How to blog and work with brands. There comes a moment when many new bloggers start getting approached by brands. I see this all the time, new bloggers gushing about how excited they are to work with brand X and that’s really wonderful!
I’ve seen many posts (and even taken a couple of courses on the subject) on how to work with brands or how to get PRs to notice you and most of them are super useful. I certainly won’t argue with anything they’ve said. What I find that’s missing, however, is what to do with all of the “grey area” contacts. I don’t think any of us would say no to a campaign with Chanel and no one would think twice if approached by Jimmy Choo, but what about when a company you’ve never heard of comes knocking? What research do you do? Do you look into them before accepting or declining work? How do you evaluate the opportunity? Now just to be clear if you are an experienced blogger who has worked with a lot of brands then this post might not be for you (although I’d love your opinion). If, however, you are just starting out then please read on!

When I started Style On The Side, I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t work with a brand that I wasn’t comfortable with or that my readers wouldn’t like. I think I’ve stuck to that fairly well even when approached on a regular basis.

HOW TO BLOG AND WORK WITH BRANDS

To work or not to work with a brand, that is the question. Here’s how I make the decision whether or not to work with someone. Let’s be honest, why do brands want to work with you? It’s to get access to your readership or to get as many links to their site as possible. Before anyone freaks out, I’m not saying that brands don’t look at your blog or your writing/photography skills or your community. Many of them do, but certainly not all. The brands that get it are keepers, they are the brands you want to carefully cultivate relationships with. It’s those other ones I want to talk about.

The first email. How many times have you gotten an email that’s not addressed to you specifically or that has some vague sentence saying that they love your blog and that it would be the perfect fit? Really? I’m willing to bet that they haven’t even looked at your site. Watch out for this because they are probably just link building and want their product/website mentioned in as many places as possible. Another popular letter is one where the company asks you to write about their product and then they say that their social media team will be featuring the best posts. You realize that they don’t have to do anything at this point, right? You’ve done the job. You’ve taken the time and written a great post for them without them having to do anything in return. Rest assured that the very same email you received also went out to hundreds of other bloggers. Spend some time on other blogs and you’ll instantly know when there’s a campaign going on and you’re sure to  see almost identical posts on blog after blog. I’m not saying those companies are doing anything wrong as such. It’s their job to get their brand out, but what about your brand? What are you trying to present to the world? Why should anyone come to your blog if almost identical posts can be found on other blogs at the very same time? What are you getting out of this “collaboration?”

Working with startups. Whenever I see a company that’s on Kickstarter (or another crowd funding platform) my ears prick up. I love seeing businesses succeed and I’m happy to be a part of their success. That is until one Brand X contacted me and in their press release they were bragging that they had already raised over $70,000 USD. Everything came to a stop at that moment. They didn’t have any money in their budget to pay me but they had already raised so much and counting.

Sometimes, it’s the story that matters. I’ve worked with some small brands who have been truly amazing. The owners really care about their products and that’s what inspires me to be creative and to push that little bit more, because I care about them too. In fact, I want to see them succeed even though I have no stake in their business. The toughest part is letting go after I’ve done my part and realizing that I’m not responsible for their ultimate success. When looking at opportunities, feeling really good about a collaboration should be a big consideration.
Some of my favourite campaigns have been in collaboration with: Everywhere Ur, Bizi Buenos Aires and Work Wonders.

I’m absolutely not saying that you shouldn’t work with brands, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t build relationships with the ones you really love (because you should), I’m not even saying that you should always ask for money although that’s the beginning of a bigger discussion. What you do is completely up to you. What I am saying is that you should always go in to any deal with your eyes wide open and know what you are getting in return for your time and your reader’s time.

What do you consider before working with brands?

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