Tips For Building Successful Relationships With Brands and Scoring Paying Opportunities

I’m really excited to be joining forces with a few bloggers and talking about lifting the veil on making money in blogging.

No one really talks about this, yet we all have questions.

How much should I charge for a sponsored post?

What’s the best approach when pitching a brand?

How do I create a lasting relationship with brands?

We are going to be sharing our experiences, advice, and hopefully break down a few walls.

My Background

I was a Marketing Manager for an International Chemical Company and was laid off after having my second son.

I was shocked, caught off guard but it truly was a blessing in disguise.

I knew eventually I would have to go back to work, so I took the time home to figure out what I wanted to do.

That’s when I turned to blogging. Originally it was a creative outlet and a way to connect with other women/mothers online.

However, it eventually turned into something bigger, something I never imagined was even possible.

Four years in, I’m still learning – as you know social media is always evolving.

But I can proudly say that I now make a living working from home.

Here’s the secret – I don’t monetize my blog.

This is my little haven and a place for me to share my stories.

I use my blog as a platform to work with brands and clients.

One of the most common questions I get is, “How do you work with brands?”

Before I answer this, let’s start from the beginning.

Who Are You?

Before you consider working with brands you need to figure out who you are? What is our story? Your elevator pitch?

This may evolve over time, but you need to know this before approaching brands.

Don’t compare yourself to others, stay true to yourself.

Brands will believe in you if you believe in you.

Know Your Strengths

What do you love to do? What are you good at?

I love connecting with people and building relationships, hence why I started Girls’ Lunch Out {GLO}.

I’m good at coming up with creative ideas and love putting together fun campaigns.

Maybe you are passionate about photography or food? Or love doing crafts and DIY projects?

What is your passion? Figure that out and follow that path.

The best way to succeed is doing what you love.

Maintain Your Image

This goes for both online and off. Brands are watching, so be careful what you say.

Remember you are THE BRAND and if you plan on making money you need to look at yourself as a business owner.

Always stay professional. You never know when you’ll need to work with someone again or who that person is connected to.

Tips To Build Successful Relationships and Scoring Paying Opportunities

Once you know all of of the above, then you can start building relationships with brands.

Think Outside The Box

We all get a ton of pitches. Most of them are to do a reviews or giveaways.

Here’s your chance to shine.

Remember PR reps and brands are looking for out-of-the-box ideas, so give them yours!

This could be for a paid campaign or for a high ticket item you have your eyes on.

Put together a few fun ideas and pitch them!

Case Study #1: One of my favorite examples is Roo from Nice Girl Notes and her campaign with Maclaren.

She pitched the company to do a video review and wow did she deliver!

This is fancy stuff, I’m warning you. It’s more like a commercial than a vlog.

But Roo definitely made a statement. This was a perfect way for her to show brands what she’s capable of doing and to add this service to her media kit.

I won’t be surprised if other companies come knocking on her door.

 

Case Study #2: Over the summer, I pitched a local company to do a video review of their World Of Games Inflatable for a camp-out I was hosting.

Mine is not as fancy as Roo’s but it does the job and allowed me to build a great relationship with the company.

Now they show this video to potential customers.

Ask For What You Want

Whether you are looking for a writing position or interested in working as a brand ambassador, companies don’t know until you put it out there.

Case Study #1: About a year ago, I met Joanne Lang from AboutOne and really adored her.

I loved the mission behind her company, so what did I do?

I wrote her an email saying how much I would love to join her team if she had an opportunity available. I gave her reasons why I wanted to work for her and how I could help.

A few weeks later, I was added to the team as a Brand Ambassador. My first paying gig!

I worked with AboutOne for a year moving from Brand Ambassador to Social Media Manager to Partner Manager.

This would have never been possible if I didn’t take a leap of faith and ask for the job.

Case Study #2: I love this story. Stephanie from A Grande Life reached out to Picaboo about a writing position and started writing for them in October.  She is a super talented photographer and quickly became their go-to for all things photography related.

