What's the Best Way to Get a Sponsor For Your Content?

That is my first answer when someone says “how do I get a sponsor on my show/IG/ Tik-Tok page?” or “how do I get my product to (insert super well known content creator)?”

ASK.

Did it ever occur to you that you could be fans of one another? Emails, DMs, phone calls, texts, love letters... whatever form of communication you are most comfortable with, please ask.

That’s what happened with me and Liquid Death Mountain Water. In 2018 Mike Cessiaro was a big fan of my Eagles podcast, the Eagles, and of Sportsradio 94WIP. Liquid Death was brand new at the time and they sent me a care package of their very first designed “mountain water in a can” and it was the coolest fucking can I had ever seen. The design was perfect and the branding was unbelievable! And here’s the thing about me, I can’t handle a ton of alcohol when I am partying. I’m a cheap date, but I assure you the Philadelphia Eagles fanbase is not. Having a can of water that looked like a beer was massively appealing to me. Plus the concept of putting water in a can was a huge plus, as we did tons of events with plastic water bottles. I hated the mess they left especially at tailgates, and we all knew that recycling them simply just meant 90% of those bottles would end up in a New Jersey landfill anyway.

Mike made me a fan, just by sending me the product, and being a fan of me. Why did he know me so well? Why did he know that he would have me in the bag the moment he sent just a few cans to me? Well, he heard me say a million times how I was a musician in my first life, and the two bands that I talked about the most on my show were Soundgarden and Tool. I fit with Liquid Death’s culture.

I LOVE LIQUID DEATH and it shows. I’ve promoted it so well the last few years locally that my hardcore community believes that I was a part owner or major investor in the company. The reason? I LOVE LIQUID DEATH. I want to make sure I used every ounce of power I had to make them successful. If I can’t wake up every day and be excited about what you do as a business, why would I want to promote it? Getting paid to promote something you don't like or even hate is called a "job" and that should never be our goal here. It's the first thing that leads to burnout.

When Liquid Death was paying for ad space on my shows, I never said anything like “can we get more money from you this year?” I kept asking if we could take the money that they were giving me and let it fund a few Liquid Death vending machines in Suburban Station, in Philadelphia. I wanted to use the ad money that they were giving me and build a passive income for the show and its future employees. I described myself as an “on the ground” investor and if you’re a creator, that’s what I would tell entrepreneurs you REALLY do. Who knows your community better than you do?

Well, when I asked in 2021 if they would blindly fund my new Eagles podcast, they didn’t think twice about it. They handed over $10,000 so I could get started right away. My podcast had zero listeners, and zero subscribers. But they knew ME. They knew that I could develop something that would absolutely help them in the Philadelphia market and beyond. They didn't find out about me from an analytics print out, or an outrageous ROI (Return on Investment) performance, or because my show is now “trending” on any social media platform. They were listening to me for 2 years, then they invested in me for 2 years, and now they will LISTEN to all of my ideas and recommendations because they know I want them to be the most successful brand possible.

It also doesn't hurt that Liquid Death is now one for the coolest and most popular brands in the world right now. I have gotten so much work simply by saying "yes, I've been working with Liquid Death since 2018." That's more powerful than anything you could put in my bank account right now. I can get a meeting with anyone, at anytime.

Truth be told? I'm currently working with two active Philadelphia Eagles players because of that.

If you’re an entrepreneur, I know you don’t have time to go scout the 50 to 100 best content creators that are ultimately going to fit your brand. Media buyers can still be useful in that way, but aren’t you just spending money and praying at the point? Let me tell you a secret: the ”micro-influencing’ trend that everyone got on, isn’t helping you. The cost just builds up over time when you still can’t find the 5-10 creators that best represent your brand. Take 5 hours a week and listen or watch for creators that make sense with your company's culture. Type in keywords and hashtags into Google, Tik-Tok, and Instagram that fit your current or future marketing plans and see which creators pop up from that.

If you’re a creator, you need to find a strategic partner with your sponsorship. Not just someone who is willing to dump $200-$2000 a month to you because of your subscribers, views, followers, or podcast feed downloads. You are going to be chasing a never ending cycle of short term money that will never show up on time anyway. Most of those big sponsors use media buyers to not only reduce your rate, but make you wait 90-days or more for those payments. $200 a spot for a 60 second ad read/collaboration sounds great until you realize you are spending 10 hours or more a month asking why you haven't received it yet. Take chances with new entrepreneurs and products you love, and see if you can get involved with their marketing decisions as they grow.

For the entrepreneur and creator, staying within your local community is king. I'll tell you why next week.
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​You can talk to me anytime, if you just need someone to listen to you.​

​If you're in Philly, let's have lunch. It's always on me.​

- John Barchard