Hi Beauties. I’ve said it before, but I’ll make this disclaimer again: I’m no expert! I’m just a woman with a bit of blogging experience trying to share what she learned. One topic I see come up again and again for beauty and fashion bloggers is the issue of working with brands. I mean, the fun of blogging is it’s own reward, but who doesn’t love freebies? So without further ado, here are my top tips for working with brands.
Have Contact Info Easily Accessible: We have to start with basics. How are brands supposed to reach you if you don’t have your name and email up? Try incorporating this into your “About” page, or better yet, make a separate “Contact” page. I also like using the contact page to connect with readers.
Hone Your Pitch For Contacting Brands: Tired of waiting for the brands to come to you? Well, the good news is that you don’t have to wait. Search around your favorite products’ website. They might have an email specifically for bloggers to contact. Not sure what to say? With a little Googling, you can find some good examples of pitches. I’d give you my own example, except I haven’t tried to contact a brand this way…yet. You can also try tweeting them.
Know Your Stats: Before many brands decide to work with you, they’re gonna want to know the numbers. That means number of followers, unique page views and followers on any social media accounts you have connected to your blog. Don’t despair if your stats aren’t too good. Many brands are also looking for a high engagement score, meaning that people comment on and share your posts.
Join a Blogger Program: If you go to the right side bar on my home page, you’ll see links to Brandbacker and EtailPR. These are just two blogger platforms that help connect bloggers to brands. When brands run campaigns that they want to promote, bloggers can apply to promote the products for freebies or monetary compensation. This is way less intimidating and time consuming than reaching out to a brand on your own.
So you’re getting offers to work with brands. Now what?
Follow Disclosure Laws: Every country has a different law, but at least in the US, bloggers are required to disclose when they’ve been compensated for a post. Even if your country does not have such strict enforcements, I personally think it’s best to be open and honest with readers.
Be Honest: You’re asked to review something…and you hate it. Well this sucks. There are several things you can do, but lying and saying that you love the product is NOT one of them. First, try contacting the company that sent you the product. It may come as a surprise, but many companies are fine with poor or lukewarm reviews because it’s still publicity for their brand. Others may ask you not to publish the post. The important thing is to consider the reader. If you’re disappointed with a product you got for free, imagine how your readers will feel if they went out and bought the product based on your recommendation.
Don’t Accept Every Offer: There’s quite an allure to freebies, but consider how it fits in with your blog. I think it’s important to maintain your vision for your blog and uphold your blog’s integrity. I have (politely) told PR reps this when their pitch doesn’t fit my blog and they are understanding. You really don’t have to jump at every opportunity that comes around if it isn’t right.
Write About the Products You Aren’t Given: Even Temptalia, who is given enough freebies to write several posts every day still goes out and purchases her own makeup for review at times. I think this is especially important if you’re not yet getting enough swag to write several posts a week. I’ve followed some great bloggers who now only write a post or so a month when they get something for free, and honestly I think the quality of those blogs has gone down.
So those are my top tips! And again, if you read my blog you’ll notice that most of the stuff on here was bought with my own money, so I reiterate, I’m no expert! Do you have any tips for working with brands? Let me know in the comments below!
Great post (as usual) and the point about contacting the company that provided a not-so-great freebie before giving it a bad review is an especially good suggestion.
Glad it helped 🙂
Every blogger should read this post !!! Awesome
I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Reblogged this on Curly.Spring.Blossom and commented:
I love this post !!!
Great tips!
Thanks!
Really helpful, thank you!
Glad I could help 🙂
Reblogged this on speerxoxo.
Great tips! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks for reading!
Thank you for sharing your advice with everyone! 🙂
Thanks for reading. I hope it’s helpful!
I agree with everything V, especially with the part where you said to be honest on your review! Like this you respect your readers, yourself and the brand itself, even if they won’t agree your point of you!
Great post anyway! Lots of xx
Really true. Lots of love back at you 🙂
🙂 !!!!
This was brilliant! I’m trying to navigate my way through the world of PR and brand engagement and it’s so reassuring to see I’m not alone! Thank you! Xx
Thanks so much for reading
Great post and lots to learn here. Thanks V!
Thanks for reading 🙂
Great tips! And girls, remember to be patient, even if you don’t get the first job, you will get the next one! At least that’s what I tell myself ahahaha ^_^ xx
Haha, so true!
Great tips! I really enjoyed reading this post and love your blog! ❤ xo
Thanks so much ❤
You’re so welcome! ❤ xo
Oh wow. I’ve had this on my mind for a while and didn’t know where to start. I’m a teen homeschool blogger but I have plenty more than just homeschooling stories on my blog. Your post was just what I needed to get started! Thanks!
I’m glad it helped 🙂
Just had to stop in and say HELLO to gorgeous (aka YOU, the GORGEOUS gal)!! Hope all is well!! Fabulous post!! You’re the best!! XOXO
Thanks Kristin, you beautiful woman!
Thank you so much!!! XOXO
I was finding that I was getting companies contacting asking me to work on campaigns, advertise for brands I’ve never used and for a while I didn’t know how to respond, but now I’ve added a PR policy to my blog explaining that I only promote things I have personally used myself, so that I know it’s something worthy of promotion if that makes sense. This seems to have helped. I don’t want my blog to turn into an advertisement. I started it as a place to chat about makeup and I have fun with that without free stuff. I really liked your tips, very helpful 🙂
Thanks so much. I agree entirely. I like collaborating with brands, but to just promote some product I’ve never used before (and am not getting a sample of) seems wrong to me.
I absolutely love you blog. You give so much practical advice! Kudos to you!
Thanks so much
What an insightful post V! I truly agree with you that when working with a brand it’s imperative to stay honest so your readers will know that the review is your opinion and not relayed from the brand itself. Great job V, you are a spectacular beauty blogger and I admire you for your honesty! 🙂 xo~ Lena
http://www.felinecreatures.com
Awww, thanks so much Lena xo
Great tips! I haven’t gotten there yet, but I will keep these tips in mind when the time comes.
Cool 🙂
Fab as always! X
Thanks 🙂
Reblogged this on ObsessionMuch.
Great post and tips ❤
http://www.theeche.com
Thanks 🙂
❤💕👍
Thanks! Your awesome!
You’re awesome!!
Great tips! I’ve been playing with the idea of this and this is such great information to start with. Thanks!!
Glad I could help 🙂
Thanks for these very important advice (espacially for a new blogger) !
Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Very insightful and apt post!! Glad i found it.. 🙂
Love
Raman
http://indianfashionandstyle.wordpress.com
Glad you stopped by 😀
Very helpful, thank you !
Thank you for reading
Great post. Really helped with a new fashion, beauty and health blogger!! Loved it, ill keep the tips in mind for when the time comes. Xx
Awesome. So glad I could help 😀
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What a great post Vanessa ! So much valuable information, specially to a new blogger like me. Thank you 🙂
I’m glad it could be helpful
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I love your tip posts! They’re really helpful to bloggers just starting out! I’ve been blogging since…February of this year, I would say, and I’m not moving as quickly as I would have liked, haha.
Mind checking out my blog? >///<
http://www.bambinotions.wordpress.com