[Transcription starts at 1:09]
Hello, hello, hello my podcast people and thank you for joining me for yet another episode of my favorite podcast. If you're watching the video I'm a little bit squinting right now cuz it is bright. I'm actually gonna do an entire episode about lighting, right? I use a lot of natural light. I actually have my artificial lights, if you will,
my LEDs going as well just to try and balance it out because my camera tends to really search for light and it's annoying. So I'm gonna do an episode about lighting and sound. I love this stuff. And for those of you that are thinking about venturing into the video space, or perhaps just the audio space, I wanna help you out. But in today's episode, let's jump on in,
I wanna talk about how to secure brand deals. I think there's an easier way to go about it, and I've been doing it for quite some time now, and I wanna help you out. Uh, actually, lemme say one thing before I do that, which is thank you. Thank you for all of the reviews that you leave. I go and read them. Uh, the last one in there is from Dr.
Emmy. Shout out to, Dr. Wow. Wow. Wow. Shout out to Dr. Emmy. You da real MVP. Um, the rest of you, if the spirit moves you and you wanna leave a review, I read them. I love them. I appreciate them. So thank you for those of you that have left them. And if, again, if the spirit moves you, would love to read some more.
Quick announcement. I'm looking at my notes here. I do notes now for the show. Uh, quick announcements. Transcripts are a thing. I didn't announce it last episode or a few episodes ago because I wasn't sure if I was gonna do them and I was kinda playing around. Um, as of this episode, actually as of episode 425 I believe, they are officially a thing! And I'm using a software called Descript.
Uh, I love it. I received quite a few ads about it and I was kind of thinking about it, and then I brought Joe Casabona onto the podcast, or excuse me, into the Mafia, I will bring him onto the podcast, and he was talking about it and I was like, “Let's try this thing.” I love it. I think I'm really gonna double down on it in 2023 for content creation.
And I actually applied to get an affiliate link or be one of their affiliates because I was like, I am in on this thing. I love it. I'm gonna be talking about it anyway. Why not maybe get some money out of it. So that's gonna be the segue for, or one, that's the announcement that we have transcripts. Those transcripts are going to be available always in the show notes.
They'll be hyperlinked in the show notes, and you can always go to the episode page. Uh, the episode page just so you know, is always gonna be themovementmaestro.com/ then whatever the episode number is. So for today's episode, it'll be themovementmaestro.com/427. You can go there, it'll take you directly to the page where all the show notes are, and you'll be able to read the transcript as well.
So as for the segue, which isn't as good now, uh, I'm trying to get an affiliate link for Descript, and that's what I wanna talk about today. This affiliate model, uh, you know, brand deals, how to actually secure them. For those of you that maybe are wondering who I partner with, who my brand deals are, the affiliates that I use, um, you can head over to themovementmaestro.com/partners.
I know I'm throwing a lot of links at you, but they're also in the show notes. Um, but that's the page where all of my partnerships and such live, and you can see the discount codes and such. But, uh, I partner with Ancore, I partner with Strong Coffee, VivoBarefoot, LMNT, Convert Kit, Kajabi, Crowdcast, The Chicken Pound,
got some food in there, uh, and of course my Amazon affiliate. Um, so I do, I've done this quite a bit. I actually really, really enjoy it and I wanna share with you some tips and tricks of the trade. So right off the bat, let's differentiate between like the affiliate model and an ambassador program or a partnership program.
Cause in my opinion, they are different. I also think there's kind of two affiliate models you can run. One, which is the typical affiliate model where you don't even actually communicate with the brand. You just like put your information in and if you meet some certain criteria, which seems to be like, are you alive, then they will, uh, grant you that affiliate code.
You get to choose it and then you can use it to get a little, a little bit of a kickback and get a discount for your people. The second kind is what I'll call relational affiliates. And this is typically something that you do with friends, people that you have a relationship with. I've done this with Danny Matta, Jill, Ali Gilbert, Brianna Battles,
Meredith Castin. And this is typically where they'll provide, provide you with a link. If people utilize that link or they use that link and they go and purchase something from that, then it tracks it and associates it with you, and you get a kickback for that. Yes, you have to disclose all of this, but it's a phenomenal model if you really support that person and what they're doing, and it's something that you don't do.
