How to Start Working with Brands as a New Social Media Influencer or Blogger

While there are many avenues to being paid on social media, working with brands is one of my favorites. I am sure you have seen your favorite influencer have #ad and tag a well-known brand on their Instagram post, this would be a sponsored post.

It sounds like a crazy concept right? A brand would pay you to post about them?

Brands LOVE smaller influencers because it is generally cheaper than paid marketing ads! This is a great time to analyze the platform you are wanting to focus on and see if it is brand-friendly.

I worked with brands with just 1,000 followers on Instagram, so don’t feel you have to have thousands of followers to work with a company. With more and more influencers buying followers, (most) companies have wised up and look more for engagement rates. Also while we are on the subject, don’t buy followers or likes. It doesn’t help you at all, I promise. It will greatly skew your engagement rate, and you won’t have a target audience you are reaching.

If you have an Instagram or blog e-mail, chances are you’ve received a few offers like this below. They offer you a product with a discount, affiliate link (where you get paid only when sales are made), or for free product…

My best piece of advice: KNOW YOUR WORTH.

If you are taking these full-time, free products don’t pay the bills Here is an example of how I responded to a company who at first only offered me the product in exchange for a blog post. Yes, I was sweating pressing send. But I did because you have to reach the point of being paid for your time.

This isn’t the best e-mail pitch if I am being honest. But I had already built my value in a previous e-mail, so it wasn’t needed here. When you are pitching to brands, or negotiating to receive compensation, you need to sell yourself to them! This could be describing your audience you bring, blog post topic idea, something unique you can bring to their company, anything that will let the brand see what value you bring to their company.

Your time, energy, and resources are all things I want you to consider when negotiating!! How much you set your rates at will honestly be up to you and the goals you are setting.

A good starting range for blog posts could be $75-150. With blog posts, don’t let low page views hold you back from being paid for your time. You can still be successful if you have a niche market you are bringing to the table that the company could be looking for.

Social media posts can be more dependent on followers and engagement rate, and blog posts mainly will look at page views and unique page views as metrics. You can use sites like Inzpire Me to get an estimate.

Instagram Analysis to be brand ready:

Are your photos appealing and clear?

Does your bio capture what you are about?

When someone comes to your page, what are the top posts/photos they see? And do they represent your brand well?

Blog Analysis to be brand ready:

Are your photos appealing and clear?

Can a brand clearly see what your blog is about by the top few posts?

Is your writing clear and grammatically correct?

Review your social media platform, and even look at others that are in your space! This will be a great way to see if your page is brand-friendly.

Next, think about your dream brands you’d want to work with. This can include small shops, retail stores, or companies in your niche. Pay attention to their social media, too! See if they share photos on their page from smaller accounts. If yes, there is a good chance they will be open to working with you, too.

Some things to consider when you want to work with brands, is your public image. You are essentially representing them, so keep that in mind with professionalism and the quality of your deliverables! My motto is to always underpromise and overdeliver (but this doesn’t mean giving more than what we negotiated content wise). It means to give each brand collaboration your all!

Now you may be wondering, HOW do I get these brand deals? If I’m being honest with you, most of my collaborations are brands reaching out to me.

If you aren’t to that point yet, I encourage you to put yourself out there! Use the skills I suggested above, and find a brand that seems to work with influencers. Head to their website, and look in their contact us section. If they don’t have a PR e-mail, fill out a contact form or send an e-mail to their e-mail listed. Or, you can head over to their Instagram and send a direct message there.

Example of what to say:

“Hello!

I’m Amy, and I am a motherhood blogger. I was wondering if I could connect with the PR contact for the company to discuss collaborating.

Thank you,”

How you pitch yourself once you get this contact, you will provide more details to them. Introduce yourself, what you blog/post about, (optional) connection to the company, what you would like to provide for them.

The more you connect with companies, the more comfortable you will feel with these interactions. Working with brands as a new social media influencer or blogger can feel intimidating, but I want you to get out of your own head! You got this!