Sponsorship rate card that brands can book from directly

A sponsorship rate card is the published price list for every placement a creator or event sells, with one line per format: a podcast host read, a pre-roll, a primary newsletter slot, a YouTube integration, an event stage sponsor. It states the price, what the sponsor gets and the audience behind it, so a brand can budget without asking for a quote. It sits alongside the media kit rather than replacing it.

A working rate card fits on one screen, one line per placement with the audience the price is based on. For a podcast averaging 12,000 downloads an episode it might read: 60-second host read $300 (a $25 CPM), pre-roll $180, a four-episode package $1,080 (10% off), newsletter primary slot to 8,000 subscribers $240, and category exclusivity for 30 days at plus 25%. Those are illustrative US figures, so price your own card from your real audience.

A media kit sells the audience and a rate card sells the inventory. The media kit carries reach, demographics, past campaigns and proof; the rate card carries the price of each placement and what it includes. Brands read the media kit to decide whether you are worth buying and the rate card to decide what to buy. Sending one without the other slows the deal down.

List every format you can actually deliver, put a number on each one, and state the audience figure the price is based on. Price by flat fee where your audience is stable or by CPM where it is growing fast. Add one or two bundles that combine formats, note your lead time and cancellation terms, then publish it somewhere a brand can read it without emailing you first.

Start from a CPM against the audience that actually sees the placement, meaning downloads for a podcast episode, unique opens for a newsletter, views per video on YouTube. Typical US bands run roughly $20 to $50 per thousand for general audiences and $50 to $180 for specialized business audiences. Then set a floor, because there is a fixed amount of work in any deal regardless of size.

Yes in almost every case. A buyer comparing four creators in an afternoon skips the one who makes them ask. Published prices filter out inquiries you would have declined, start the conversation above your floor rather than below it, and let a budget holder decide on their own time. Keep custom and multi-format packages as the quoted exception, not the rule.

Every quarter, or immediately after any month where your audience moves more than about 20%. A rate card built on last year's download numbers underprices a growing show and overprices a shrinking one, and both cost you. Re-pricing is also the natural moment to retire formats nobody bought and add the ones sponsors kept asking for.