushing it with brand sponsorships.

Think about it: If you're a medical instrumentation or tooling company in that niche, there's not an infinite number of places you can advertise. So they look at who the top people are in this field and roll out the red carpet. They allocate large budgets because there's a limited supply of partners they could work with.

You need this mental shift: If you're a large fish in a small pond, you can often command a really healthy rate.

And here's the kicker—brands in your niche may have never worked with creators before. Influencer marketing might not be a strategy they've considered. They think: "Influencers? That's for consumer brands."

Wrong. B2B influencers is a rapidly growing vertical.

Just get out of your head about this stuff.

Tip #2: You're Going to Get Rejected a Bunch (And That's Okay)

You're going to get 50 no's on the pathway to your first yes.

The question is: Do you have the tenacity to reach out to 49 brands knowing you have to push that boulder up the hill?

Because you're going to learn a lot from those first five pitches. From the first ten.

In my book, I talk about how there are two really important things when putting together a solid pitch:

What you say and who you send it to.

Both are equally important.

If you're focusing on YOU—your follower count, your views, your audience demographics—the brand sees that email and thinks: "I don't know who this person is. Delete."

But if you focus on THEM? If you mention research you've done, a campaign they ran last year, a new AI tool they're releasing in Q1 2025?

Now you're talking about things they care about. Their business outcomes.

The second piece is: Who are you actually sending this to?

Are you sliding into the brand's DMs on social media with "I would love to collaborate"? Are you sending it to press@brand.com and getting an auto-response?

A lot of creators make errors in one or both of those areas. Then they convince themselves that pitching doesn't work.

It absolutely does work. You just have to learn how to craft a compelling pitch.

This is a learning process. I sent so many terrible pitches when my wife and I were starting out. I didn't learn this in school. Did you? I didn't take negotiation classes in undergrad.

I learned on the fly. And you will too.

Have the confidence knowing: I'm going to get rejected. I'm going to get ghosted. It doesn't mean I suck. It doesn't mean my business sucks. It just means I'm not saying the right things yet to get on the radar of these brands.

Tip #3: Some Brand Interactions Will Feel Insulting (Don't Take It Personally)

There will be interactions with brands that feel insulting.

Maybe they flat-out reject you. Maybe they say something critical about your content: "It's not the right fit. Come back when you have more followers or better quality content."

It's going to suck. You'll hear sad violins playing in the background. You'll stare existentially into the mirror.

That's natural. Creating content on the internet where anyone can comment is vulnerable. We're all humans. It's tricky to be objective about feedback from brands.

Let me share a quick story.

A creator reached out to me who has a sizable LinkedIn following and newsletter. They speculatively created a YouTube video about one of their favorite software tools.

After publishing, they reached out to the brand at their generic press email: "Hey! I just gave you a shoutout in this video. Would love to chat about partnership opportunities."

They thought creating this speculative content would be their foot in the door for a larger paid collaboration.

What happened? They got a generic response: "Thanks so much. We don't pay people to make content about us. But if you want to buy more equipment, here's the link to our e-commerce store. - Brand Team"

No name. Just "Brand Team."

The creator sent me a screenshot. They were upset. Insulted. Flustered.

It turned them from an uber fan into an uber hater overnight.

They also admitted they said some choice words in reply to the brand.

What Actually Happened

I had to walk them off a ledge and explain what really just occurred.

First: The person who responded to that generic press email—where they get tons of inquiries—is probably a frontline customer service employee. Not a decision maker on the marketing team.

Maybe it's not even someone on the brand team. Maybe it's a community management agency handling inbound requests because they get so many crappy ones.

This is just the front line: "Here's the boilerplate template for what we say when people ask for free stuff or paid partnerships. Copy, paste, send."

This is not a decision maker. That's what you have to understand.

Second: When a brand doesn't sign their name—when it's just "Brand Team" or a form response—you can't go from zero to 60 and assume the brand hates you.

Put your empathy hat on. Understand what's probably happening.

What a Better Strategy Would Look Like

Here's what this creator should have done:

1. Zero in on the exact contact at the brand who's responsible for paid partnerships. Not the generic press email.

2. Articulate your value beyond the free shoutout. A lot of brands think: "They're talking about us for free. Why should we pay them?"

It's your job to explain what additional things you can do for them. And how much it will cost. Scope it all out so they have something tangible to react to.

Don't just say "it would be great to collaborate." In their mind, they're thinking: "I don't know how to collaborate with this person. I don't know who they are."

The onus is on you to put together something they can evaluate.

