319: The $5 Million Question: How writers actually get paid by brands without a massive following (with Justin Moore)

Season 3, episode 19 is here!

I was super excited to have Justin Moore join me to talk about something most writers think is out of reach: getting paid by brands to create content.

Justin shared the sponsorship strategies that built his multi-million dollar business, why your follower count matters less than you think, and the pitching method that stops brands from hitting delete on your emails.

This is the perfect episode for anyone interested in finding game-changing sponsorships for their content!

What we covered:

- Why writers with small audiences can still land sponsorships by offering something completely different than traditional influencer posts, and how your writing skills become the product itself rather than just your audience size

- The ROPE method for pitching brands that flips the script on how most creators approach sponsorships, starting with what the brand cares about instead of bragging about your follower count in the first sentence

- How Justin’s wife went from accepting free products for years to earning $700 monthly from a single brand deal, and the simple question that changed everything about how they approached collaborations

- The sponsorship continuum concept that changes what you pitch based on where you are in your growth journey, from ghostwriting for brands at the start to commanding premium rates once you’ve scaled

- Why having a rate card on your website is the worst possible strategy for pricing sponsorships, and the budget range question that gets brands to reveal their numbers 75% of the time without you naming a price first

- The ARC framework that determines how much leverage you have in negotiations based on whether brands want awareness, repurposing rights, or conversion metrics from the partnership

- Why Justin believes books will outlast almost every other content format in the age of AI, and how writing Sponsor Magnet became the most impactful thing he’s done for his business despite never considering himself a writer

👉 Want to learn these strategies in person? Justin’s hosting Sponsor Games in San Antonio, March 15-18. Use code DAVID500 for $500 off your ticket! Find out more here.

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