How do you land your very first sponsorship as a small YouTube creator? You might see other bigger creators in your niche shouting out their sponsors in their videos, and wondering, how can I get some of that? Well, as someone who went from no subscribers, filming videos in my bedroom, to becoming a big creator, getting a minimum of 10 emails per day.
Hey, my name is Ben, and I'm a full time YouTuber, and I've learned a thing or two about this process. So in this episode of Full Time YouTuber, I'll share my biggest insights about how you can land your very first sponsor. And at the end, I'll share my personal opinion after 9 years on YouTube about whether getting sponsors to begin with is really as rewarding as it sounds.
Hey, my name is Ben, and I'm a Full time YouTuber and entrepreneur, and I help new video creators start and grow their YouTube channels into a profitable business. So this week I received a message on YouTube about this very topic from user Elastica VR who says. Hi Ben, can you give me some pitch ideas on how to work with brands such as Insta360 for collaboration, camera reviews, or just sponsorship?
I love your work, thanks. Okay, well, I've got a lot of thoughts on this topic, so let's get started. Firstly, I'd invite you to take a step back and look at the bigger picture when it comes to brands wanting to sponsor and work with influencers. Why do they do it? Why does this relationship exist? Why don't they just market their own products and leave these small content creators to do their own thing?
Well, the first reason is influencers have a hyper targeted audience. If you've built your YouTube channel around a specific topic, and you've done it well to the point that your audience knows, likes and trusts you, you've probably become an industry expert with a legion of followers who have hyper specific needs and therefore form the target demographic of a whole bunch of companies.
Let's say you've made videos about VR and all of your audience are VR users. In that case, the target companies would be VR companies, such as headset brands, accessories, games, software, anything to do with VR. If you have any kind of a following, you have the hyper targeted audience that those brands want to reach.
And as a YouTuber, your trust is really important. And when a big brand wants to work with a YouTuber, What they're essentially doing is paying money to instantly use the trust that influencers have built up with their audiences to help them sell their products. Kind of like someone you personally know and trust recommends something to you, you're much more likely to listen to that recommendation and buy the product than a salesperson at the store trying their hardest to convince you to buy it.
So that's the first reason brands want to work with influencers. The second reason is, influencers, if they really are influencers with any kind of following, have scale. They don't just have a couple of people in this hyper targeted audience, but it's a big audience of usually 10, 000 plus people. And I'm gonna go super nerdy here on business equations.
If you have a good conversion rate with a business, it's probably going to sit around 1%. If you're pushing someone else's product though, it's going to be much less than that, probably between 0. 1 percent and 0. 5%. Therefore, in order for a brand to sell one single unit of whatever their product is, they will need to reach at least a Thousand of these hyper-targeted followers, that's at a 0.1% conversion rate.
Therefore, in order for their time and money to be worth it, they're gonna need to make at least 10 sales out of the sponsorship. Therefore, influencers with a bigger amount of. Followers are going to produce a higher amount of conversions for them. Let's say an audience of 10, 000 people will convert roughly 10 sales.
So if a brand can pay an influencer a few hundred dollars to reach an audience of 10, 000 targeted viewers, and that sponsorship converts at a 0. 1 percent conversion rate, they're probably going to make their money back and a little more or a little less, depending on how expensive their product is. So the beauty of brands working with influencers, especially bigger ones is they have.
Instant access to that influences following. And if that's in the hundreds of thousands, suddenly that conversion rate of 0. 1 percent jumps up from 10 to a hundred people that is assuming that the video actually gets around that amount of views and a hundred conversions, especially if the product is in the middle to high end range.
is going to equal quite a bit of money. So it really is a very strategic business decision from these brands working with influencers about why they do it. I'm sorry to say, but it's not for the sake of helping an up and coming creator, but it's purely business. They see their target audience and they want to buy instant access to that audience.
So with that all said, you've You probably guessed by now that small influencers aren't going to produce high conversion rates. If your channel has less than 10, 000 subscribers, your conversion rates are likely going to be really small for companies, and this is why you don't get as much interest up front.
So I just want to warn you not to fall into fantasy land too much. If your channel is at hundreds or a few thousand subscribers. Thinking that you're going to land a big brand sponsorship soon is probably very unlikely, for the reasons I just mentioned. Therefore, before you land your first YouTube sponsorship, you're going to need to build up your following a bit.
