You’re a blogger and spend an insane amount of time writing creative posts. You have an Instagram page and share beautiful photos. You have a group of girls you call your “tribe”. You post regularly on social media. Now what?
You reach out to brands to potentially work with them! Why????? Well you build an awesome relationship with that brand, you may or may not get featured on their site/ Instagram page, you get exposure when promoting their products, AND YOU CAN HELP THEM GROW!!
Isn’t that what we all want??? To grow???? I know I do. Small shops want to grow and so do bloggers!
So you want to know how to work with brands???? Here are some of my tips to get that partnership started!
- It doesn’t matter if you have 100 followers or 100,000 followers you need to be true to who YOU are. Do no fake a lifestyle that isn’t yours. Be real and honest when sharing tidbits of your daily life.
- Take quality photos. It can be from an iphone or DSLR. There are so many apps out there to make a photo even better. I LOVE the PS Express app and use it frequently to brighten my photos. I also love the VSCO app!
- Use relevant hashtags! You never know which tags will bring a shop to you! Shops have found me through hashtags.
- Make sure your profile is about YOU and who you are! I also like to leave my latest blog post in my profile.
- Search hashtags to find shops that suite your lifestyle. If you don’t have kids don’t follow kids shops. If you are planning a Star Wars party like I did here then search #starwarsparty #starwarsbirthday hashtags! I find the most amazing small shops through hashtags!
- Don’t just follow that brand but INTERACT with them. Like their photos, leave comments, and get to know the owner!
- Now it’s time for that pitch DM or EMAIL!!!! When I first started out I contacted every single shop via DM. Now I still DM but also email brands. Make sure it’s personal and really put your heart into that message. You are basically selling yourself and how you can help them. Shops need exposure and partnerships. Tell them why you want to work with them and how they will benefit from your partnership.
All of those tips are crucial if you are serious about working with brands!
Now if you want seeking to work with a larger company and you don’t have a contact please go to their website and search for their social media/ marketing/PR contact. Google if you have to. Then be bold and courageous and send that email!!!!!! Do not sell yourself short and do not think just because you are small they don’t want to work with you. You have worth and your time and words are valuable!
Once you have worked with that brand and it was a successful collaboration reach out to them again in the future!!! I have done this several times!
Feel free to always email me with ANY questions!!
Thanks for sharing these tips. It’s definitely intimidating to contact brands. Do you send brands and shops your media kit?
Hi Brittany, Thank you for this post! It gives me the courage to put myself out there and go for it!
Thank you for this I might try this soon.
great tips! Thanks for sharing!
Love these tips, thanks for sharing!!
Rachel / http://www.seashellsandsparkles.com
I always love these blogging related posts! Thanks for sharing your tips girl. So helpful!!
LOVE this! Thanks so much for the great info and tips!
All of these tips are really good! I have been working on building my blog so that I can feel confident to message brands about working with them. Hashtags and building genuine relationships with others have been amazing in helping this happen! Thank you for sharing!
Erin | http://www.awelderswife.com
Thank you for this great advice!
Great tips Brittany. And I totally agree, it doesn’t always matter how many followers you have. I wish I had hustled a little more earlier on and realized that some brands will be willing to work with me even without a massive following. what are your feelings on if you don’t get any type of response? Try again? Lay low for awhile?
Great tips. I love that you said stay true to yourself. In a blog post I published this morning I talked about how you can earn money as a blogger when you first start and one of the things I also mentioned was staying true to yourself. It is so important.
http://wwww.smartandsimplistic.com
Great post, thanks!
Also, I just had to tell you that your site is beautiful!
LOVE this!! I needed to hear it. My confidence goes down when I tell myself its all based on followers. 🙂
Great post! Thanks Brittany!
Great suggestions! I’d love to see your pitch email.
These are great tips and at the perfect time. I am just starting to work with brands in my blog and social media.
Great tips, thanks for sharing! I keep telling myself it’s not all about the following, thanks for confirming 🙂
Thank you for your encouragement! I shall start sending pitch emails!
Looking for Dawn – http://www.lookingfordawn.com
This is why I love you!!! You are always helping us!
ALLLL over this post. Haha. Thanks for sharing Brittany!
Thanks for all these tips! They are so helpful to a small time blogger like me!!1 xoxoxo
This is SOOOOO helpful!!!!!!
Great tips, Brittany! Thank you for sharing!
Great tips!! I am so intimidated by contacting companies, but I just need to do it! Thank you Brittany!!
Thank you so much for the tips! I really needed this. I am always so afraid to contact the companies.
These are great tips! I reached out to my first company this week about writing a sponsored post! We will see if they get back to me. Thanks for the encouragement!
Love this Brittany! Tips are right on. I definitely agree with your last point, about putting your heart into your message about why you want to work with them. I think spending extra time on that email really served me well for my recent collaboration, even though I’m still a small blog. I’ve been meaning to spend time looking for smaller brands to promote and that’s a great idea to use hashtags to find them!
You definitely inspire me to hustle! XO
Great tips! Thanks so much for sharing!
These are all great tips! Thank you for sharing!
This is so helpful! I could use all the tips and tricks out there. I’m just starting out and so intimidated to reach out to brands!