🧙‍♂️ I got rejected by a brand (lost $20k)

Hey there,

Last week, I got this rejection email from a brand's agency.

​

Sucks.

I still get bummed when sponsorships don't work out but this one was especially sucky since the package they were considering was $20K, lol.

Hit reply if you've gotten rejected by a brand recently. Why do you think they didn't pick you?

Lots of people flex their "wins" on social media but I actually think you can learn waaaaay more from fails (which no one ever shares).

So, let's get messy, shall we?

The agency's first email

​

A few interesting things about this...

• The brand is interested in activating on multiple platforms
• The exact # of deliverables isn't defined (important)
• They wanna set up a call to chat everything through

Now, a lot of creators would respond to this email and say something along the lines of...

"Here's my media kit. How much you gonna pay me?" 😬😂 (ok fine more like..."what's your budget?")

Which is the EXACT OPPOSITE of what you should do in this situation.

​

I know, I know.

That's what every other social media coach tells you to do, right?

And normally, I'd agree.

However, what I actually said was...

"Sounds great! Let's hop on a Zoom!"

You heard me...I hopped on a call with the agency without even knowing the budget.

Three reasons:

• It's soooo much easier to establish rapport face-to-face (and brands will pay more money to influencers that they like)
• The "ask" seemed quite large/amorphous and there were major gaps that are simple to clarify on a call (exactly how many posts, usage rights, exclusivity, etc.)
• This was a large agency, not the brand (which almost always means healthy budgets)

So, I took the call and it went awesome.

Got all the answers I needed, pulled some packages together and...hit send.

Justin Moore | Sponsorship Coach @justinmooretfam Shootin my shot on a Friday afternoon 🏀 🤑 pic.twitter.com/hW7SDUJkFQ April 29th 2022 1 Retweets 30 Likes

​

Wanna know what they said in response? (it wasn't "no.")

Well...stay tuned for Part 2 next week 😉

BTW if you love nerding out over negotiation dynamics like this and find value in my different perspective on sponsorship strategy, consider signing up for the waitlist of my 4-week course, Brand Deal Wizard.​

Enrollment opens on June 10 with classes on June 21, June 28, July 5, and July 12.

Just to give you a sense for how amazing I think the next cohort is going to be...

We had 42 creators participate last time and there are...406 creators on the waitlist right now, lmao.

Talk soon!

---

Justin Moore | Creator Wizard

Twitter / YouTube / Book a 1-1