So the first time I ever experienced this and interacted with this was actually with Danny, and I think I've told the story before. I was an affiliate for his Gym PT Blueprint and it was, you know, perfect cuz I do online business. He does in-person brick and mortar, cash based physical therapy services.
And so I have an audience that obviously has, uh, you know, in-person practices and I can't help them directly with it. But there was a resource that I absolutely trusted, which was Danny, and he was like, “Hey, do you wanna affiliate this?” And I was like, “Absolutely.” Danny, I love the way he runs it. He does 50% commission, which is amazing and makes sense and we'll get into that in a little bit.
In a little bit. But super great commission from that. And that actually, the first one I ever sold, um, my guy, Ruben, if you're listening to this, you like, love you my guy. Um, I sold that and I used that money to go and go to a conference. I went to Convert Kit and I, also went to, uh, Podcast Movement, which was very weird.
I'm not gonna lie. Podcast Movement was weird. Uh, the first one, let me go back to that. I know this is a little bit out of order, but let me go back to that, which is the, the, um, typical affiliate. And that's kind of like, usually you'll see this with bigger things. So that's when I spoke earlier about Convert Kit and Crowdcast and Kajabi, you're just gonna sign up with them.
There's no like discussion that you're having with the brand or with the CEO. You could look to take it farther. Um, but that's like the more the traditional affiliate model. And you get that same kickback. The other type that we're looking at, right, so we have affiliates, and then the other type of relationship that we're looking at is gonna be your ambassador program or your partnership.
With this communication with the brand, um, is usually initiated first off. And there can be like a formal contract for this. It depends. I usually don't do super formal contracts and we will get into that. Um, but in the formal contract, oftentimes you'll, uh, outline and establish specific deliverables, usually kind of social media pieces and things like that.
I personally hate specified deliverables. Uh, I find that it is quite tedious, and my time is my, my real estate is valuable on social media and I don't like being told what to do. I don't like being forced to post things. It feels inauthentic to me. Um, but of course there are caveats to this, and I think that we're gonna see more of this as the creator economy evolves, especially for people that are purely creating
content for entertainment. Like how else are they gonna get paid besides brand deals? And I think that as a consumer, it's also important that we understand that, and respect that, and don't, I'm, I'm preaching to the choir here, but I'm gonna say it anyway: We don't get down on people and, and creators that we like when they run an ad. Like that's how they're making money.
I'm thinking of a guy right now, something like Bemo. He does like all the millennial versus Gen Z versus Gen X versus like Boomers. I don't know. Um, he does like these skits. And he doesn't run any kind of paid things, but he does do ads every now and then, right? He doesn't have like a subscription. Thank goodness. His content's out there for free, for all of us to enjoy.
And I love that. And I think it's important to, um, recognize that that's how they're making money and subsequently like, let's support them and not be like, “Oh, how dare you! You've sold out!” Like, they, they need to make money. So yeah, we got affiliates and then we got ambassador ships or partnerships, two different things.
Um, but we will go into both, right? So next part of this, let's talk about the five steps to securing a brand deal. Number one: Bring something to the table. So we're talking about online business and in this case, what you're likely bringing to the table is you have an audience. Your audience doesn't have to be massive, though it is easier if you have a bigger audience and obviously a very engaged audience.
Um, but what you do need to be able to do is convey the value here, meaning demonstrate, convey, portray that you have trust with this audience and why things would be a good fit and why your audience would actually listen to the, to you talking about this thing. Remember, uh, we're talking about bringing something to the table because you're going to ask for something.
So you don't wanna just show up empty handed. That's, that's tacky. So you're gonna ask for something, make sure that you're bringing something that they want, and in this case, the brand that you are pitching, they want trust and attention, right? They want the eyes of these people. You have that, so you're gonna wanna look to lead with that and also convey that.
