From unsponsored to signed
in seven concrete steps.
Written from the prop firm affiliate manager's side of the desk: what they look for, what closes the conversation, and the exact sequence that gets a creator from unknown to signed without wasting a month on cold pitching.
Pick the prop firm category you fit.
Forex prop, futures prop, crypto prop, sports-betting prop and broker affiliate all pay differently and weight different signals. Creators who style themselves as all-rounders close slowly; creators with a clear category close fast. Check our category reviews to pick yours.
Browse prop firm reviewsBenchmark against the leaderboard in your niche.
Before you pitch anyone, see where your score sits against the creators prop firms already fund. This tells you two things: whether you are objectively ready today, or which two specific levers to push first.
Open the leaderboardHit the floor of the brand you want to work with.
Most Tier-1 prop firms want a Zera readiness score of roughly seventy before serious conversations. Below that you can still land UGC gigs and Pay-Per-View arrangements, but flat-fee ambassador deals tend to start at that floor. Move the score first, outreach second.
How the score bands workClaim your Zera profile and make the page work for you.
When a prop firm affiliate manager receives a cold pitch they will search for you. Your Zera profile is what they find. Claim it, fill out declared contacts, add your niche tags, and make the page the best version of your pitch on its own โ because the DM is the hook, the profile is the close.
Claim your profilePitch with evidence, not hope.
A pitch that opens with your score, niche-relative rank, recent cadence and a specific proposal (flat fee UGC, Pay-Per-View, ambassador) closes five to ten times faster than one that asks to 'chat about collaboration opportunities'. Lead with numbers the affiliate manager can paste into a spreadsheet.
Use the deal type that matches your stage.
First deal is usually UGC (a flat fee for one or two sponsored posts). Pay-Per-View comes next when you have traction data to negotiate rates against. Ambassador programs come last โ they are long-term and require the brand to be confident enough to commit a monthly budget.
How the three deal types workDeliver the first deal perfectly, then leverage it.
Your first deal is a reference contract. Overdeliver โ ship early, hit briefs, send a post-campaign memo with honest numbers. The same affiliate manager will happily introduce you to two peer prop firms, and pitching with one successful reference under your belt is an order of magnitude easier.
Pick the structure that matches your stage.
Numbers are observed ranges in the trading niche, 2025โ2026. Specific deals vary by platform, niche adjacency and brand budget.
Don't pitch before the profile is ready.
The most common failure pattern we see: creators message every prop firm on LinkedIn at the same time, without claiming a Zera profile or hitting the score floor. The affiliate manager opens the pitch, searches the handle, finds a sparse profile with sub-seventy score and nothing claimed, and archives the message without replying.
You only get to pitch a given brand once. Use the first attempt when the evidence backs you up โ score is up, niche is declared, audience is clean.
First deal is a profile problem.
Solve that first.
Free. Sixty seconds. The same score affiliate managers at top prop firms use to shortlist creators.