4 Ways to Land Brand Collaborations

I’ve been blogging for almost 6 years now (where has the time gone?!) and since then I’ve landed a lot of brand collaborations. I didn’t really know what I was doing in the beginning but now I’ve figured out a few great ways to make getting collaborations a lot easier. And I thought I’d pass along that information to you!

Sign up with Blogging Networks

These networks are the bridge between brands and Influencers. They are free to join and usually it’s pretty easy to sign up and/or get accepted. Networks make it easier to find campaigns. These networks either have lists of campaigns available that you can pick to apply for OR they will email you directly if they think you are a good fit for the campaign. PRO: It’s easier to find campaigns and you don’t have to contact a brand directly yourself or try to find their contact information. CON: The campaign budgets are usually set so you can’t negotiate. And since the network has to take a cut the payments usually aren’t that high.

Here are some of the networks I’m a part of:

• Clever
• TapInfluence
• Social Fabric
• Acorn

SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER AND GET A LIST OF THE 16 BLOGGING NETWORKS I’M APART OF AND MY THOUGHTS ON EACH!

Comment on other blogger’s collaborations

A lot of brands have reached out to me after I’ve commented on another blogger’s sponsored blog post or Instagram post. Obviously, brands are looking at the the traffic that their collaborations are getting when they partner with Influencers. So if they see that another Influencer is interested in their product, they are more likely to reach out to you. It’s really a win-win situation: you are showing support to another blogger by commenting on their sponsored posts and in return you might get some love from the brand as well! This actually happened to me recently. I commented on someone’s sponsored Instagram post and I got a DM from the brand and they offered to send me some product!

Tag Brands in Instagram Posts

Instagram is probably the main way that brands find me for collaborations. If you want to show a brand that you are a fan then get their attention by tagging them whenever you are wearing them in a post. Sometimes, this leads to brands contacting you directly because they saw your tags on Instagram. If not, it might be a good idea to take the initiative and try out the next step!

Contact Brand Directly

This is the hardest route to go by in my opinion. First, you have to find the right contact information for the brand in order to get your email to the right person. And a lot of times, even if you find the right contact, you won’t here back from anyone. It can be very disheartening! But if you succeed in getting a reply this option can be the most lucrative. When you are communicating directly with a brand as opposed to going through a network, you have more control over the negotiation process. You can either:

• Send a DM on Instagram or other social media platform
• Send an Email

I’ve only reached out to brands this way a handful of times (one of my Resolutions for 2018 is to reach out to more brands.) If I don’t have a direct email for the PR person or social media manager I will DM a brand on Instagram with a little intro and offer to send them an email if they give me the right person to contact. A lot of times I won’t hear back from the brand. But a few times I’ve gotten them to respond to my DM and they’ll give me an email of the correct person to contact.

I was able to reach out to a brand last year via Instagram DM/Email which led to an ongoing monthly collaboration!

Have you tried any of these methods? What’s worked for you?

P.S. Don’t forget to check out the rest of my Blogging Series! I’ve got tips on how to drive traffic to your blog through Pinterest, how to update your blog, and the FREE resources I use to help me with blogging!