Step number two, be a super fan, right? Be a super fan of the brand that you are pitching. Know about the product. Ideally, you've purchased the product before, you've been using it in some way, shape, or form. Be able to clearly articulate the value of the product, the value of, you know, that you could think it could bring to your audience, why they would want to purchase this thing.
And extra bonus points if you can explain how you'd position it for your audience. Obviously this is easiest for something that you're already using. So in certain circumstances maybe you haven't bought that thing already, which is why you're reaching out. That's what I do. Um, but it is, uh, easier if you've used it in some capacity.
So maybe you've used it at a gym. Like I'm thinking about NormaTec right now, which was a company that I reached out to, um, back when it was NormaTec I reached out for their, um, the leg tubes I that they had. Now they're, they're part of Hypervolt. Um, but, I didn't have my own set, which is why I reached out.
But I had used them extensively. I had promoted them within my Stories. I was, you know, going to a recovery facility and using them a lot there. So you wanna have some interaction with them and be able to, interaction with the actual product, experience with the product so that you can understand the value, you can speak the language of the, of, you know, the brand,
and you can show that you've been using it, you've been engaged with it. Um, this is also nice if you've been promoting it without partnering with them. So right now I'm kind of working, trying to like get on Celsius' radar just cuz like I drink it anyway. But what I'm doing to start off with is just I'm tagging them in my Stories all the time.
I buy the, I buy Celsius, from, it's an energy drink for those of you who don't know, I buy it from Costco. And I get this idea from Danielle Pascente who's like the queen of brand deals. Um, she does 'em a little bit more like officially and formally than I do. But you know, same, same here. And part of the, the process that we both utilize is just being a super fan and tagging them all the time in Stories.
Because when they finally do, if they ever do respond, they can see that entire history that you have. You know, things that you've tagged them in and you're like, oh, wow, yeah, I do utilize your, your, your stuff, your services. I do support the brand. I'm not just, you know, coming to you with a, with a hand out.
All right. Number three: Ask without, excuse me. Ask. Wow, that was bad. Ask with a give. So again, this kind of ties into the first you're going to ask them for something. You're coming with your hand out. So in this case, yes, we are going to ask, but right off the bat you're gonna tell them how you plan to help them, and then, which is gonna be step four, you've gotta actually follow through.
So this step is really largely about kind of the deliverables from your end, right? Step number one was that you're going to have that audience. You're bringing something to the table. So you've already put in the work, you've built the trust with your people. This step is how you're going to convey that specifically to them.
Now, when you're pitching, more platforms, in my opinion, is more, more better. So obviously you want all the trust, but when you're gonna pitch them, yes, you could be like, okay, I'm gonna, you know, promote you on Instagram. I personally will talk about the social channels that I'm on. I can talk about the podcast, and I can talk about email.
I've gone over these three pillars of, you know, uh, online business before, and I will do another episode about it for sure. But more platforms, more better. If you have past experience with promoting things, with partnerships, um, or if you have a mutual connection, absolutely name drop, right? So number one, if you can get a direct connection, obviously that's gonna be the easiest all work gets done through relating.
So as it relates to, I said relating a lot there, we're gonna go with it though. Um, as it relates to Ancore, I actually got connected with them from Brett Bartholomew. He, he was posting about them a bunch and his Stories and I was like, that, not even a bunch. He was posting about it some, like two times.
And I was like, “What is that? That looks really helpful. That, that unit that you're using.” And so I went and reached out to him and he actually made the connection. Uh, for LMNT it was because of Ali Gilbert. Uh, she was posting about it in her stories and I was like, “Do you like know someone there? It seems like you do.”
And she was like, “Yeah, I would love to connect you.” My most recent pitch, and I'm actually gonna read to you what I said, but my most recent pitch was to Smart Tools. And I spoke about this in a previous episode that I'm looking to get a set of their smart cuffs and I, I received the set. Uh, and when I reached out to them, I actually named dropped Craig from the Prehab Guys.
