The Side Hustle Show – Episode 694

“Your Path to $1k+ Brand Deals, Even With a Small Audience”

Host: Nick Loper
Guest: Justin Moore (Author of Sponsor Magnet, creator partnerships expert, creatorwizard.com)
Date: September 4, 2025

Overview

This episode dives into the actionable strategies for landing $1,000+ brand deals—even if you have a small or niche audience. Nick Loper and guest Justin Moore, author of Sponsor Magnet, break down exactly how creators with even hundreds (not thousands) of followers can secure meaningful sponsorships, what brands actually want, and how to position yourself for repeat and long-term brand partnerships. The conversation is filled with detailed case studies, pitch methods, pricing tactics, and practical tools, ending with new business ideas and marketing tactics that listeners can implement right away.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Small Audiences Can Win Big Brand Deals

• Justin’s Case Study: Dr. Alex (vet with "Digital Pathology Place") secures lucrative sponsorships despite “hundreds of listens” because of a highly-targeted, influential audience (lab techs, C-suite hospital staff, pharma pros).

“She is absolutely crushing it with brand partnerships, Nick. ...all the people who are in this kind of niche community, these are the people that we want to get in front of.” — Justin Moore (02:00)

• Why Brands Love Niche Audiences:
  High-value, hard-to-reach, or professionally influential audiences can be more valuable than large but generic ones, especially for B2B or industry-specific brands.

2. The Importance of Positioning and Pitching (04:22)

• Not Just Impressions:
  You won’t land big deals just by selling “impressions” if your numbers are small. Instead, pitch your capabilities: content creation, marketing know-how, and understanding of the brand's needs.
• Creative Pitch Example (UGC):
  Offer to create high-quality content for a brand’s own channels—a turn-key package for corporate use, regardless of your own audience size.

“I would love to create content on autopilot for you… $7,500 a month. What do you think?” — Justin Moore (05:16)

• Transition From Creator to Consultant:
  Acting as a UGC (User-Generated Content) creator, you provide brands with reusable, branded assets—which is increasingly valuable as short-form content dominates.

3. Key Trends Brands Care About (07:25)

• Huge Shift to Short-Form Content:
  Over the last 18–24 months, brands are reallocating budgets to TikTok, IG Reels, YouTube Shorts, etc. They value content they can repurpose for ads, their own channels, or evergreen uses.

"There absolutely has been a gargantuan shift to short form content... because of the increased repurposability..." — Justin Moore (07:25)

• Licensing & Usage Rights as Upselling Points:
  Don’t forget—selling more than just a “post,” you can charge for the license to reuse your content.

4. Landing Your First Deal – How to Target Decision Makers (09:36)

• Step 1: Identify Sponsored Content in Your Niche:
  Track which brands sponsor other creators similar to you (search for #sponsored, “partnering,” “sponsoring” on social and YouTube).

• Step 2: It’s About Audience Alignment:
  Focus pitches on why your audience is a perfect match for the brand's goals, not just on your own enthusiasm for the product.

• Step 3: Survey Your Audience:
  Use polls, surveys, newsletter questions to discover what they buy, what problems they have, or common products they use—powerful ammo in your pitches.

“What brands care about is, hey, does your audience represent a pool of future prospective customers of us? …you need to illustrate to them [that] your audience has existing affinity.” — Justin Moore (10:15, 12:39)

5. Finding the Right Contacts (16:36)

• The Job Title Search ‘Hack’:
  Use Google to search: [Brand Name] + [Relevant Job Title] + LinkedIn, e.g., “Acme Co Influencer Marketing Manager LinkedIn”
  • For bigger brands: Influencer Marketing Manager, Partnerships Manager, Affiliate Marketing Manager.
  • For smaller brands: look for Director of Marketing, Social Media Manager.
• Email-Finding Tools: Hunter.io, Apollo for email addresses.

“It’s so much easier to find the decision makers these days than it was like 10 years ago…” — Justin Moore (18:06)

• Instagram DMs Caution:
  May work for small brands, but for bigger companies, community managers checking DMs rarely have sponsorship authority.

6. The ROPE Method for Pitching (19:44)

• R: Relevant
• O: Organic tie-in to your existing audience/content
• P: Proof (results, affiliate sales—even just reader feedback)
• E: Easy to execute (make it concrete and simple to say ‘yes’)

“Your pitch has to be relevant to a campaign that the brand is either currently running or has run in the past… show how you’ve helped other brands achieve results… [and] something very, very concrete…” — Justin Moore (19:44–21:25)

7. Packaging and Pricing Your Offers (22:43)

• Never Give Just One Price!
  Offer 3+ packages—never just “$500 for a mention.” Brands will simply compare you by price and move on.
• Differentiate Packages by Outcomes/Brand Goals:
  Don’t just offer more posts per package. Design packages to meet various goals: awareness, repurposing (ads/UCG), conversions—then offer an “everything” package.

“Tie your packages to the brand's goals... Package one is the awareness package... package two is the repurposing goal... package three, that's the conversion package... and package four: all of the above.” — Justin Moore (24:36–25:57)

8. Agencies/Managers vs. DIY (26:20)

• Be Your Own Rep:
  Agencies and influencer managers are incentivized to fill quotas, not prioritize your unique value—creators who take direct responsibility see more sustained success.

