How YouTubers Can Get More Sponsorships
Tired of chasing AdSense pennies? Sponsorships offer a faster, more flexible way to earn, even if your audience is small. Learn how to pitch smarter, get noticed, and turn brand deals into real revenue.
Many creators think making money starts with AdSense. It’s built into platforms, it scales with views, and it feels like the “legit” way to get paid. But here’s the reality: AdSense only works when you have volume, and volume takes time.
Meanwhile, sponsorships reward something entirely different: trust, relevance, and initiative. You don’t need a giant audience to land brand deals. You just need to know how to position yourself in a way that solves a real problem for a company.
This blog breaks down why sponsorships are often the better path for smaller creators, and how to make them work for you.
1. Why Sponsorships Outperform AdSense When You’re Starting Out
For new creators, AdSense often feels like the obvious way to earn. It’s built in, easy to activate, and scales with views. But the reality is, you’ll need massive traffic to make even modest income.
Sponsorships, on the other hand, don’t require big numbers, they reward alignment and trust.
AdSense Needs Scale, Sponsorships Reward Influence
AdSense pays based on views and CPMs, which can be as low as $1–$5 depending on your niche. That means you might earn $100 from a video with 50,000 views.
With sponsorships, brands care more about who your audience is, not how big it is. If you’ve got 2,000 subscribers in a specific niche, like productivity or parenting, you’re already valuable to the right brand.
You Control the Price
Unlike AdSense, where the platform dictates what you earn, sponsorships let you package your value. You can charge for videos, integrations, newsletter mentions, and more, based on what the brand needs.
Real Money, Sooner
Many creators land their first $500–$2,000 deal with under 10,000 subscribers, something that could take years through AdSense alone.
Example:
A creator with 1,500 subscribers in the health & wellness space pitched a small DTC supplement brand. They landed a $1,200 deal because their content matched the brand’s audience, despite modest views.
2. You Don’t Need a Big Audience, You Need the Right Pitch
One of the biggest myths in creator monetisation is that you need 10,000+ subscribers or followers before you’re "ready" to pitch brands. That threshold is imaginary, and often holds creators back from real opportunities.
What Matters More Than Follower Count
Brands aren’t always chasing size. They're looking for alignment. A creator with 800 followers who speaks directly to a niche audience (like indie game developers, sustainable skincare, or first-time parents) can often outperform creators with 10x the audience, because that niche trusts them more.
So, what does matter?
- Relevance to the brand’s customers
- Trust with your audience
- Your ability to solve a marketing problem for the brand
Tailor the Pitch to Match Your Stage
If you have a small audience, don’t pitch "sponsored posts" on your own platform. Instead, offer to create content they can use on their channels. Offer short videos, testimonials, or creative assets they can repurpose.
As your audience grows, you can combine that with promotion on your own channels. But early on, you’re not selling reach, you’re selling your creativity and ability to speak in a brand’s voice.
Example:
A creator with under 1,000 subscribers reached out to a boutique tea brand and offered to make them a mini Instagram video series for their page, not her own. They paid her £800 for 5 videos, which the brand used in their paid ads. No mention of her audience size was needed, the pitch was all about value.
3. Cold Email Is Still the Most Effective Way to Get Brand Deals
It’s easy to get lured into waiting for DMs, hoping brands will “discover” you. But relying on inbound leads, especially when you're still building, often leaves you waiting around while nothing happens.
If you want results, you have to take the first step. And that means learning how to send thoughtful, well-targeted cold emails.
Why Cold Email Works
When done properly, cold outreach puts you in control. You decide who you want to work with, when you reach out, and how to position yourself. You're not sitting in someone's general inbox hoping they notice you, you're intentionally opening a conversation.
Most brands, especially small to mid-size, aren’t running creator campaigns 24/7. But when the right creator shows up with the right idea at the right time, they often find budget quickly. Your job is to make that decision easy for them.
How to Make Cold Outreach Work
Here’s what creators often get wrong: they make the email all about themselves.
Instead, focus on the brand’s goals:
Start there. Reference it. Show that you understand what they’re trying to do, and how you can help.
Example:
One creator found that a tech startup had recently posted on LinkedIn about hiring a growth marketer. That was a signal, the company was probably trying to ramp up awareness. So she sent a cold email offering to make two testimonial-style videos that could run as paid ads. The startup responded in 24 hours and booked the deal.
4. Inbound Leads Are Overrated, and Often a Trap
It feels exciting when a brand reaches out. You open the email, and there’s someone saying they love your content and want to work together. That dopamine hit makes it easy to assume this will be a great opportunity.