I'm friends with him, I know him. Um, and actually I've helped him out in the past and the other two members of the Prehab Guys so they could get into a Rock Tape course. And so, you know, there's a mutual exchange there, there's a friendship there. And so when I pi, when I pitched Smart Tools, I could tell them that, you know, one,
uh, Craig, I'm totally blanking here. One Craig has sent me. Uh, and then two, I could lean on the stuff that I've done in the past and the fact that I have done promotions for Ancore and then I've done promotions for, um, not Hypervolt, for NormaTec. Right? So there's some credibility there. How to actually do this, right.
How to actually pitch. My favorite is, using the DMs. Like what a time to be alive. Like, yeah, you could email people, but I personally hate receiving emails. It's the worst. Uh, and I also don't like being pitched from somebody else. Like if they, if they like, how do I wanna explain this? If someone sends their, you know, pub-publicist, publicity person, to email me and be like, oh, so and so really likes your show and they wanna get on it, and I'm like, if they loved it that much, they'd be emailing me personally.
So I wanna do it myself, number one. And number two, I like the DMs. Oftentimes they can connect you with somebody, uh, who can actually help you. So another value, you know, valuable part of doing this in the DMs and pitching in the DMs is that there is immediate social proof. I know I talk about how the numbers, they don't matter, and to an extent they don't.
But do they make things easier? Yes. And so if you have a high, you know, a higher follower account and you have, you know, really good engagement on your posts, the people you're pitching can go and see that immediately. They can go check you out immediately. Right. So I'm gonna read to you, uh, the DM that I sent most recently to Nick over at Smart Tools.
All right, here we go. Hey, hey, full transparency: Pitch incoming. Craig from the Prehab Guys suggested I reach out to you directly via the, via the DMs. I was planning on buying a set of cuffs to rehab a current knee injury, but figured I'd inquire about setting up a discussion to get a set to get a set in exchange for social, email, podcast promotion.
I've partnered in the past with Normatec (RIP), Ancore, and extensively with RockTape as a former lead instructor, so I'm not new to the game. It's also obviously totally fine if you're like, “Nah, not interested.” Figured I'd shoot my shot. Thanks so much for reading this. And then of course the Maesto green heart. So very, very simple, like you can be a human about this.
When I did a little intro for this, I talked about like an easier way, you don't have to feel grimy and sleazy about this and you don't. You can literally just approach them like you would have a regular conversation keeping those things in mind. And I kind of did them all in this one little pitch here where I'm bringing something to the table, which is my audience,
I'm a super fan, I was gonna purchase this thing anyway, and then number three, I'm have a give here. I'm gonna talk to 'em about the audience size that I have and the trust that I have, and the fact that I've done this in the past and, and I can help them out. So let's get into some more, more specifics here.
Point number three. This is a big one. Specific metrics, uh, that you can use if you're going to lean on that. Now, obviously they can see your follow count, they can see your engagement, and your, your comments rather. But you can talk to 'em about email list size, email list, you know, emailing frequency.
You can talk about your podcasts. You can talk about, typically with podcasts, you're talking about monthly downloads. Um, but I actually don't lead with numbers. My credibility obviously can stand on its own, but I wanted to give you some examples if that's a route that you want to go. If you wanna get into the weeds with numbers, then you can start talking about reach and impressions which something that I tell you folks to like, not worry about because you can't control it.
But for folks who are, if you're pitching someone who is an advertiser and who has done, um, run paid ads, then this may be the language that they speak, right? Where you're saying, “Hey, you could pay X to reach Y number of people.” Cause those are the reach and the impressions. I don't love leading with that, but I wanna put all this information out just in case it's a route that you want to go.
I personally like to take a very real person approach and just tell it like it is, right? Which is, I want this thing, I think it would be helpful for my people. I think that I can help you, and I would love to chat if you're interested. Some iteration of that. Last part about the specifics here before we go to the next point, which is just percentages.
Typically, they'll give you a commission of like 10%, 10 to 20%, which means you have to sell a lot of these for it to be lucrative. Now, I don't think I said this in the beginning of the episode. I skipped over it, but like, why would you wanna do this in the first place? Yes, you can make some money for this, but, from this, but typically the reason I do it is just cuz I want
the product. And I also think that it would be helpful for my people. When we look at, you know, typical like the way it's pitched at you, or someone might come slide into your DMs and be like, oh, you can get a discount on this. Like, I don't wanna discount on it, I want it for free cause I'm gonna promote it and then you're gonna get people that are gonna buy this thing.