Tip #4: You Cannot Control the Actions of Your Peers

This one is tough.

I get a lot of messages from creators who feel frustrated. There are so many people in tech, travel, hospitality—every niche—who are willing to accept collaborations for free stuff. Gifted products. Access to the latest camera gear or smartphone. A free trip.

No compensation.

And that's going to happen from now until the end of eternity. There will always be an unlimited supply of people who accept the free thing.

Brands are counting on that.

Your job is to differentiate yourself from those people.

How to Pivot When They Offer Free Stuff

Let's say you get an inbound inquiry from a brand offering something for free.

Your first move is to understand more about their overall influencer strategy.

Ask a simple question:

"That's awesome that you're working with other creators. Out of curiosity, do those creators also grant you the rights to use their content for paid advertising? Because that's something I specialize in. Let me know if you'd like to see a few investment options for what that might look like."

You're pivoting. You're saying: "Here's my expertise. Here's what I focus on. Here's my zone of genius. Want to have a call to chat about this?"

Maybe the brand has never even considered this.

This also works when a brand offers you their affiliate program or ambassador opportunity:

"Do your affiliates grant you the rights to use their content for paid ads? That's what I do."

Rather than reverting to the universal answer—"I'm only focusing on paid partnerships right now"—which slams the door in the brand's face, you're opening a broader conversation.

Brands Don't Have It All Figured Out

Here's the thing: Creators think brands have it all figured out. Giant marketing team. Everything mapped out. Infinite resources.

It might just be two people on the marketing team. Or one person.

You saying: "I'd be more than happy to jump on a call to give you insights about what I see working on short-form video right now"?

They will jump at that chance.

Even if it doesn't lead to an immediate deal, it may lead to one three months down the line.

The Seven-Minute Video That Changed Everything

I'll share a story. An agency we worked with on a normal Instagram activation floated the idea of doing a live stream on Amazon—a live commerce activation.

We couldn't wrap it into that deal. But two months later, they came back: "We have a client interested in this. Can you tell me more?"

I fired up a Loom video. Shared my screen. Explained how it works, how the carousel below the video functions, how we'd film B-roll in advance for approval.

The whole thing. Seven minutes.

The agency rep responded with their mind blown. They couldn't believe I took seven minutes out of my day to film this with no guarantee of a deal.

But I've been doing this long enough to know: This is how relationships are built.

I carved out a little place in my agency contact's mind: "Justin and April are people we can rely on."

They had the humility to ask: "We don't understand this. Can you explain?"

And we had our ego in check: "Sure, happy to help."

They're going to come back to us over and over knowing that's the type of partner we are.

You cannot control other people's behavior. Your job is to help brands understand how you're different.

Tip #5: It Doesn't Matter How Much You Get Paid for Your First Deal

Hold the phones.

"Justin, you're a sponsorship coach. Aren't you supposed to help me negotiate MORE money?"

Of course. But there's something to getting that very first deal and actually getting paid. $50. $100. Some money exchanging hands.

There's something to crossing that chasm. Achieving that milestone.

It flips something in your head when you were previously only accepting free stuff and now you're getting a PayPal notification for $100.

For us, it was realizing: "We're actually bringing a lot to the table."

Understanding the Process

You learn what it's like to:

• Negotiate with a brand

• Review a contract

• Put together a concept for brand approval

• Create assets and get feedback

• Publish everything correctly and on time

• Put together a post-campaign report

These are the eight steps of my Sponsorship Wheel I talk about in Sponsor Magnet.

You're going to screw some things up. That's okay.

You'll start understanding your value. Your worth. The types of brands you like collaborating with. The types you don't. How your audience responds to sponsorships. Things you can do better next time.

"Wow, I didn't know I'd see these five comments all about this one thing. Next sponsorship, I should talk more about that or demonstrate it differently."

I don't think it matters at all how much you make on that first deal—as long as you're charging something.

The Real Unlock

Getting brand deals as a smaller creator isn't about having a massive following.

It's about:

• Getting out of your head about follower count

• Expecting rejection and learning from it

• Not taking generic brand responses personally

• Differentiating yourself from people who work for free

• Actually starting—even if that first deal is small

The creators who win aren't the ones with the most followers. They're the ones who understand that this is a skill you build, a process you learn, and a relationship game you play for the long term.

Ready to stop guessing and start landing deals? My book Sponsor Magnet breaks down the exact 8-step framework I've used to close 550+ deals worth over $5M. Or if you want hands-on coaching, join us in Wizard's Guild where we help creators at every level land and negotiate better partnerships.