Hey! Allow me to introduce myself! I’m Sarina an event designer and party blogger. I’ve been blogging since 2016! It’s been a fun journey and I’ve had the pleasure to work with brands I love and write sponsored blog posts! I’ll be sharing my favorite tips that I’ve learned along the way!
Grow Your Audience
This post may contain affiliate links. This just means that if you click on a link and buy a product, I receive a small commission with no expense to you. Read my full disclosure here.
This is the hard part right? To build your audience, create consistent content that your readers love! Focus on growing your social media accounts as well! My favorite social platforms are Pinterest and Instagram! If you’re interested, check out my blog post about find ways to promote your blog!
Follow Brands You Love on Social Media!
To start out, follow brands that you love on Instagram or other social media channels. My personal favorite is definitely Instagram! Mostly I have connected with brands by following them and commenting on their posts! This gives the brand a better knowledge of who you are before you reach out via message or e-mail.
Reach Out to Brands You Love
Which brands do you love? Write a list of a few brands you want to work with and go from there! Since I aim to gain my audience trust, I only share about products that I support and would use myself!
If you have a smaller audience, I’d recommend connecting with smaller brands initially. Although most bloggers want to work with well known brands like Cocoa Cola or Disney, it often takes a larger audience and quite a bit of experience to do so. Below, I have listed a few brands that I’ve worked with in the past.
Find the right e-mail
In order to connect with a brand, it’s key to find the right e-mail for that brand’s marketing manager. Although it can feel hard to find the right e-mail, but it’s not impossible. I’ve found most e-mails by sending a DM on Instagram.
If you don’t get a response on social media, try to find an e-mail directly off of their website. Ask if you can get the e-mail for a person in charge of blog/brand partnerships. As a blogger with less than 10,000 page views on Instagram, it can be hard but it’s not impossible to work with brands.
Write a Good e-mail Pitch
So you found the right e-mail, now it’s time to write a good pitch. A pitch is an e-mail explaining why a brand should work with you. A pitch should include a brief introduction about your blog, a great idea to catch the brand’s attention and your media kit. (I’ll share about the media kit in a bit!)
I have found that sending the pitch at the right timing can be important as well. For example, the Frozen 2 movie was coming out and my kids really wanted to see it! So I messaged a brand who sold Frozen 2 balloons! I told them my idea to host a Frozen 2 party for my kids and write about it in a sponsored blog post. They loved the idea and I’ve worked with them a few times now!
If you want to partner with a brand for the holidays, start reaching out early! Brands want you to advertise for their products and that takes time to get the word out to your audience.
create a media kit
Do want to know about a total game changer? A media kit! A media kit is a pdf document that includes your logo, an introduction about your blog, and website statistics. You know, all the fun google analytics stuff like demographics, social media follows, pageviews, unique visitors etc.
Also, I have a separate page that covers my pay rates. It’s helpful for brands to know what your prices are right up front!
Create a “work with me” page on your blog
Where can brands find out how to work with you? I’d recommend that you create a “work with me” page and place it somewhere conspicuous on your blog home page! Here’s mine!
Basically, this page is an overview of what services you will offer to brands. I have a separate link that goes directed to my paid brand partnerships. This makes it easy for a brand to find your past sponsored posts!
join blog / brand networks
If you want to connect with brands without e-mailing them directly, you could apply to blogging networks. Blogging networks connect you to brands that would be a good fit. You can also apply for available paid or gifted opportunities. Here’s a few I’ve tried:
Activate
Aspire
The Sway
Social Fabric
Real Clever
I hope you gained a few tips to start working with brands! Basically, just start reaching out and reach out some more! Good luck!
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INSTAGRAM
PINTEREST | BLOGLOVIN’
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This post may contain affiliate links. This just means that if you click on a link and buy a product, I receive a small commission with no expense to you. Read my full disclosure here.
Wonderful tips Sarina! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Lori! I’m so glad you found these tips helpful!