I actually don't even need the commission because it's typically not that much, right? So when it's certain actual physical products, I'm like, I just want the product and then you can pass the discount on to my people for all I care. Cuz you have to sell a lot of these. You know, max, maybe you get a hundred bucks a month, which can be great for some people, but for the amount of work that's going into it, I'd rather just get the product.
I will do percentages, or rather I'm okay with the percentages, and this is why I do it, for bigger things like Convert Kit, Kajabi. Cause also it's a more expensive product. Um, so a 20%, 30% commission on that, you actually will get more money and you're gonna be talking about it anyway. And it's like they're not just gonna give you the thing for free.
Um, so that makes more sense to be like, yeah, I'm gonna lean on the actual commission from that. Last part here. If you personally are going to run, uh, an affiliate, consider using or giving the person that you're affiliating. Like or you're not, I don't know if that's the right word. Consider giving the person who's gonna be an affiliate for you,
that's the right word, consider giving them like 30 to 50%, especially if it's a DIY. Make it worth this person's time. Just, most of these products kind of cheaper. And so if you're like, “Hey, here's 10%.” And they're like, “That's like $1, right? It's one penny. I have no financial incentive to promote this thing.”
So Danny does a really good model, 50%. I love that. Jill does 50% as well, cuz it's like this is no skin off their back. I think actually Jill might do more than that, which makes sense cuz it's like I'm doing all the work. She has the product, but it's not, it's, it's a DIY, right? A DIY product, do it yourself product.
So it just needs to be sold and it's money that she's getting, right? So there, there kind of is like a true, you know, somewhat of a passive nature to that. All right, step number four: Do the thing. Right. Step number four is deliver and track. Typically, for the tracking portion of this, they're gonna give you a code that is unique to you.
Uh, mine's usually Maestro something, Maestro a number, something like that. And the reason that you may wanna do this or that you do wanna do this is so that if you ever want to pull on numbers and be like, I sold X units in X amount of time, you can actually track that. Second part of this: promote it. Get excited about the thing.
Ideally, this is a product that you've been using every day anyway. And so it's not a big deal to put it in your Stories and you know, just show up and, and be very authentic about how you are talking about it and promoting it. Speaking about the promotion side of things, set the deliverable, set the deliverables based on what you want.
Again, I personally don't, uh, formalize agreements where it's like you have to have one post or this many Stories. I'm not trying to deal with any of that. I'm sorry folks, if you can hear, they're cutting down palm trees, so if you can hear that in the background, I'm sorry, I don't think you can, but if you can, I'm sorry.
Uh, but like I was saying, I don't like specifics where you gotta post this many times and you gotta do this many emails. Sometimes folks will ask you to be part of like a, a summit and that's what they want. First of all, they ask you and then they're like, okay, but you have to email your people. And I'm like, screw you. No. I don't even be part of the stupid summit. Doesn't matter to me. All right, so you have full control over how you do this. I think that's probably the biggest takeaway from this part here is that you get to choose how you deliver it, when you deliver it. And for me, of course, I like to over deliver and I'm posting about it all the time anyway.
Ideally, the people are seeing this because you've been tagging them and showing up and promoting them before any way. So you just to kind of keep doing what you're doing and get paid for it. I personally, additionally, sorry for the whistle there. I'm excited about this episode, I'm speaking very quickly. I know, I'm sorry, but also not sorry cuz I love it!
Uh, but I personally like to bring the owner of the product onto the podcast. I think it's a phenomenal way to humanize that owner, really build trust with the audience. Let the people hear this person, right. 45 minutes, an hour of just talking. Uh, and I think that is really, you know, builds the best trust and will sell the product the best.
But you again, get to choose. I typically will say that when I'm pitching in the DMs and be like, Hey, um-I said this to him afterwards. Right? I did. In the thing I read earlier, I did say, you know, podcast, but afterwards, cause like Nick actually was the one who responded and I was like, wow, this is amazing.
