Doc showed up to Sponsor Games thinking he'd figured out the angle.

"I'll be honest," he told me. "I didn't think I could really make money on sponsors. But if I could win the games, I could make money off the cash prize. Then it would be worth it."

He came in through the side door. Through the window, really.

The actual sponsorship stuff? That was just the backdrop for his competition strategy.

But something happened over those two days in person. Something that shifted everything.

"Going out, I was like—this feels sustainable. Like I can actually do this with my business long term."

Here's what changed.

The Defeated Mindset

Before Sponsor Games, Doc was stuck.

He had my book. He was thinking about what he should be doing with it. But he hadn't closed any long-term deals.

"I just felt defeated," he said. "I didn't know how to talk to brands confidently. When there was any kind of pushback or rejection, it reaffirmed everything. Like, 'Oh, my audience isn't big enough. My views aren't enough to command this amount.'"

Sound familiar?

He was treating every negotiation like a zero-sum game. Either the brand says yes or they say no. Either you have enough or you don't.

And when you think that way, every "no" feels personal. Every objection feels like proof that you're not good enough.

The Hot Seat Breakthrough

The thing that unlocked it for Doc wasn't sitting in the audience taking notes.

It was watching other creators get in the hot seat.

"Seeing the hot seats and how people negotiate, how they were going through it—understanding the ROPE method in real time and then also hearing the other creators like 'Oh, that felt bad' or 'Oh, I did good.' I was like, okay, they're feeling just like what I'm feeling. And now I can do something about it."

That's the power of being in the room.

You realize you're not crazy. You're not alone. Everyone else is feeling the same uncertainty, the same impostor syndrome, the same fear that maybe they're asking for too much.

But they're doing it anyway. And some of them are winning.

"There were so many people at different levels," Doc explained. "Some people just starting. There were experts now trying to get into it. And then there were established creators doing six-figure deals and beyond. It felt like the steps were smaller than I thought."

The Positioning Shift That Changed Everything

Doc pointed to one specific moment on stage that rewired his brain.

"You were talking about how it's not a contentious relationship. You have to be on the same side of the brand. That really changed how I went into positioning and talking. How can I make it a win for you? How can it make it a win for me? Everyone's on the same page."

This is the unlock so many creators miss.

They think negotiation is about getting the brand to cave. Getting them to pay more. Getting them to agree to your terms.

But when you approach it that way, every conversation feels like a battle. You versus them. And most creators aren't comfortable with confrontation, so they just... give up.

The reframe is simple: you're solving their problem together.

The brand has goals. You have goals. Your job isn't to extract maximum value from them. It's to find the overlap where both of you win.

When Doc started thinking this way, everything changed.

The Tier System That Unlocks Bigger Deals

The second tactical thing that transformed Doc's results?

Giving brands choices.

"I'd always have one huge number," he said. "I'm like, they got to do it. If not, I'm not doing it. But having a lowest tier—being comfortable with a number and then going up—that anchored the conversation."

Before Sponsor Games, Doc would walk into negotiations with one number. Take it or leave it.

And brands would leave it.

After? He started presenting three tiers. A starting point that felt reasonable, a middle option with more value, and a premium package that really moved the needle.

"If there was like, 'Hey, we like all those things. What if we did it for this price point? What are we looking at with that?' I could have that conversation."

The result? Multiple $15K deals.

Not one-off posts. Not month-to-month contracts that could disappear any time. Real partnerships that gave him stability.

From One Month to Twelve Months

Here's the stat that blew my mind:

"Before the games, I'd never been able to get more than a month deal or one video deal. Since then, all of my deals—I would say all except one—have been six month or twelve month deals."

Read that again.

He went from getting one-off gigs to landing contracts that stretched across the entire year.

Same person. Same audience size. Same content.

The only thing that changed was his approach.

The Speaking Gig That Became a Masterclass

Doc didn't just apply this to traditional sponsorships.

He took the methodology and used it for a speaking engagement.

"I just used the ROPE method for that. I was like, 'What's your budget for speaking?' And they're like, 'Well...' And I was like, 'Do you have money from a different department?' And they're like, 'Yeah, actually I do.'"

This is what I mean when I talk about thinking like a consultant instead of a content creator.

Most speakers would have asked their rate, gotten an answer, and either taken it or passed.

Doc asked strategic questions. He understood that budgets aren't fixed—they're distributed across departments. Marketing has money. Events has money. Product has money.

If one department can't afford you, maybe another one can.

The Ripple Effect: $59K from Two Friends

But here's where it gets really good.

Doc didn't just transform his own business. He started sharing what he learned with friends.

Friend #1: The Facebook Creator

"He's always complaining no one hits him up. I was like, 'Yo, put your email and say that you're open for sponsorship. Put your email address right there.'"

Months went by. Doc didn't hear from him.

Then: "Someone hit me up and I got a 12K deal. Actually, he has two deals, so he got 24K."

This is a local creator in a small town. Not some massive influencer. Just someone who made it easier for brands to find him.

One simple change in his bio. $24K.

Friend #2: The Event Organizer

"He was doing a meetup in New York. He'd never made more than $500 from a sponsor. I was like, 'Don't even do $500. Don't do it one time. Say multiple events.'"

Doc handed him the book. Told him to read it. Showed him the framework.

The result? $35K for six events.

From $500 to $35K. Because someone showed him it was possible to think bigger.

The Community You Didn't Know You Needed

One of the most surprising things for Doc wasn't the tactics or the frameworks.

It was the people.

"Everyone was so nice and supportive. Really having time one-on-one to talk to you and see what's going on. There was an eclectic mix—copywriters, ones that were great at short form, long form, ones just getting started, podcasters. There were so many different things I could take away."

And it didn't end when the event ended.

"We kept in touch. We still have a group chat on Instagram. Everyone was like, 'Where are we going next? Are you going to this conference?'"

This is what changes when you're around people who get it.

You stop feeling like sponsorships are this mysterious thing that only works for other people. You realize it's a skill you can learn. A system you can implement. A conversation you can get better at having.

And suddenly, the steps don't feel so big anymore.

The Thing Nobody Talks About

There's this weird belief in the creator economy that it's zero-sum.

If that person gets the deal, I don't. If they're successful with that brand, there's less budget for me.

But Doc experienced the opposite.

"Even though it was a competition and there was the cash grand prize, you could still be supportive in that environment. It was rising tides float all boats."

When everyone in the community learns how to have better conversations with brands, it helps everyone.

Brands start expecting more professionalism. They get used to hearing strategic proposals instead of "can you pay me to post?" They understand that creators aren't just eyeballs—they're partners who can help solve business problems.

And when that becomes the norm? Everyone benefits.

What Would You Do with Twelve Months of Stability?

Doc came to Sponsor Games thinking he'd win some prize money and call it a day.

He left with a completely different business model.

"At the end of the event, we were talking about would we go again? I was like, yeah, go again. The games are a great starting point, but everything around it 10x'd my expectations of what the event was going to be."

He's coming back. Not because he needs the basics. But because being in the room with people who are doing this at a high level keeps raising the ceiling on what's possible.

So here's my question for you: What would change if your next three sponsorship deals were twelve-month contracts instead of one-off posts?

What would you build if you knew you had that stability?

Who could you help if you had this methodology dialed in?

Want to experience what Doc experienced? Sponsor Games is our annual in-person event where creators level up their sponsorship game. Join the waitlist to be the first to know when the next one is announced. Or if you want the methodology now, join us in Wizard's Guild—our coaching program where we break down exactly how to have these conversations.