sales-whosponsorsstuff

What this skill does

# Who Sponsors Stuff Platform Help

## Step 1 — Gather context

If `references/learnings.md` exists, read it first for accumulated platform knowledge.

1. **What are you trying to do?**
   - A) Find companies that sponsor newsletters in my niche
   - B) See what ads sponsors are running in other newsletters
   - C) Get contact info for sponsor decision-makers
   - D) Compare Who Sponsors Stuff to alternatives (SponsorGap, SponsorLeads, Paved)
   - E) Set up alerts for new sponsors entering the market

2. **What's your newsletter niche?** (e.g., fintech, marketing, health, tech, education)

3. **Current subscriber count and open rate?** (affects sponsor targeting)

Skip-ahead rule: if the user's prompt already contains enough context, skip to Step 2.

## Step 2 — Route or answer directly

| If the question is about... | Route to... |
|---|---|
| Newsletter monetization strategy (subscriptions, ads, pricing models) | `/sales-newsletter [question]` |
| Sponsorship marketplace / programmatic ad network | `/sales-paved [question]` |
| Sponsor intelligence with API access, competitor monitoring, spend trends | `/sales-sponsorgap [question]` |
| Curated sponsor lead list in Airtable with weekly updates | `/sales-sponsorleads [question]` |
| Finding newsletters to sponsor (brand side) | `/sales-reletter [question]` |
| Managing sponsor operations (invoices, portals, reporting) | `/sales-sponsy [question]` |
| Growing your subscriber list | `/sales-audience-growth [question]` |

If the question is Who Sponsors Stuff-specific, continue to Step 3.

## Step 3 — Who Sponsors Stuff platform reference

**Read `references/platform-guide.md`** for the full platform reference — capabilities, pricing, data model, alerting workflows, and comparison with alternatives.

Answer the user's question using only the relevant section. Don't dump the full reference.

## Step 4 — Actionable guidance

Focus on the user's specific situation:

- **Just starting out (<5K subs)**: Use the free tier to research which brands sponsor newsletters similar to yours. Build a target sponsor list even before you have enough reach to pitch.
- **Ready to sell (5K-25K subs)**: Upgrade to Sales Pro for full database access. Filter by vertical, download CSV, and build a cold outreach pipeline. Set up daily alerts for new sponsors.
- **Scaling ad sales (25K+ subs)**: Use Sales Pro to monitor competitive landscape — see who's advertising where. Combine with SponsorGap (for spend trends and API) or Paved (for inbound marketplace deals).
- **Team selling**: Sales Pro includes unlimited seats — give your whole sales team access without per-seat costs.

If you discover a gotcha, workaround, or tip not covered in `references/learnings.md`, append it there.

## Gotchas

> *Best-effort from research — review these, especially items about plan-gated features and integration gotchas that may be outdated.*

1. **No API, no webhooks, no Zapier/Make**: All data access is through the web interface. CSV export is the only way to get data into external tools.
2. **Sales Pro pricing not public**: You must contact the team ([email protected]) for pricing. No self-serve checkout.
3. **Free tier is severely limited**: Only ~10% of the sponsor database is searchable on the free plan. The weekly newsletter with 10 sponsors is free, but the full database requires Sales Pro.
4. **Ad creative visibility is a differentiator**: Unlike SponsorGap or SponsorLeads, you can see the actual ad images sponsors are running in other newsletters — useful for crafting your pitch.
5. **Data freshness depends on alert cadence**: ~20 new sponsors tracked daily, ~100/week. Set daily alerts to catch new entrants early.

## Related skills

- `/sales-newsletter` — Newsletter monetization strategy (paid subscriptions, sponsorships, ad sales, pricing)
- `/sales-sponsorgap` — SponsorGap sponsor intelligence (38K+ brands, verified contacts, competitor monitoring, spend trends, API)
- `/sales-sponsorleads` — SponsorLeads sponsor lead lists (4,318+ companies, decision-maker contacts, Airtable database)
- `/sales-paved` — Paved newsletter sponsorship marketplace, Ad Network, Booker, Radar
- `/sales-reletter` — Reletter newsletter search engine (7M+ publications, subscriber data, creator contacts, API)
- `/sales-sponsy` — Sponsy sponsorship operations (ad inventory calendar, sponsor CRM, customer portals, reporting)
- `/sales-ohmynewst` — OhMyNewst newsletter sponsorship marketplace for Spain & LATAM
- `/sales-do` — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install: `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do`

## Examples

### Example 1: Finding sponsors for a tech newsletter
**User says**: "I run a developer tools newsletter with 15,000 subscribers. How do I use Who Sponsors Stuff to find sponsors?"
**Skill does**: Explains filtering by tech/developer vertical, how to use ad creative screenshots to understand what sponsors expect, suggests CSV export workflow into outreach tool, recommends daily alerts for new tech sponsors
**Result**: User has a targeted sponsor prospecting workflow with visual competitive intelligence

### Example 2: Comparing Who Sponsors Stuff to alternatives
**User says**: "Should I use Who Sponsors Stuff or SponsorGap for finding newsletter sponsors?"
**Skill does**: Compares data coverage (WSS 8K+ sponsors with ad creative vs SponsorGap 38K+ brands with API), pricing transparency (WSS requires contact vs SponsorGap $39-$199/mo), differentiators (WSS has ad screenshots, SponsorGap has competitor monitoring and API)
**Result**: User picks the right tool — WSS for visual competitive intel, SponsorGap for programmatic workflows

### Example 3: Setting up a sponsor alert pipeline
**User says**: "How do I automate getting notified when new sponsors start advertising in fintech newsletters?"
**Skill does**: Walks through setting up custom email alerts by vertical, explains ~20 new sponsors/day cadence, suggests combining with CSV export workflow to maintain a running prospect list, notes no API/webhook workaround
**Result**: User has a daily alert → CSV export → outreach pipeline despite no API

## Troubleshooting

### Free tier doesn't show sponsors in my niche
**Symptom**: Searching the free database returns few or no relevant sponsors
**Cause**: The free tier only exposes ~10% of the full database — your niche may not be in the free subset
**Solution**: The weekly Email Intelligence newsletter (free) surfaces 10 new sponsors/week across all verticals. Subscribe to gauge sponsor quality before upgrading to Sales Pro.

### Can't figure out Sales Pro pricing
**Symptom**: No public pricing page, unsure what it costs
**Cause**: Who Sponsors Stuff uses a contact-based sales process for Sales Pro
**Solution**: Email [email protected] or use the "Get in Touch" form. For budgeting, comparable tools range from $39-$200/mo. If price sensitivity is a concern, start with SponsorGap Starter ($39/mo) or SponsorLeads ($97/mo) which have transparent pricing.

### Exported CSV contacts bouncing
**Symptom**: Outreach emails to exported contacts bounce or go unanswered
**Cause**: Decision-makers change roles; contact data has a shelf life
**Solution**: Verify emails with a tool like ZeroBounce before loading into your outreach tool. Cross-reference contacts with LinkedIn. Focus on sponsors who entered the database recently (use date filters or recent alerts).