This comes from building up a strong personal brand, having a specific niche, and a clear message that you convey in your videos. What are the problems that you're solving for people? What kinds of tools and equipment do you use to solve those problems? The early days on YouTube really is about refining your craft and getting good at making videos.
Helping people out giving value and winning their trust because with that subscribers will come and with subscribers that's when you can start opening up the door to brand deals. Now this isn't to say that all micro influencers have no chance whatsoever of landing any kind of brand deal because there are companies like Insta360 and GoPro that just want the best user generated content possible, and sometimes that comes from someone with 20 followers, who happen to be in the right place at the right time, and they caught this amazing rainbow with dolphins jumping in front of it in slow motion while riding a surfboard.
If that's you, then well done, I tried surfing at one point and failed epically, but as a small create art. UGC aka user generated content will be your ticket to getting some kind of exposure or recognition by these bigger brands. However, that doesn't necessarily mean they're going to pay you for the footage or agree to any kind of sponsorship deal.
If that were the case and your clip was re shared by one of these bigger companies, what you get out of that quote unquote collaboration is massive exposure on a giant account with the target audience that will help you in the long run. So if they see your clip, they might go ahead and follow you, see what you've got to post next.
And that ironically will be a stepping stone that helps you build your followers so you can then be even more attractive to paid sponsors. But otherwise you will have to work for free for a while to build up your channel roughly to the 10, 000 subscriber mark. Now, once you have posted on your niche topic for long enough, And maybe you've had one or two videos really get noticed and maybe outperform your other videos substantially.
They get the thousands to tens of thousands of views. This is when videos start getting organically shared around by YouTube and very well may end up in front of the brand that you're trying to attract as a sponsor. Ricoh Theta S camera, and I'd made probably. 10 to 20 of them, and I had a number of them past the 10, 000 view mark.
One or two of which landed in front of the eyes of another company, Insta360, who were a very small company at the time that no one had heard of, and I received an email from their marketing manager. She introduced herself, she was very friendly, and she offered me, drumroll, she offered me a free camera.
Wow. My wildest dreams have come true. I have just won a free camera from being great at posting content. Even though the camera was only worth like 200, it felt like I won the lottery. Because at one point in time, it was my fantasy to be sent cameras completely for free because my work was so good. So I got on my high horse and after I received the camera, I made a review about it.
I talked about how amazing this technology was, where you could plug this camera into your phone. This camera was called Insta360 Nano. And it transformed your phone into a 360 camera. And on a side note, looking back all these years later, the quality of it is absolutely shocking. And I don't know why anyone would have bought it, especially compared to today's technology.
But at the time, it was pretty groundbreaking. And I was very passionate to make a review video about this camera. So I made it there in my bedroom and posted it. And this review of the Insta360 Nano. Became my new most popular video. So if you're sitting in the shoes of a small YouTuber, this is likely what your first brand sponsorship is going to look like.
It's not going to be for money. It's going to be for a free product and only in exchange for an unbiased video review of it. And I want to stress this. You do need to make sure that you are unbiased. They're not paying for your opinion, and there's really nothing worse than people that get free stuff, and they act like it's the greatest thing since sliced bread, when clearly it's so full of flaws and everyone else is talking about them.
So that's a really quick way to lose trust with your audience, is not being honest with them. So if you do get to this stage, just make sure You equally cover the pros and cons of the product. Don't worry. The brand should understand this. They are not legally allowed to pay for your opinion and you're going to do yourself and your personal brand a way greater service from being honest from day one.
Now, if you do make a great piece of content, whether it be a tutorial that gets in the tens of thousands of views, or a one off shot like the slow motion dolphin shot, and it doesn't happen to land in front of your ideal target brand, another way of getting their attention is a pretty simple one. And that is either tagging them in the posts.
Let's say it's on Instagram. Just drop a tag there in the post description or send them a DM on Instagram with a link to the shot. Then if it's on YouTube and you truly think this is a video that will help them with their marketing objectives of reaching a big audience and showcasing the best aspects of their product, that's when you should search for contact details of that company, specifically the marketing department and send them a friendly email.
Just say, Hey. I'm a big fan and user of your products. I absolutely love them. I just wanted to share this video I made that a lot of people are really enjoying and I'd love to continue the conversation further. Maybe there's new features you want to discuss with me that I could cover in a future topic.