But here’s the issue: most inbound deals are inflexible. By the time they contact you, the campaign is usually already planned, the budget is already set, and there’s little room for negotiation, creatively or financially.
Why This Happens
Brands often blast emails to a long list of creators. They’ve already decided on the talking points, the call-to-action, and sometimes even the script. You’re not part of the strategy, you’re a plug-and-play piece of their execution.
And that means:
It can feel more like being a freelancer than a creative partner.
How to Approach Inbound the Right Way
When a brand comes to you, don’t rush. Instead:
- Ask questions about their goal: What does success look like for them?
- Clarify usage rights, timelines, and revision expectations
- Propose your own packages based on their objectives (not just theirs)
Example:
A creator got an inbound message offering $3K for a video spot. Instead of accepting the pre-written brief, she asked what the brand really wanted to achieve. They admitted conversions were the focus, not just awareness. So she pitched a multi-touch package including her newsletter and retargetable short clips. The deal closed at $7.5K.
5. Cold Outreach Isn’t Cringe, It’s Smart Strategy
For many creators, cold emailing feels awkward. There's this fear that you're being annoying, or that it's “beneath you” to pitch yourself. But the truth is, the majority of serious deals, especially at the beginning, don’t come from waiting around. They come from making the first move.
Why Cold Email Works (When Done Right)
Unlike inbound deals, cold outreach puts you in the driver's seat. You choose who you want to work with. You choose when to approach them. And most importantly, you shape the conversation from the start.
It’s also not nearly as noisy as you think. Most creators never bother with thoughtful outreach, which means when you do, it stands out.
What Makes Cold Outreach Land
The best cold pitches aren’t just “Hey, I’d love to work with you.” They’re research-driven. They show you understand what the brand is up to, and they connect that to your audience in a meaningful way.
A better cold pitch looks like:
Example:
One creator saw a brand was hiring an influencer marketing manager. That alone told her the company was investing in sponsorships. She cold-emailed with a pitch referencing that job listing, explained how her audience aligned with the company’s goals, and landed a 4-figure deal, even though she only had 3K subscribers.
6. Don’t Pitch “Exposure.” Pitch Value
A common mistake creators make is pitching from their perspective: “I have 50K subscribers,” “My audience loves me,” “I get 10K views per video.” While all of that sounds good to you, it means very little to a brand unless you tie it directly to their goals.
Brands Don’t Pay for Views, They Pay for Results
Every marketing dollar a brand spends is tracked. They’re not handing out sponsorships because they like your vibe, they’re investing to achieve specific outcomes. Maybe that’s conversions, newsletter signups, app installs, or a general lift in awareness. If you don't speak directly to what they care about, you’re pitching into the void.
Here’s How to Flip the Pitch
That changes the tone completely. You’re not asking for money, you’re offering help.
Example:
A small tech creator once pitched a startup by including screenshot data showing audience comments asking for Mac-friendly automation tools. The startup had just launched their Mac app. He referenced that, offered a video walkthrough plus a shortform asset they could reuse in ads, and landed a deal. All before hitting 5K subs.
7. Offer Packages, Not Just a Price
One of the easiest ways to earn more from sponsorships is by giving brands options. When creators send a flat rate, “$1,500 for a mention”, they lock the deal into a single format and budget. But brands have varying needs and different levels of budget flexibility. When you offer structured packages, you give them room to choose, upgrade, or expand.
Packages Give You Leverage
Think about it like a restaurant menu. If the only thing available is a $20 burger, some customers will say yes, but others might’ve ordered the $35 steak if it was offered. Packages give you that $20/$35/$50 option structure. The top tier doesn’t have to be the one they choose, but its presence makes the middle tier feel more reasonable, and many will opt for it.
What to Include in Packages
Each tier should be purpose-built around a brand’s potential goals. For example:
- Awareness Tier: YouTube integration + community post
- Conversion Tier: Integration + newsletter mention + tracked link
- Repurposing Tier: Short-form verticals they can use in paid ads + access to raw files
- All-In: Everything above, plus consulting call and custom landing page shoutout
Not only does this upsell your work, it also educates the brand on what you’re capable of. Many brands aren’t aware you run a newsletter or have a TikTok until you mention it.
Example:
One creator went from $1,500 flat deals to $1.5K / $3.5K / $6K packages, and brands regularly picked the $3.5K and up because it included extra value (like whitelisting rights and vertical assets). Nothing changed in his audience size, just how he framed his offer.
8. Don’t Pitch "Exposure", Pitch Solutions
When you're reaching out to brands, talking about your views and followers only goes so far. Brands aren’t buying exposure. They're buying an outcome, and they’re more likely to work with you (and pay you more) when you show you understand that.
