Sponsored Videos?

So you guys get a large majority of revenue from your sponsored videos.

I was listening to your appearance on The Fame Foundry Podcast ( http://www.famefoundry.com/3134/rhett-link-the-business-of-viral/ ) and you guys mentioned most of your videos are sponsored.

I'm wondering (Sorry if this gets too personal, but I want to try doing this sort of thing myself.)

How do you approach/contact a client (Telephone, email, HAM radio?)
Do you offer them a price (If so, how much?) or do you let them offer you
How much actual content do you pitch to the client (For example - in a music video, do you send them an MP3 of the song?
And - If you write something that includes a specific brand name, for example, Taco Bell, and the client declines your offer after you pitch it, can you still produce the video, and just not monetize it? (I know, of course, you would have to ask the client, how would you go about doing requesting permission to make the video anyways, just without their payment/sponsorship.)

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Permalink Reply by Rhett (Shahbaz) on June 17, 2010 at 2:17pm

Doug, when we were getting started, we contacted brands. We'd have a rough idea, like "we wanna do a song about cornhole and feature your products". Of course, we had to show them a few videos that we'd already done so that they'd believe it was a good idea. At the time, we had the Facebook Song, which usually did the trick. Then, we find everyone online who sold cornhole equipment and approach them...usually through an email that appeared on their site.

As for price, it varies a lot by project. For starters, I think it's reasonable to offer someone a $25 CPM ($25 per 1,000 views)....but this is assuming you've got a large distribution network.

But, before you start worrying about those details, I think the best strategy is to focus on creating great content and building an audience. Then, the agencies and brands will come to you.

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Permalink Reply by Doug Hanna (Dashing Flabbergear) on June 17, 2010 at 4:35pm

Well thanks Rhett! But how would you approach them (E-Mail, Snail Mail, Telephone?)

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Permalink Reply by Doug Hanna (Dashing Flabbergear) on June 23, 2010 at 1:15pm

Okay I also have two more questions - How long do you receive income from CPM? (Example - Will you still be recieving money from The Cornhole Song in the year 2020?)
And - does the company, in addition to paying the CPM, pay the production budget?

Thanks!