WELL- halfway through writing this post I realized I had written something similar… BUT last week I did that questions feature on Instagram (asking what I should blog about) & this was asked a bunch of times.

SO- here is the updated 2019 version of this post, which is great cause I have learned so much from when I wrote that previous post.

Working with brands is DEF one of the perks of the job. You make great connections, get to curate fun content, style new pieces, & at some point in your career… get paid to do that (we will discuss gifting vs. sponsored posts in more detail below).

For me, I did all of my own brand reach out for majority of my blogging career. Two years ago I did sign with a management company, which is AWESOME, but… it is 1000% doable solo. At first it definitely feels awkward, but you will get into a groove.

LET’S GET INTO THIS THOUGH, because I’ve got some tips that will help build your confidence & do the damn thing like a boss.

wearing: missguided black blazer (sold out- similar style here & here) | patent knee high cowboy cut boots | shield sunnies– SUCH a score!!

10 TIPS FOR CONNECTING & COLLABORATING WITH BRANDS

First off, are you there yet?

If you just started in the world of influencing & your goal is to land brand deals, you need to spend some time REALLY dedicated to growing an authentic & engaged audience.

Numbers play a role in thing, but when it comes down to working with brand, your level of influence is no.1! If blogger X has a high following & low engagement and blogger Y has a smaller following up GREAT engagement- brand will most likely choose blogger Y. Micro-influencers are still the rage these days, so don’t underestimate yourself just because of your follower count! We will talk more on this vs. paid collabs in more detail.

That said, you still need to work on building that audience & engagement HOURLY before you start reaching out to brands! It has to be a mutually beneficial collaboration for both sides. Check out this post for tips on how to grow your audience authentically!

Gifting vs. Paid Collaborations

If you are just starting out but feel your audience is engaged enough to start working with brands- you are most likely going to start out with gifting collaborations. THIS IS A GOOD THING.

Gifting is a great strategy for growing your brand further & getting other brands to notice how you work & how you influence. Plus, if you create content the brand loves, they will repost you & this will obviously grow your audience even more. Just because you’re not being paid doesn’t mean you can slack off with the content- create GREAT content always. This is the starting point to getting paid jobs.

Paid collaborations will happen next, & the pay will start small, but as your audience grows you can adjust your rates. This post talks a little about what to charge & later in this post we will talk more about finding paid jobs.

Get Flirty w/ The Brands you Want to Work With

My suggestion, before you reach out, is to flirt with the brand. Follow them on Instagram, comment on their photos, & let them get to know you before you come out asking them for anything. Maybe even buy a few things from their brand & show them the kind of killer content you create. This will make you stand out for sure cause that brand probably gets MULTIPLE emails pitching them for a collaboration.

Create a Running Spreadsheet of Brands

As you’re flirting with the brands, start a spreadsheet of the brands you love! List the name of the brand, the instagram handle, the press contact’s name (if listed!), & their email.

Not every brand makes their press info available, but in this digital age, you can most likely find it under the contact section on their website. If it’s not listed then Google “brand name + press contact” OR reach out to them on Instagram (post flirting) & ask if they have a press contact you can reach out to!

Some companies use PR companies, which is great because that opens the door to other brands that they manage!

Create a One Sheet

Before you even start reaching out, whip up some sort of one sheet. Ideally if you could make something that matches your branding on Photoshop, that’d be fab, but if not- make a PDF that is easy to read & to the point. No one has time to read a 5 page media kit.

Your one sheet should include everything a brand would need to know about your blog or Instagram: your target audience, blog topics you discuss, the number of followers you have on all of your social accounts, engagement/conversion, collaboration options (i.e. what you offer for gifting/what you charge for a static post on instagram or the blog/etc.), & your contact information!

Drafting Your Email

Now that you’ve got your list of brands & your one sheet, time to start sending out emails. So first of all, don’t hit up all the brands at once. Do five a week. If you do 30 brands at once & 15 say yes- you’re not gonna be able to create all that content in a timely manner.

When sending out your email, keep it SHORT & TO THE POINT. Again, they get a ton of emails in a day. Presenting them with an essay will only be annoying. They will respect your more if you respect their time.

Introduce yourself, link your blog and/or Instagram, tell them a bit about your audience, express to them that you love their brand + why it’d be a good fit/mutually beneficial, & either say “I’d love to discuss a collaboration” OR pitch them an idea. End the email with “chat soon”, saying this is just a little mind trick that gets people to respond.

If you don’t here from them, follow up in one week & only once. If you don’t here from them after that, move on. ALSO- keep notes of the interaction in your spreadsheet to keep yourself organized.

Be prepared for no’s, cause they will happen. Don’t let this discourage you because it has NOTHING to do with you. Brands, no matter the size, either don’t have a budget for paid collaborations or could have maxed out their gifting budget for the month. Politely thank them for their time & say “I hope we can work together in the future!”?

When Brands Reach Out to You

When a brand reaches out to you, CONGRATS. You’ve now got the upper hand. That said, you don’t & shouldn’t work with all brands.

It is exciting when they reach out to you, but don’t get so caught up in that. Think about the brand & YOUR brand… consider if it is a good fit FOR YOU. Look at the brand, their site, & honestly consider if this is something your audience will appreciate this content. At the same time you’re building your online presence to work with brands, you are also building trust in your audience. Without that trust from your audience, your engagement will go down, & then you will lose future BETTER jobs.

If you like the brand & want to work with them, send them your one sheet & have them look at your collaboration options. Feel free to pitch ideas & negotiate (i.e. a monthly collaboration, or a series of posts). Think like the boss bitch you are. Balls in your court now & when brands start reaching out to you, you are now in the world of paid jobs.

Blogging Networks

Now-if you’re having a hard time finding collaborations you should 100000% get in on some blogging networks. I am on them & have gotten some of my best jobs from blogge networks. Lot’s of big brands (Olay, for example) manage their influencer collaborations through these type of networks.

That being said, a lot of these networks are working with micro influencers, so the payout could be less or ONLY gifting. Either way though, it’s worth looking into. There are so many of these networks out there so get to Googling, but my personal favorites are aspire & collectively! A lot of people also really like the network clever but I haven’t yet signed up for that one!

When, Why, & How Much to Charge?

So, if you’ve done your fair share of gifted collabs & are ready to get in the world of paid jobs- YOU GO GIRL. Trust yourself & your intuition. If you are putting a TON of work into your content & your audience is super engaged, respect your worth. Time to get that paper.

A lot of people underestimate the work that goes into this job, but all of us know, IT IS WORK & work deserves a paycheck. Plus, if you convert well, the brand will be HAPPY to pay because the return is worth it for them.

When it comes to determining your rates, the number should be determined on the amount of followers you have ALONG with how well you convert. Check out this post on monetizing your Instagram to get a better idea of how to come up with your rates.

ALRIGHT, That’s all she wrote!! I hope this post gives you the confidence to take your blog/brand/instagram the the next level & if you have any questions just lmk in the comments!! xo