Sponsored Content Integrity Bar
How to write paid content without losing your readers' trust
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 70%
Packy McCormick built a reputation-safe way to monetize sponsored content by holding it to the same standard as his free writing. Rather than treating sponsored posts as a lesser 'content marketing' ghetto, he set a personal bar: only write about companies he'd actually invest in, disclose the arrangement clearly every time, and apply the same research depth and honesty (including mentioning competitors and flaws) he'd use in an unsponsored piece. He also actively solicits reader feedback on whether sponsored posts add value. This turned an industry segment widely seen as low-integrity into one of his primary revenue streams, because readers trust that a sponsored post still meets the same bar as his flagship writing.
Origin
Started when Nick Abazid at Main Street suggested Packy could get paid to write the same kind of deep-dive posts he already did for free.
Core principles
- 01Disclose the financial relationship clearly, every single time.
- 02Only accept sponsors whose product you'd genuinely be bullish on or invest in yourself.
- 03Apply the same research and writing bar to sponsored and non-sponsored content.
- 04Be willing to be honest about weaknesses and mention competitors fairly.
- 05Ask your audience directly whether they value the sponsored content.
How to run it
- 1
Set a Personal Quality Bar
Commit that every sponsored piece must meet the same research and writing standard as your best unpaid work.
- 2
Screen Sponsors for Genuine Alignment
Only agree to write about companies you would personally invest in or are truly excited about, not just anyone who pays.
Watch out Taking sponsors purely for revenue erodes the trust that makes sponsorship valuable in the first place.
- 3
Disclose Upfront and Explain Your Process
Tell readers plainly that the post is sponsored and link to how you choose which companies to work with.
- 4
Preserve Editorial Honesty
Include real critique, mention competitors fairly, and avoid hatchet jobs on rivals — treat it like a legitimate deep dive, not an ad.
- 5
Solicit and Monitor Reader Feedback
Explicitly ask readers if they disliked the sponsored content, and track open rates/unsubscribes as a check on trust.
Pro tip A slightly lower open rate on sponsored posts is an acceptable trade-off for keeping quality high.
In the wild
Packy wrote his first sponsored post about Main Street, caveating heavily that it was paid, but explaining honestly why he thought the product (getting government money back for founders) was genuinely useful to his entrepreneur audience.
→ Readers responded well, and founders used the product to get real refunds, validating the approach.
Ramp's CEO agreed to share cap table and deal-timeline details in exchange for a deep, honest breakdown, rather than restricting Packy to a curated pitch.
→ The resulting piece is one of the most-cited examples prospective sponsors reference, because it proved sponsored work could be genuinely valuable and independent-feeling.
Common mistakes
Treating sponsorship as pure content marketing
Sponsored content had a bad reputation because most of it was optimized for SEO and clickbait rather than genuine value — copying that approach would kill trust.
Being purely transactional about audience metrics
When a founder asked only for open rates and subscriber counts to price a deal, Packy found it uncomfortable — the framework requires alignment, not just a media-buy mentality.
Is it for you?
Best for
Independent writers/creators monetizing via brand or company partnerships
Not ideal for
Traditional newsrooms with strict church/state separation requirements, or creators unwilling to turn down high-paying but misaligned sponsors
From the transcript
“if i do this like really my kind of bar for myself has to be as high as it would be writing a normal piece…”
“the worst thing that could possibly happen is if i did one of those and wasted people's time because people would unsubscribe people wouldn't read…”
From the episode
Not Boring (with Packy McCormick)