Hey guys, it's Alex here from AlexTooby.com.
And welcome back to my YouTube channel!
In today's video.
We're going to be talking about how to get that coin by getting sponsored on Instagram
or YouTube.
Influencers are becoming more and more popular these days.
And practically anyone can start up a new account, post some quality content and start
getting paid, including you.
So if you're interested in learning exactly how to start securing paid sponsorships, keep
watching.
But before I get into the juicy details, I need you to sign up for my free Instagram
masterclass.
Inside I teach you 10 Instagram secrets the gurus don't want you to know that can drastically
improve the reach of your posts, your follower count and lead to more sponsorships.
The link is above and in the description box below.
So when it comes to getting sponsored, there is one huge thing to note.
You do not need to have a billion followers or subscribers to get paid.
Micro influencers are becoming more and more valuable to brands as they typically have
a more engaged and authentic following.
So don't worry about the current size of your account or believe you have to reach some
certain milestone to secure partnerships because it's just not true.
Okay?
All you need to do is the following number one, stick to a specific niche.
Look, guys, I've talked about this a million times before, whether you're trying to be
an influencer or grow a million dollar brand, you need to have a specific, so pick niche
and stick to it.
This makes you more desirable to brands because you have a clear topic that you talk about
and your audience knows you for that.
If you don't stick to any niche and you're constantly changing the subject of your posts,
it'll be hard to get your audience to take action on all your sponsored content.
Now that doesn't mean that you can't stray away from that topic over time.
You absolutely can, but in the beginning, keep it specific.
Number two, create conversion focused content.
If your dream is to become an influencer, start playing the role now to do this regularly.
Talk about products, services, or companies you love and use regularly, encourage your
audience to check them out and tell you what they think.
This primes them to respond well to any future sponsorships you may have, and it makes your
account more appealing to brands.
Your goal should always be to get your audience, to take some type of action.
Whether that's to check out the brand, click the link in your bio, use your affiliate link,
et cetera.
This is the conversion focused content that will set you up for success in the future.
Number three, market yourself.
If you want people to contact you for sponsorship gigs, make sure they have a way of doing that.
You want to add your contact info to your bio or your YouTube description.
So brands know you're currently accepting work and you look professional as hell.
Number four, know your numbers.
When a brand inevitably reaches out to you, they're going to ask about your demographics,
engagement rates and more so be prepared by having all of these numbers already outlined
in a media kit, which is a simple one, two page PDF, or in a note you regularly update
so you can quickly send it over to them.
Some things you'll want to include are your social following on all relevant channels,
average engagement rate (I typically calculate this based on my five most recent posts),
average amount of views for your YouTube videos, the demographics of your audience, including
their average age and top three locations, which you can get from your Instagram insights
or Google analytics, the amount of page views your website gets, et cetera, whatever relevant
data you can pull that you think makes you look good, add it to your media kit.
And if you're looking for a media kit template, there are a ton of great ones on creative
market!
I'll link a few of my favorites below.
Number five, set your rates.
This is the hardest part of getting sponsored.
What exactly should I charge?
What am I worth?
These are valid questions and are oftentimes hard to answer what one brand is willing to
pay for a video mention or an Instagram post, may be different than the next.
So it's smart to set some benchmarks for yourself, but be willing to negotiate if need be.
Now the best way to do this is to use a tool like social blue book.com.
It allows you to link up your social channels and it gives you an idea of what you could
potentially charge.
Now I say 'idea' because it's not going to be 100% accurate.
And in my opinion, it's often a bit higher than what you'll typically receive.
However, the point of this is to give yourself a starting point.
If social blue book says a dedicated post will be worth $20, then it might be in your
best interest to try and get some higher value free product from the brand.
Instead if it says you're worth $1,500, you can send that to them as your base price and
see what they say.
All sponsorships include a level of negotiation.
So choose your min and max amounts you're willing to settle for and go from there.
The more sponsorships you get, the better and more confident at setting your rates,
you will become.
So by now, you're like, okay, I get it.
But how do I actually get the sponsorship?!
Well, to do that, you need to actively reach out to brands of interest.
If you wait for brands to come to you, you could be waiting a long time.
So instead take matters into your own hands and do the outreach on your own.
To nail this you need to do a few things.
One, pick a brand that aligns with your current account size.
If you've got 1000 followers, Apple and Gucci are not going to sponsor you, okay?
Stick to smaller brands or brands that you've seen work with people of your size.
Number two, make sure you're following them and have engaged with them.
Recently.
If you reach out to a brand and tell them you love their product, but you literally
have never used it or even follow them on social media, you're probably not going to
get the deal.
Number three, explain why you think their product would be perfect for your audience.
This is the pitching part, okay?
You can't just write to a brand and say, Hey, I love your product, will you sponsor me?
You need to tell them why you think a sponsorship would be mutually beneficial for both of you,
because at the end of the day, they need your audience to buy their product to make it worth
their while.
Number four, you're going to tell them exactly how you could work together instead of waiting
for them to pitch an idea.
Give them a few to choose from.
You could create a dedicated Instagram post, a series of Instagram stories over a one week
period, or mention them in a YouTube video.
This makes it easier for the brand and takes out those numerous back and forth emails.
And finally, number seven, if you want to get sponsorships, you have to build your following!
While micro-influencers are thing you don't always want to be in that category.
The larger you get and the more dedicated and loyal your following becomes, the more
money you can ask for
and the more brands there will be a lining up to work with you.
So to do that, you can absorb all the free content you can possibly find on the internet,
which inevitably will take a ton of time, and may at times, actually lead you down the
wrong path.
Or you can invest in a program that's designed to teach you how to grow your audience quickly
and authentically.
That program of course is the Instagram Ivy league.
This program is a complete a to Z resource for anyone looking to utilize Instagram as
a true marketing tool that grows their following, builds their authority and helps them make
more money.
You can click the link above or in the description box below to learn more.
So that's it for this video guys.
I hope you learned something new and are more confident in your quest to your first or next
paid sponsorship.
Don't forget to hit the like button subscribe and tap the notification bell to make sure
you never miss another video from me.
See you next time!