Perhaps you have a new product coming out that I can make a video about. However you word it, the point of this outreach is to introduce yourself to the brand and get them familiar with you. Who you are and what type of content you make. It's not a guarantee that they're going to respond to it because often as creators we think our work is much better than it really is.
So what they would be looking for is the proof being in the pudding with the view count. Again, if your video does pass 10, 000 views. That's usually a sign that an audience is hungry for that kind of content and showing them that would be the best sales pitch you could make to a company. All right. So once you've reached this point of receiving your first free product, now it's back over to you to keep making great content and attracting your ideal target audience through making great content, giving value and growing your channel organically, at which point it shouldn't be too long until you receive another free product offer and another.
Don't get too swept up in these though, because free products don't pay the bills. We've all got rent to pay, we've all got a mortgage and bills, and unfortunately, free products just don't pay the bills, unless you sell them. Even still, they're low priced products and probably aren't going to make much financial difference.
So after you've done free reviews of a few products, limited to just a couple and no more, That's when you want to start talking about budget with these companies, especially if it's a company that's happy with your work and they want you to make another video. If you've proven to them that you can get views on the video you made about their product, and maybe you're even using an effect.
which will prove to them that you're making sales. That's when you want to start talking money. So how much should you charge for your very first brand deal? My advice would be regardless of your niche, make sure it's at least a few hundred dollars because your time is valuable and if you're going to make a great video for the sponsor.
It's probably going to take at least a day, if not up to a week, if you want to do a more complex video. And it can be a dangerous pattern to fall into if you're always way over delivering your time in exchange for a minimal budget. And that's just not an equation that's financially sustainable. So I'd recommend anywhere from 200 to 500 for your very first paid sponsorship.
This will be a tutorial video of some kind that you're going to put a significant amount of effort into to make it great, to showcase the best aspects of the product, while again not being a sellout and saying it's the best thing since sliced bread. I would also really advise against this being a review because, in my opinion, it's unethical to receive money for what should be an unbiased review, and I've personally never ever done that in my entire time on YouTube.
Even though many brands have wanted me to, I just don't think it's the right thing to do. I'm happy to accept sponsors money for tutorials, since there's a much lower chance of a tutorial being biased. Therefore, I can maintain maximum trust with my audience, while also monetizing my content. So as your channel grows between the 10k and 50k subscriber mark, More brands will start reaching out either for reviews or asking you to do a sponsored video and any of them that you do take on you'll just want to make sure you're charging enough to justify your time on it and that you're accepting sponsors from legitimate brands and companies and products that you truly do believe in.
Like I said at the start, I receive 10 emails minimum per day from potential sponsors. Wanting to work with me to promote their products, but I say no to 99 percent of them. I'm not even joking. Why is that? Why am I turning these brands down? You might be wondering. Well, it's because 99 percent of them are brands I simply just don't believe in.
And it's really funny. Once you get past the hundred thousand subscriber mark, just the width of different kinds of businesses that reach out to you. So often I get emails from like mobile apps that have a game like. Black Desert. And I don't even have time to play games, so if I were to accept them as a sponsor, even if they paid me what I wanted, it's not something I truly believe in, and I'd have to be disingenuous with my audience, and that's something I'm just not okay with.
It's not a good fit for my channel, so I'd be better off choosing a sponsor that is a better fit. I do get some pretty crazy ones, like Pet products, dental products. I got one last month that was like a medical procedure. Hey, we'll fly you to Turkey to get a hair transplant and we'll pay all costs and we'll sponsor you if you make a vlog about it and share it with your audience on YouTube.
And I just thought, firstly, How dare you? I do not have a receding hairline, thank you very much. Okay, maybe I do, but that's besides the point. I don't appreciate being targeted for this kind of product. And secondly, even if I did take the free trip and the sponsorship, my audience aren't after that. They come to me for content creation advice, not hair transplant advice.
So if I were to accept a brand sponsorship like that, I'd completely turn off my entire audience instantly, and they'd probably never trust me again. And for being on YouTube for nine years, all of that work I put into building my channel isn't worth throwing away for any amount of money because I just wanted to accept any kind of sponsor.