It’s Not About You, It’s About Them
Reframe the Conversation
A more effective pitch might sound like:
This kind of message shows that:
- You’ve done your homework
- You understand their goals
- You’re offering help, not just asking for money
Example:
One creator who pitched their content as a solution, instead of just “exposure”, ended up landing a $10,000 campaign with a brand that originally said they only had $5K left in their budget. Why? Because the creator positioned themselves as someone who could solve a problem, not just “mention a product.”
9. Brands Don’t Owe You a Reply, Your Pitch Has to Earn It
It’s easy to get frustrated when brands don’t respond to your emails. You put time into writing a message, maybe even followed up once or twice, and… nothing. But here’s the truth: brands aren’t ignoring you out of spite, they’re just busy, distracted, or unconvinced that your email is worth opening.
The Harsh Reality
Your email is one of dozens, sometimes hundreds, they might receive in a week. Many creators fall into the trap of writing long, vague, or overly self-focused messages that don’t give the recipient a compelling reason to reply. If you’re not making it immediately clear why you’re worth their time, you’re getting archived.
Make It Easy to Say Yes
When writing to a brand, your job is to reduce friction. That means:
- A clear subject line that grabs attention (ideally something timely or specific to their current focus)
- An opening line that shows you’ve done research on them
- A short, sharp pitch that spells out exactly how you can help
You’re not selling your follower count, you’re selling clarity and initiative. Think of it as a first impression: do you sound like someone who will make their job easier or harder?
Example:
A creator once told me they used to get a ~3% response rate when pitching. Once they switched to short, specific cold emails referencing brand campaigns, recent product launches, or even LinkedIn posts, their response rate shot up to 50%+. The difference wasn’t their audience, it was how they wrote the pitch.
10. Inbound Opportunities Are Not a Free Pass, You Still Need to Sell Yourself
It’s tempting to think that when a brand reaches out to you, the hard part is done. They’ve already shown interest, right? But the reality is: inbound leads are just the beginning. You still need to pitch.
Why Inbound Isn't Enough
When a brand reaches out, chances are they’ve also contacted several other creators. You're not the only one on their list. That email wasn’t a commitment, it was a feeler. Many creators get overly casual here. They reply with a quote or a generic "Sounds great! Let me know what you're thinking." And then... silence.
What happened? You didn’t give them a reason to move forward. You didn’t make it easy for them to choose you.
Turn Inbound Into a Conversation
Respond with structure and initiative.
For example:
Show them you're not just another creator with a rate card. Show them you’re a partner who actually understands marketing and can help them hit specific outcomes.
Real-World Example
One YouTuber in Justin’s program used to treat inbound messages like done deals. When he started replying with tailored mini-pitches and optional bundles (even just three-line overviews), his close rate jumped dramatically. He wasn’t just replying, he was re-pitching. And brands responded to that clarity and initiative.
11. Brands Want Easy Wins, Make Yourself Easy to Work With
One of the biggest turnoffs for brands is difficulty. It’s not just about your content or numbers, it’s about how smooth the relationship feels. If a brand senses even a hint of friction, they’ll hesitate or walk away.
Don’t Be “That Creator”
Some creators unknowingly make life harder for sponsors: ignoring emails, resisting feedback, or treating contracts like rigid rulebooks instead of flexible working documents. One common example: a brand asks for a simple tweak, maybe a quick edit to a mispronounced product name, and the creator pushes back with “Sorry, I can’t do that” or demands an extra fee.
From a brand’s point of view, that’s not just frustrating, it’s a red flag. And those red flags stick. People talk. Contacts move companies. Reputations spread.
Be the One They Want to Call Again
What makes creators stand out isn't just performance, it’s how they work. Being reliable, pleasant, responsive, and a bit flexible goes a long way. It doesn't mean saying yes to every demand, it means showing a willingness to solve problems together.
This might look like:
A Quick Example
Justin shares stories of brands getting burned by creators who refused even minor adjustments. As a result, brands start prioritising creators who make them look good to their bosses, creators who send assets on time, handle changes without drama, and deliver what was promised (and a little extra when it counts).
Conclusion
Brand deals aren’t just for influencers with huge followings. They’re for creators who understand what brands actually care about, and can show up with a pitch that speaks to those needs.
If you’re still chasing CPMs and waiting for brands to come knocking, it’s time to change the approach. Cold emails, thoughtful offers, and smart packaging can move the needle faster than any algorithm ever will.
Start pitching like a partner, not a promoter. That’s how you grow, not just your income, but your value in the space.