How to Get Brand Partnerships as a Podcaster
My First Podcast Brand Sponsor
Next Newsletter’s Topic:
How to Monetize Your Show via Freelance Writing
Publish date 2/6/2023
Previous Week’s Newsletter Topic:
What Are Your Monetization Goals for 2023?
For paying subscribers: Interview with Danielle Desir creator of Grants for Creators and Women of Color Podcasters. We talk about monetizing your content platform, diversifying income and more.
This Week: Working with Brands
Podcasters Getting Paid is specifically focused on helping small shows getting 10,000 or fewer downloads a month strategize their monetization efforts.
Your small show can make money.
I’m going to share the story of my first podcast sponsor. I run several shows and one of those shows was still pretty new when I decided for some reason that I wanted to get a sponsor for that show. It was a podcast about my state. At that time it was getting around 15-20 downloads an episode. But I was feeling bold and for some reason decided to reach out to someone that I knew who ran a local business.
I shared my show’s mission (supporting and uplifting Colorado local business, initiatives and organizations) and that the show’s listeners were primarily from Colorado.
This resonated with them and they agreed to my $150 ask for 3 pre-rolls for three episodes or $50 an episode. I was paid upfront and very happily worked with that brand partner to share their business-that I was a client of.
Lessons Learned
A closed mouth doesn’t get fed-I would have never gotten this brand partnership if I hadn’t asked.
My brand partner was aware of the fact that my show was new and wasn’t getting massive downloads. I was candid about that and they were fine to move forward.
I picked a good (warm) lead to actually reach out to.
A podcast about local business
Being able to communicate very CLEARLY how the podcast connects with their community and any pain points that they as a business were dealing with. In this case, this business needed local consumers of their service.
My show has local listeners who could potentially use their service
Lessons for YOU
There’s no right or wrong time to begin reaching out to potential brand partners. Start reaching out and pay attention to what companies are telling you when they say “yes” or “no” to your pitch.
More often than not I’ve had brand partners say “yes” to a partnership without asking for downloads and if they do ask for downloads they’ve still said “yes”
Always spend some time working through the company’s needs. When you’re working on a pitch you should lean into how working with you can help them address their needs.
You will get rejected-that’s a part of the process and it’s nothing personal…even when it is. The more you put yourself out there the more likely you will connect with a brand that wants to partner with you.
Ask yourself the following question-Who do you already know in your personal circle that would be a good person/company to approach for a brand partnership? I encourage you to reach out to that warm lead and ask them if they would be interested in partnering with you. You may get a rejection, but you’ll learn from that rejection. But they may also say “yes”
I’ve worked with numerous brand partners since that first one. I’m a heck of a lot more confident: pitching, understanding the concept of partnership deliverables, scope of work and negotiating what I would like to get paid for working with a brand.
If I hadn’t tried with the first sponsor of $150 dollars, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to work with the brands that paid me $3,000. We all have to start somewhere.
Reader Exercise
Make a list of 3-5 brands you would like to work with and pitch them. BEFORE you pitch them do the following:
Check their social media feeds to see if they’ve worked with other creators. If they have it means they likely have a marketing budget. But, don’t be discouraged if they haven’t worked with content creators. You could be the first!
Think about what would be a compelling pitch from the brand perspective-what are they missing in their outreach efforts that you could offer on your podcast platform?
Are you clear about how working with a brand could serve your audience?
There is no way you can begin attracting higher paying partnerships without putting yourself out there. Again, you may get told “no” but, you learn from those “no’s”
This Week’s Event
Tomorrow: Tuesday, January 24, 2023-I’m hosting a “Podcast Monetization” strategy session for paying subscribers. Time: 7:00 pm MTN/9:00 pm EST. Paying subscribers have access to the Zoom details.
How to Get Multi-Year Brand Partners
For paying subscribers I’ve included a video that I recorded with Elle Martinez host of the shows “Simplify and Enjoy and Couple Money” She has been able to secure multi-year partnerships. She provides some great insights and things to consider including how to know if your partner is happy with the partnership. We talk about the following:
Brand partnerships
Diversifying your income
The amount of money that made the different to her each month
Podcasters Getting Paid-The Course
The course is just about to open up for pre-sale sometime this week. Keep any eye out for it!