Nir Eyal looked at me skeptically.

"I don't know," he said. "I get a lot of inbound asking me to push products. It's never felt authentic."

We were sitting at a retreat in Sonoma County. Nir—the bestselling author of Hooked and Indestructible, the guy who literally wrote the book on habit-forming products—was telling me why he'd never seriously considered sponsorships.

And honestly? I got it.

Here's a guy with 350,000 LinkedIn followers, 150,000 email subscribers, and two books that have collectively sold over a million copies. He's built his entire reputation on authenticity and teaching people how to focus in a distracted world.

The last thing he wants to do is become some shill for green drinks on podcasts.

But by the end of our conversation, something shifted. He looked at me with wide eyes and said: "This is like a complete mind shift. I think you could add a million dollars a year to your business doing something like this."

Here's what changed his mind—and why it might change yours too.

The Inbound Problem

Most successful creators have the same experience Nir described.

Brands slide into their DMs constantly. "Can you promote this? Can we sponsor that? Can you put us in your newsletter?"

And when you're someone who's built credibility over years or decades, your natural response is: "No. Hell no. That's not me."

Nir put it perfectly: "I've always just kind of clumped that into one big category of not authentic. Sometimes even when I like a product, I don't want to give the slightest whiff that I would recommend it because I've been paid for it."

Sound familiar?

But here's the thing: when you're just reacting to inbound requests, of course it feels gross. You're being asked to fit yourself into someone else's campaign, promote their priorities, read their talking points.

That's not sponsorship. That's being a billboard with a pulse.

The Question That Changes Everything

"What if you didn't wait for brands to come to you?" I asked him. "What if you went to them with exactly what your audience needs?"

Nir paused.

See, he's already recommending tools. He literally has a website where he sends people when they ask about productivity apps, focus tools, time-blocking software. He's doing the work of finding and vetting these products because his readers come to him looking for recommendations.

He's just not getting paid for it.

"You're already in the business of transformation," I told him. "Your job isn't just to write books about being indistractable. It's to actually help people become indistractable. And if there's a tool like Freedom or Opal that helps them do that—something you genuinely believe in—isn't it actually your job to put that in front of them?"

He nodded slowly. "I just never thought of it that way."

The Psychographic Research Study That Solves Everything

Here's where it gets good.

Most creators worry about authenticity because they're guessing. They don't actually know what their audience wants. They just know what brands want them to promote.

So I walked Nir through what I call a psychographic research study.

It's simple: You ask your audience questions. Real questions.

Not "would you buy this product I'm thinking about promoting?" but:

• What tools are you currently using and loving?

• What's keeping you up at night?

• What problems do you have that I've never addressed?

• What other creators or experts would you love to see me collaborate with?

"You could do this as one PS question per week for eight weeks," I told him. "Just replace that 'what did you think of this newsletter?' question with something more strategic."

His eyes lit up. "That's brilliant. I'm already asking at the end of every newsletter what people think. I could easily just replace that with one question at a time."

The response rate? 90% when you ask right after someone subscribes.

The Unlock: It's Not About You

This is where Nir had his biggest breakthrough.

We weren't talking about him becoming an influencer or doing cringy sponsored posts. We were talking about him becoming a consultant—someone who understands their audience so deeply that they can forge strategic partnerships that actually serve people.

"Let's say 25% of your survey responses mention one specific tool," I said. "Now imagine going to that brand and saying: 'I just surveyed my 150,000 subscribers. Here's a pie chart showing that a quarter of them use your product. I'd love to explore how we can work together to serve them better.'"

He leaned forward. "That changes everything."

Because now you're not renting out your credibility. You're using data to prove that this partnership makes sense. You're leading the conversation. You're the one saying what the deal should look like.

And the brand? They're not used to this.

Most creators come to them begging. You're coming with proof that their product is already winning with your audience.

The Three-Legged Stool

I explained my PSA framework:

Products - The things you sell (books, courses, speaking) Sponsors - Other people's tools/services your audience needs
Alliances - Partnerships with other experts/creators who serve your audience

Most creators only focus on products. But your audience isn't one-dimensional.

"What if your survey reveals that 40% of your readers are struggling with work-life balance?" I asked. "Are you ever going to write a book about that?"

"Probably not," Nir admitted. "That's not my zone of genius."

"Exactly. But what if you partnered with someone whose book does address that? You'd be serving your audience by introducing them to the solution they need—even though you're not the one providing it."

He got quiet for a moment. "So you're saying the newsletter becomes another source of value. Right now people subscribe to what Nir thinks is interesting. But I'm not involving what they're actually asking for."

Exactly.

The Million-Dollar Opportunity

Here's what most people don't realize about successful authors, speakers, and experts:

You have something that emerging creators don't. You have credibility cache.

When a brand partners with you, that's PR-worthy. That's "bestselling author Nir Eyal just endorsed our product" level positioning.

