Price a sponsorship from your real performance, not your follower count. Start with the value of your average view, add the effort the deal demands, and quote a number you can defend out loud.
There is no single market rate. Two channels of the same size can charge very different amounts because one delivers a better fit and a warmer audience.
The number you say out loud sets the ceiling for every deal after it. Getting it slightly high is easier to walk back than getting it low.
A common method sets a rate per thousand views, often called CPM. Multiply that number by your typical views on a sponsored slot and you have a floor to work from.
The CPM for direct creator deals runs far higher than what ad networks pay, because a host read carries trust a banner never will.
Check what similar channels in your niche charge, then adjust for your own delivery. Public rate cards are rare, so ask peers and compare notes.
A thirty second mid roll is not the same job as a dedicated video, a series of shorts, or a long form integration. Each one takes more time, more planning, and more creative risk.
Price the extra work on top of the base. If the brand wants exclusivity, usage rights, or a say in your script, those are line items too.
Time is the honest unit here. If a deal takes three days of your week, a flat per video price hides that cost until you are buried in work.
If your rate makes you wince a little, you are probably close. If it makes you comfortable, you are probably cheap.
Give the brand a range with the middle of it where you want to land. Explain what moves the number: length, reach, exclusivity, and how long they can run the ad.
Never open by saying you are flexible before you have heard a number. Anchoring low tells the brand your work is cheap.
When a brand pushes back, do not drop the price first. Remove a deliverable or shorten a window instead, so the value stays matched to the money.
Track what you quote and what you close over a few deals. If everyone says yes instantly, you are priced low. If everyone walks, you are priced high or selling to the wrong rooms.
Your rate is a moving target, not a fixed trait. Treat each negotiation as data for the next one.
Write down the rate you quoted and the reason you gave. Reviewing those notes quarterly makes your pricing sharper with every deal.
Sponsors do not arrive on a schedule. Learn the audience size, watch time, and trust signals that tell you your channel is ready to take sponsors seriously.
Brands do not sponsor channels on a whim. Learn the audience, engagement, and brand safety signals that decide whether a sponsor says yes or walks away.
A sponsorship contract sets the terms of your money and your freedom. Learn to read the clauses that matter and the ones that quietly cost you later.
Analyze a channel, extract its structural DNA, and generate scripts engineered from patterns that actually work.
Analyze a Channel