One of the best ways to grow your blog’s audience is to work with bigger names. It’s a great way to make some profit from your blog but it’s also a fantastic method of networking and building relationships that you can benefit from in the future. Sadly, approaching PR agencies or brands can be a daunting task for many new bloggers. It’s something that gets easier with experience, but the first time is difficult and can make you incredibly nervous
In addition, your first impressions are going to make a huge difference in how you’re treated by those brands and agencies. If you want to stand out and get it right the first time, then here are some tips that will help you approach brands and PR agencies to collaborate with you.
Grow Your Brand First
Brands will not work with a blog that only has a handful of posts and a small audience. They will, however, flock to bloggers that are engaging, informative and have built audiences of their own. This is mainly because a brand wouldn’t want to be associated with an amateur blog that could tarnish their reputation. If you’re serious about working with other brands and agencies, then you need to remember that you will be representing them on your content and they will be looking at your past content, the type of people that read your blog and also the number of page views you get. After all, if the other brand is getting the short end of the stick, they’re not going to accept your offer and it will hurt your future interactions.
Finding Their Contact Information
Thanks to the accessibility of social media, it’s fairly easy to find the contact information for a brand or agency. However, you still want to use formal channels in order to contact the people or brands you want to work with. It gives you an air of professionalism that will create a fantastic first impression. Unless specifically asked to contact them via social media messages or any other channels, email is your go-to contact method. If you’re able to find a contact name or a personal email then it’s even better. If you’re struggling to find any form of contact information, then it might be best to use Twitter to send a polite message or search on LinkedIn.
Drafting Your Email
Your first email is a crucial moment. It’s important to keep your description and proposal short and to the point. Here is a list of tips to give you a hand with the email:
- Introduce yourself briefly by mentioning your blog and yourself
- Next, write why you want to collaborate with the brand or agency you’re emailing
- Now explain why the partnership will work out or why it’s a great idea
- Link the previous section with some information about your audience. Show that you truly understand the type of people that read your blog
- Now you’ll want to end with a call to action. Ask them if they’d like to hear your ideas or if they’d like to discuss more opportunities
- Finally, sign off with a short message to finish the email
By following this basic format you should have a short and sweet email that won’t be more than two paragraphs. Keep in mind that it will take some time for them to respond, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t receive a response.