"I personally think you could add seven figures to your business doing this," I told him. "Not by becoming an influencer. By becoming a strategic partner—maybe even a spokesperson—for a handful of deeply aligned brands."

You can see it in their ads. You can put it in their sales materials. You can speak at their company all-hands meetings. You can help them think through their product roadmap from a behavioral psychology perspective.

This isn't you doing a 60-second sponsored segment on someone's podcast. This is you leveraging who you are and what you represent in the industry.

The Cross-Sell Nobody Talks About

And here's the kicker I shared with Nir:

"You do speaking gigs, right? Conferences pay you to keynote?"

"Yeah."

"What if part of that deal included promoting the conference to your newsletter and LinkedIn? For an additional fee, of course. You'd be helping them sell more tickets. They'd love that."

His jaw literally dropped. "I never thought about cross-selling like that."

Most successful people are sitting on multiple revenue streams that could feed each other. Your speaking engagements could include newsletter promotions. Your newsletter partnerships could include speaking opportunities. Your alliance partners could promote your books to their audiences.

But only if you start thinking strategically about partnerships instead of just reactively declining inbound requests.

The Post-Segmentation Survey That Changes Your Newsletter Forever

One more tactical thing that made Nir get goosebumps:

Right after someone joins your newsletter, give them a quick survey. Eight questions. Takes two minutes.

Then use those answers to send them customized content.

"In my welcome sequence, I ask people what their number one goal is as a creator," I explained. "If they say 'quit my 9-to-5,' they get a completely different nurture sequence than someone who says 'diversify my revenue streams.'"

"And when I'm selling something? I send different testimonials to different people. The person who wanted to quit their job gets testimonials from students who quit their jobs. It's all automated based on that one survey."

Nir stared at me. "You just solved how to make an email newsletter habit-forming. I wrote an entire book about the Hook Model—trigger, action, reward, investment. Email doesn't usually have an investment phase. But this survey? That's the investment phase."

The Objection You're Probably Having Right Now

"But what if I recommend two competing products?" Nir asked. "Like Freedom and Opal? Doesn't that hurt my credibility?"

No. It shows you're not a shill.

"If you genuinely believe Freedom is better for one type of user and Opal is better for another, it's 100% aligned to recommend both," I told him. "You just have to be upfront with your audience about it. And you need to be upfront with the sponsors too. Tell them: 'I consider myself an unbiased advocate for my community. You should know I recommend multiple products in this category, but I'll be clear about why yours is the best for this specific subset of my audience.'"

Authenticity isn't about only recommending one product. It's about being honest about your recommendations.

The Framework: ROPE

When you do reach out to a brand, use what I call the ROPE method:

Relevant - Tie your pitch to a campaign they've run before or are currently running
Organic - Show organic content you've created that proves your audience cares about this
Proof - Demonstrate how you've helped others achieve results
Easy to execute - Pitch them something specific, not "let's figure out how to collaborate"

For Nir, that might look like:

Subject: Digital Wellness Day 2025?

"Hey, I saw you ran a campaign around Digital Wellness Day last year. I'm Nir Eyal, author of Indestructible. I have 350,000 followers who constantly ask me for tool recommendations. Here's my page where I already recommend Freedom [link]. Would love to explore a partnership for next year's Digital Wellness Day. Are you free Thursday at 10am?"

Short. Specific. Shows you did your homework.

The Discovery Call Mistake Everyone Makes

If they say yes to that call, don't pitch them.

Ask them questions.

• What's your product roadmap?

• What are your marketing objectives for this year?

• What campaigns have worked well recently?

• What metrics matter most to you?

Make it about them. Take notes. Listen.

Then after the call, send them a proposal that literally starts with: "Here's what I heard."

List out their goals. Then show them three to five packages that each accomplish one of those specific goals.

This is consultant-level stuff. And it's why you can charge what consultants charge.

What Changed for Nir

By the end of our conversation, Nir went from "sponsorships aren't for me" to seeing a completely different business model.

"I just never thought of it this way before," he said. "You're not talking about making the newsletter another source of revenue. You're talking about making it more valuable for subscribers. And if I build that machine—that feedback loop where I'm constantly learning what they need—then the sponsorship opportunities are just a natural outcome of serving them better."

Exactly.

The sponsorships aren't the point. Serving your audience is the point.

But when you serve them well by introducing them to tools and resources and experts they actually need—resources you've validated through data rather than guesswork—getting paid for that just makes sense.

Your Move

If you're sitting on an audience of any size—especially if you're an established author, speaker, or expert—you're probably leaving money on the table.

Not because you should become an influencer. Not because you should sell out.

But because you're not thinking strategically about how to connect your audience with the solutions they're already looking for.

Start with one survey. Eight questions. Ask your subscribers what they actually need.

Then look at those results and ask yourself: "What if I could be the bridge?"

Want help structuring partnerships that feel authentic to you and valuable to your audience? Join us in Wizard's Guild, where we help creators land deals that make sense—not deals that make you feel gross.