Your Journey to Securing $1k+ Brand Partnerships, Even with a Limited Audience - Side Hustle Nation

      Side Hustle Nation focuses on enhancing your personal profitability. We frequently collaborate with companies that align with this goal. If you register or make a purchase via one of our partner links, we may earn compensation at no additional cost to you. Learn more. What if you could monetize brand partnerships effectively, even with just a few hundred followers?

      Justin Moore, the creator of Creator Wizard and the author of Sponsor Magnet, returns to explain how creators are securing four-figure deals without large followings. We’re discussing the opportunity to access a portion of the $480 billion creator economy — and you don’t need millions of followers to get your share.

      This episode dives into what brands truly value (spoiler: it’s not your follower count), finding the right decision-makers, and structuring deals that entice brands to return.

      Tune in to Episode 694 of the Side Hustle Show to discover:

      How to secure $1,000+ brand deals with a small audience

      The ROPE method for effectively pitching brands

      How UGC and short-form content have transformed opportunities for creators

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      Round 1: Small Audience, Big Brand Deals

      The Strength of Micro-Niche Audiences

      Justin provided an ideal example with his coaching client Dr. Alex, who hosts the Digital Pathology Place podcast. Her show averages hundreds of listens per episode — not thousands. Yet, she thrives with brand partnerships.

      The reason: Her audience consists of lab technicians, hospital executives, and individuals from pharmaceutical companies. When medical device firms have marketing budgets in excess of $20 million, they are not merely purchasing outdated trade magazine ads. They are eager to reach Dr. Alex’s specific audience.

      This pattern is consistent with previous guests such as Brian Orr from HVAC School and Harry Duran’s vertical farming podcast. When you’re the only new media option for a particular sector, brands will pay premium prices to access your audience.

      Follower Count Is No Longer the Focus

      The most significant change in creator collaborations over the last few years has been the rise of User Generated Content (UGC) and short-form content.

      Brands now request 30-60 second clips that they can utilize across various platforms — including their websites, social media, and paid ad campaigns.

      When you create a video for $2,500, they’re not simply buying one post from your channel. They’re investing in a resource they can leverage across multiple platforms for months to come.

      This fundamentally alters the equation. Your small following becomes less critical than your capacity to generate engaging content that they can repurpose.

      How to Identify Your Initial Brand Partners

      Step 1: Look for Current Partnerships

      Avoid starting from scratch. Review other creators’ content in your niche for sponsored posts. Search for hashtags like #sponsored or look for the term “sponsored” on YouTube channels.

      Companies that are already partnering with creators recognize the value and tend to have quicker sales cycles. You aren’t trying to educate them about influencer marketing; you’re presenting them with a superior option.

      Step 2: Survey Your Audience

      Many creators make a crucial mistake by pitching brands they personally favor instead of brands that their audience desires. Distribute a Google form or create polls asking what tools, products, and services your audience uses.

      If 30% mention a specific brand, that’s a golden opportunity. You can approach that company saying, “I surveyed my audience, and a substantial percentage already uses your product.”

      Step 3: Seek Out Decision Makers

      Here’s Justin’s “magic search terms”: Brand name + job title + “LinkedIn” in a Google search.

      Search for these roles in medium-sized firms (16-100 employees):

      Influencer marketing manager

      Partnerships marketing manager

      Affiliate marketing manager

      For smaller companies (fewer than 15 employees), you may be able to reach the director of marketing or social media manager directly.

      Tools like Hunter.io or Apollo can assist in locating actual email addresses once you identify the right person on LinkedIn.

      The ROPE Method for Effective Pitching

      Justin’s pitching framework is summarized by R-O-P-E:

      R – Relevant: Connect your pitch to an ongoing brand campaign

      O – Organic: Present content you’ve already published that demonstrates your audience's interest in their brand

      P – Proof: Provide results from other brand collaborations or affiliate marketing performance

      E – Easy to execute: Present them with a straightforward proposal they can agree to

      If you lack proof at this stage, utilize affiliate results or even DMs/emails from individuals who acted