So I would just give you that advice to filter these sponsorships as much as possible and only choose brands that align well with the content. core themes of your channel. The 1 percent of sponsorships I do accept are the ones that I'm already covering on my channel, like Insta360 happens to be one of the big brands and topics I already covered on my channel, which is why I do accept brand sponsorships with them.
So as much as I'd love to just give you a quick fix for like, Hey, do this magical thing and brands will come and they'll pay you bucket loads of money. Unfortunately, that's just not the world we're living in. Again, this is a business equation. Brands pay influencers for access to a large targeted audience, and if you don't have that, they're not going to be interested in you.
I'm sorry to say it so bluntly, but these are facts. So, should you actually be pursuing sponsorships as a YouTuber, even if you are small now and you plan on getting big one day? Is this really a goal you should have? Well, here's my opinion. For me personally, up to this point, brand sponsorships has been my fourth biggest income source.
Not the first, not the second, not the third. It's been the fourth. Yes, part of that is because I filter so heavily and reject 99 percent of offers. The other part is, though, that it's a poor ROI of your time compared to other monetization sources. Because anywhere up to, say, 100, 000 subscribers, brands aren't willing to pay more than a few thousand dollars for a video.
Probably less. And to make a good video, it will take you days or even weeks. Averaging your payout per day to be like 200. So if you compare that to, say, your day job, how does it measure up? For me, over my journey, it hasn't measured up whatsoever. Which is why I only do it very selectively, with brands that are the most qualified for me to be making videos about.
And at currently 190, 000 subscribers, I've recently set a minimum that I accept for brand deals for it to actually be worth my time. And that minimum is 5 figures. Yes, that may include a few videos. But I really only have time to work with the most serious brands that are willing to put their money where their mouth is in order to reach my large targeted audience of their ideal customers.
And when I spend time on these videos, it takes time away from me building my business Working with coaching clients, creating online courses, and working on my other various income sources that bring me far more revenue than brand deals do. So if you're business minded like I am and you're familiar with ROI, you may want to think of it that way.
Is it really worth it financially compared to other income sources that may be greater and more effective? I'll also say from a creative standpoint, being an influencer, that gets brand sponsorship is not as glamorous as it sounds. The reason being is you're essentially working like a videographer would work with their clients, where they tell you their creative brief and show you their products, and they have marketing objectives and rules that you'll need to follow, and often it can suck the creativity right out of your videos.
You essentially become like an employee of these companies, like on their media or marketing team that is trying to make them a great marketing video, Except it's your head on the chopping block if something goes wrong and not theirs. It's not to say that it's always like that because sometimes they give you a lot of creative freedom and you can make whatever video you want to make as long as you mention them somehow.
But most of the time in order for them to convert sales on their products, you'll need to portray their product in a way that is desirable. And makes people want to buy them. So no, it's not as glamorous as it sounds. And aspiring to be an influencer is something that sounds great from a vanity perspective if you're a nobody and you dream about becoming a somebody that gets paid to push other people's products.
But in reality, the financial reward just isn't there. That is until you reach the highest heights where you're able to charge 10, 000 plus for a video. In that case, it makes total sense to dedicate your time to make videos for them. So if you're a small creator just starting out, I'd recommend that you prioritize Other income sources and not brand deals, since other income sources like having your own products and being a member of a great affiliate program will scale so much better, faster and higher than doing brand sponsorships will.
So if your objective is to make money with YouTube, then I would probably put sponsorships on the back burner and focus on other monetization strategies. If you want some ideas about how to do this, I have a free guide called my Top 10 Ways to Make Money with YouTube that you can download for free in the show notes below.
And that will help you identify something. more beginner friendly, if you are a small channel, a thousand subscribers or less, that is likely to bring you more money in the early days. So again, you can download that for free below. Okay. Well, Elastica VR, I hope I kind of answered your question. I know it.
It might not be the answer you were looking for, but I'm all about honesty. I want to give you my honest opinion and save you years of chasing the wrong dream or just going slightly in the wrong direction when you could get much better results, just pivoting slightly and focusing on other aspects of your YouTube journey over brand sponsorships.
If you have any podcast episodes, feel free to DM me on Instagram. My handle is at. Ben Claremont, and I'd love to hear what your greatest pain points and challenges are, which I will definitely consider making a future episode about. Alright, that's it for the episode, I hope you enjoyed it, I wish you the very best of luck, and hey, remember, you're just one video away.