So I'm having regular conversations in the DMs and then I was like, “Hey, just so you know, I'd love to be on the podcast. This is what I typically do. I wanna humanize you, I want people to hear from you. Um, so let me know if you'd like to do that.” And actually I brought Isaac on. Um, Courtney, if you could link that.
Thank you. Uh, I brought him on the podcast. He's, uh, the founder of Ancore, and I also brought on the founder of NormaTec. I don't know if we can actually link that episode from a, um, Apple podcast perspective, but we can link it from my website becauseI don't know if you folks know, Apple only shows 300 podcast episodes at a time and we are in the 400s,
which just means the earlier ones are not there anymore, but they are always on the, the website. Um, so Courtney, if you could link that, if you can get it from Apple, amazing. If you can't get it from the, from the actual podcast. Um, from the actual website, which is probably better anyway, so, thank you. Okay. Um, so lastly with this, within this portion, number four, which is deliver and track,
I never enter into anything with a forced promotion. I want it to be genuine. I want it to be authentic. Um, I think that ultimately there may be like a right price for this. I know Joe Casabona talked about it. He did like an ad placement kind of thing, and it was like a five figure deal. And it's like, yeah, okay, you could tell me how many ads you want for this or like how many, you know, posts you want for this.
But for the most part, what we're dealing with with these smaller amounts, it's not worth it to me to have my hand forced. All right. Step number five, maintain the relationship. So you've laid out all the things, you came to the table with something, you pitched them, they said yes, they gave you a code, and now you're delivering on it.
And I, this is another very important point here. Keep going, maintain the relationship. There's a, there's a human on their side of this. Thank them. Write to them, DM them, promote them even without, you know, expectations of things. Just have that friendship. I actually speak, uh, you know, in the DMs to the people at The Chicken Pound. Like they're great and I comment on their posts.
I interact with them and I, my whole goal is to maintain that relationship. Why? Because as we knew, all work gets done through relating. All right, last point here. And then we're gonna, we're gonna wrap it up, right? So those are the five, uh, steps for securing a brand deal. Number one, bring something to the table.
Number two, be a super fan. Number three, ask with a give. Number four, deliver and track. And then number five, maintain the relationship. Important considerations, or additional considerations as it relates to these brand deals: Number one, when you're thinking about who to to partner with, remember that you are putting these people in front of your people, which means do you trust these brands?
Do you trust their values? Are you, are you aligned with their values? Make sure of that first. It's not just like, get this free thing and oh, great. This is about trust and alignment. Second point when there isn't a formal agreement, sometimes things kind of fizzle out or dissolve or, you know, they stop, they stop sending products.
Something like that. And honestly to me, that's fine. Um, if you want to formalize things, it's cool. Then you just reach out and formalize things. Some brands just aren't very like, with it. Um, they can be a little bit scattered, but they do want to keep the relationship going. So you as a grownup get to, get to decide how you wanna move forward, what you wanna do with that.
Sometimes this, um, relationship is super informal and maybe there isn't like an affiliate, an official affiliate link or anything like that, and they just kind of throw you a discount. This happened with me, um, with IronGritt and they just gave me a discount on the product, but there was no like formal, like, I'm gonna send things out or to post certain things.
And so that is another way that things can be done. And then lastly, be a super connector. It's all about relationships and if you form relationships with people and suddenly you're like, “Hey, I think they could help them, or like, that would be a good relationship.” Like I connected Sean Pastuch and, um, Ancore. I connected Ancore and Ben Patrick.
Like if you think that there's mutual benefit, connect those people. All right, I'm officially gonna wrap it up there. I hope this episode was helpful for you. If you want, you want some more, check out the, uh, page link, which is themovementmaestro.com/427 for the show notes, cuz I know I spoke really fast today.
The transcript is there and if you wanna go back, you wanna write things down, you want to actually figure out what I said, um, and get tactical with it, you can do that. As always, endlessly appreciative for every single one of you. Until next time, friends, Maestro out.