“The people that have decided that, like, this is my business… Those are the ones that are still doing really well and thriving.” — Justin Moore (27:16)

9. Common Mistakes (28:37)

• Execution is Everything:
  Failing to communicate, missing deadlines, going off brief, and being hard to work with means brands never come back.
• Follow Up With Post-Campaign Reports:
  Most creators never re-contact the brand—collect all feedback (positive and negative), send results, and pitch the next collaboration.

“The onus is on you to put together what I call a post campaign report, where you’re sharing not just the quantitative data of how the campaign went, but the qualitative data.” — Justin Moore (29:38)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “You don’t need to have a massive audience for this. You just need to have the right audience.” — Justin Moore (02:21)
• “Instead of paying me a flat rate... pay me a percentage of your ad spend. Meaning, if this asset starts performing really well... the more money you spend, the more I make.” — Justin Moore (06:43)
• “Start with brands that already sponsor creators—much easier sale, shorter sales cycle.” — Justin Moore (09:36)
• “Don’t make the mistake of thinking the brand cares that you like their product—their priority is affinity with your audience.” — Justin Moore (12:39)
• “I never lose. I either win or I learn.” — Nelson Mandela, quoted by Justin Moore (30:59)

Timestamps for Core Segments

• [01:24] Introduction of Justin Moore; setting up the power of small audiences
• [02:00] Real-world example (Dr. Alex): niche, small podcast, huge brand deals
• [04:22] Strategies for creators with sub-1,000 followers
• [05:52] Pitching UGC/content creation vs. selling impressions
• [07:25] Short-form content boom and the value of licensing/rights
• [09:36] Finding which brands to pitch; researching competition/peers
• [16:36] Tactics to reach decision makers at brands (LinkedIn search ‘hack’)
• [19:44] The ROPE method for writing pitch emails
• [22:43] Packaging, pricing, and not making it only about post quantity
• [26:20] Pros/cons of using agencies or managers
• [28:37] Mistakes that kill repeat deals; the importance of follow-up reports
• [34:36] [Business Idea Donation]: Trend Sync web app concept
• [39:25] [Triple Threat]: Justin’s marketing tactic—a paid challenge funnel that nearly breaks even upfront, then converts to high-ticket coaching customers
• [45:50] [Tool Recommendation]: Whisper Flow (accurate, formatted voice-to-text app)
• [47:13] [Book Recommendation]: Double Your Profits in Six Months or Less by Bob Pfeiffer
• [49:02] What’s next: Sponsor Magnet Podcast launch; Sponsor Games live event

Additional Segments

Business Idea Donation: "Trend Sync" ([34:36])

• Problem: Staying ahead of online trends, memes, viral moments for content planning is overwhelming for most entrepreneurs/content creators.
• Solution: A web app that analyzes your brand/industry, then provides a tailored digest of trending sounds, memes, holidays, and even scripts/ideas for your audience/brand voice.

“I would become a customer day one. ...my extremely online assistant that I just don’t have time to consume all this content.” — Justin Moore (35:54)

Triple Threat

1. Marketing Tactic ([39:25]):
Paid “challenge” bootcamp (ex: 10K Brand Deal Challenge)—a live, high-value experience that nearly covers ad spend upfront, builds trust, and upsells into high-ticket coaching.

2. Tool Recommendation ([45:50]):
Whisper Flow voice dictation: speak, get perfectly formatted text in any application.

3. Book Recommendation ([47:13]):
Double Your Profits in Six Months or Less by Bob Pfeiffer — practical, no-BS advice on cutting costs and boosting revenue; forced Justin to re-evaluate consulting expenses immediately.

Actionable Takeaways

• Leverage Your Niche: Your audience (no matter the size) is valuable if it’s highly targeted. Highlight this exclusivity.
• Offer Content Creation, Not Just Sponsorships: Pitch “done-for-you” video assets, UGC, podcast hosting, etc., for brands to use on their own channels.
• Research & Personalize: Use LinkedIn job title search tricks to land in the right inboxes, and customize every pitch based on the brand’s history and goals.
• Always Offer Packages: Three or more, segmented by brand objectives (“awareness,” “content,” “conversions,” “all-in”).
• Follow Up: Always report results (both numbers and qualitative feedback) and proactively pitch another collaboration.

What’s Next for Justin Moore

• Sponsor Magnet Podcast: Newly launched (“first episode with Nir Eyal,” skepticism-to-sponsorship discussion).
• Sponsor Games (2026): In-person, experiential event gamifying sponsorship skills.
• Continued development of challenges, coaching, and new SaaS/content tools for creators.

Links & References

• sponsormagnet.com — Justin’s new book
• creatorwizard.com — Free sponsor audit tool and coaching/info
• Whisper Flow: whisperflow.app (or search for the current site)
• Bob Pfeiffer's book: Double Your Profits in Six Months or Less
• Hustle Show’s custom playlist: hustleshow.co (as referenced)

If you want a practical, no-BS masterclass on landing brand partnerships—regardless of your platform size or industry—this is a can’t-miss episode.