{Photo Credit}

Before the New Year, Picaboo’s Social Media Manager, Becca, approached Stephanie about doing the 365 Project and she ran with it!

This project has taken off, to say the least! They have a great community on their Facebook page where every one posts their challenge photos and Stephanie helps answer questions and gives feedback.

Stephanie followed what she loves to do….photography and now she has an awesome gig because of it!

What About Conference Sponsorships?

There are so many wonderful social media conferences, the only problem is the cost.

It can be quite expensive attending conferences especially if travel is involved.

So what about finding a sponsor?

I would suggest reaching out to a company/brand that you already have an established relationship with.

Chances are, you have an immediate contact and rapport with them that will help you ask for the sponsorship.

Start by brainstorming and making a list of some of your favorite brands you’ve worked with in the past.

There are many ways you can promote a brand before and during the conference.

Some ideas to add to your pitch:

1. Dedicated posts
2. Sidebar ads on your blog
3. Branded video{s}
4. Host a twitter party
5. Include your sponsor’s twitter handle in your tweets
6. Business cards that incorporate your sponsor’s logo
7. Apparel

Case Study #1: In October, Corine and I attended Blogalicious in DC. We put together a creative campaign for a brand I had a relationship with, Therapon Skin Health.

We were running an ice-breaker session to kick off the conference weekend and with permission {key} from the conference organizers, we were able to incorporate Therapon into our session.

We played a fun, networking game with everyone and they won prizes from Therapon.

Therapon loved the idea and signed on as our official Blogalicious sponsor.

Stay In Touch

One mistake that is often made is not keeping the relationship going with the brand.

Even if you reached out to a brand in the past with an opportunity and they had to decline, don’t lose their contact information.

One piece of advice….keep the lines of communication open.

Send them a friendly email every so often that basically says, “Hey I’m still here, don’t forget about me.”

Checking in with the brand can go a long way.

Case Study #1: In December 2010, I was selected to participate in the Chevy Mom Blogger program where I drove around a new Chevy for a month and shared my experiences through blog posts, photos and videos.

After the program ended, I kept in touch with the Chevy team because I really enjoyed working with them and love the brand.

Three months later, they offered me the Chevy Philadelphia Community Manager position and I truly believed that part of that was due to the fact that I keep myself in front of them.

What Do You Charge?

Awe the question everyone wants to know!

There are so many variables when setting your price. What’s the scope of the job/position? How many hours? What size ad? What’s your network reach?

My best advice here is to align yourself with a few close blogging friends. When opportunities arise bounce ideas off of them and get their feedback.

That’s what I do.

My go-to-girl is my business partner, Erica, however I have a few other people I feel comfortable discussing money with. Every job opportunity I’m presented with is slightly different from the last so it can make the the whole pricing thing a bit confusing.

Here is a great piece of advice from Kelly at The Centsible Life;

“I had the best advice ever when I was starting out. Charge what the market bears. I came up with a rate I was comfortable with, and asked for it. If it got ‘yes’ed too quickly I knew I was under-priced. If I got a big ‘no’ I knew I was priced too high. That has served me well.”

There are as many ways to earn money blogging as to blog so check out the other bloggers participating in Lifting the Veil On Making Money In Blogging:

 

 

If you want to learn more about working with brands, I’m hosting a twitter party TODAY at 1pm EST for Girls’ Lunch Out.

We have four wonderful companies answering your questions and sharing their tips. They include: Hyatt Chicago, Verizon Wireless, Eventbrite and Identity PR.

Twitter Party Details:

• Date: Thursday, February 16th
• Time: 1 – 2pm ET
• Hashtag: #GLOParty
• Host: @GirlsLunchOut, @vzwandrea  @HyattChicago @nikki_little & @BriteChicago
• Tweetgrid link: http://bit.ly/xC2Ms7

To learn more, click here to read the full post with details.

 

Tagged as: Blogging, social media, social media tips, working with brands