Behind the scenes of my first brand deal (well, almost)

Why I'm seeking sponsorships, how I found the right company, and what's happening now that we're in talks.

I wanted to give you all a little update on my current brand deal situation.

I wrote recently about how brand deals are a growing tool for monetisation, and allow you to earn from simply having a list of subscribers (or followers if you’re on other social media channels).

So today, I’m sharing how that’s going after my very first video call with the partnerships manager at a major brand.

Why I’m pursuing brand deals

The Freelance Writing Network is my job. Running it is something I do full-time, and that means it’s a business I’m responsible for. That’s amazing, I get it, but it also means the bar for what’s next is getting higher and higher.

Subscriptions and coaching pays bills, but they don’t give me the extra space to experiment, reinvest or hire all the extra help I really want. That’s why brand deals are my primary focus in 2026. They’re a way to provide value to my audience while earning more money for the network.

I also want a proof of concept. If I’m going to talk about newsletter monetisation, I should probably be in the arena, not just clapping politely from the stands.

How I found out about partnerships

It was only in a casual chat with Samantha Anderl of Harlow that I even realised how significant they were. Yes, I knew they existed. But I had no idea just how profitable they can be (if you were to sell a major live event, think $0.50 for every subscriber you have).

So I looked into it. I asked questions, I had a coaching session with Samantha, and I took Justin Moore’s 7-day sponsorship challenge to help me kick on. I had mixed thoughts on the challenge, but I felt far more comfortable afterwards with what I needed to do.

So far, I’ve reached out to six different people at six different brands. With one response. But it’s that one response I’ll be talking about today.

How I picked this brand

Because my audience is primarily freelance writers, I needed brands that were relevant. That’s a crucial point, because I won’t run partnerships with brands that don’t add value to my audience.

I landed on tax and finance, because it’s an area I’ve had a lot of interest in over the last 12 months, and I know lots of newer freelancers struggle with it. Everyone hates admin, worries about tax, and dreads the thought of having to use a spreadsheet.

Tax software, invoicing tools, anything that reduces that pain makes sense.

I used an AI tool to generate a long list of tools in that space, then personally verified all of them. I checked websites, read blogs, and looked at who worked with creators and highlighted brands that seemed invested in freelancers.

That’s how I landed on the company I’m now talking to, a money and tax platform built for small businesses and self‑employed people.

Finding the right person

Once you know who you want to pitch, you have to find the right person.

Ignore vague contact or partnership email addresses. We can do much better than that.

One thing I learned from Justin Moore was how you can use a simple internet search to find the right person. For example, search ‘partnerships manager brand LinkedIn’ and then deduce the right person. This needed some digging, and you have to get a feel for who is most appropriate.

Then it’s a case of finding their email address. Often a partnerships person has a publicly available email or it’s on their LinkedIn, which was the case for me. Otherwise, search for the company email format and work out how they fit.

What I actually put in the pitch

The pitch was not a long monologue about how great I am and how engaged my audience is and how much I love their tool. That stuff matters, but it can’t be the main thing. And definitely not in an initial outreach email.

I used the ROPE structure in the background to keep it tight: make it relevant to what they’re already focused on, show that this is an organic fit with my content, add proof in the form of audience data and past content, and make the proposal easy to say yes to rather than a fuzzy ‘maybe we could do something someday.’

I framed the email around them and my readers, covering:

• Here’s who my audience is, in plain language.

• Here’s the specific problem they have around money and tax.

• Here’s how this company’s product lines up with that problem.

• Here are a couple of brief but concrete ways we could work together to hit their goals.

I pitched access to a very specific group of people at a very specific time, when tax is on their mind and they’re looking for help.

The reply, the call, and what happened next

The partnerships manager replied quickly and suggested a call. Funny, because the other five people I’d contacted didn’t even reply at all.

He suggested a call and sent through his Google Meets calendar. I booked it immediately and did plenty of preparation ahead of time because I realised I had no idea what I was supposed to do next.

The call turned out to be more relaxed than I expected. I explained who I was, what the Freelance Writing Network is, and what sort of thing my readers need. Then we chatted a bit about the brand, before touching on some ways that we could work together in the future.

The call was more of a discovery session than a Dragon’s Den/Shark Tank pitch. And a lot less scary than I envisioned. It seemed to be a genuine fit, which meant we’d look at the next steps.

After the call, I sent a quick thank you email, recapped what we’d discussed and set a clear expectation that I’d come back in a couple of days with sponsorship packages, with flat fees and hybrid options (I do not want an affiliate setup).

Where do things stand right now?