So you’re a blogger, who is ready to start working with brands right? You’ll in the right place because today, I’m sharing 13 things you definitely want to do to set yourself up for those #SponsoredPost (aka get brand sponsorships).

 

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13 things to do to work with brands as a blogger

 

1. Make your website look super professional

Make sure your website looks nice and loads fast (under 6 seconds). No brand wants to pay to be on a website that looks janky!

If you’re using WordPress, I recommend investing in a WordPress theme. Themes are generally less than $60 and you can pay someone on Fiverr $5 to set up the theme for you in less than an hour!

2. Connect Google Analytics

Before you can pitch to brands you must know your blog analytics?
How many page views do you get a month?
How many unique visitors?
What’s the average time on site?
You can find all of these things out bu signing up for Google analytics and connecting your blog to it

BONUS: If you’re using WordPress for your blog, I highly recommend downloading the “Sitekit” plugin which allows you to view your analytics easily from your own WordPress dashboard!

 

3. Create a media kit

A media kit is basically your resume. It should include who you are, what your blog is about, analytics and anything else to help persuade brands to work with you!

Inside my influencer with income toolkit, I supply you a media kit you can use and edit easily inside of Canva.

4. Have an “advertise with us” or “partnership” page

Have a dedicated page on your blog where people can visit to learn more about working with you!
On your “partnership” or “Advertise with Us” page, you should include your contact information and that you’re open to collaborations and partnerships. I highly recommend having this page if you want blog sponsorships.

5. Have a pricing sheet to reference

I never, never recommend having a rate card that you just willy-nilly give to brands. When you provide your rates without knowing the deliverables of a brand campaign, you eliminate the possibility of negotiating and can end up under-pricing yourself (#TrueStory from yours truly).

However, you should have a pricing sheet that you can reference when supplying rates. I recommend knowing your bare-minimum prices such as the absolute lowest you will go for a blog post. Why? Well, let’s say you have a photographer that takes all of your photos and she charged $200 session. If you’re accepting sponsored blog post deals for $50, you’re losing money.

And please don’t base your rates solely on your follower count. You’re doing a disservice to yourself when you don’t think about the deliverables, values you bring and the cost required to provide content

6. Have professional email address

If your blog name is Breonna Queen then your email should include that. While I highly recommend your email be from your blog domain (ie: Hi@BreonnaQueen.com), it’s not necessary.

Breonnaqueen@hotmail.com is totally acceptable.
SexyKittenGirl09@hotmail is not acceptable.

Your email should be professional!

7. Follow others in your niche

There’s nothing like a community! Also, following others in your niche allows you to see the type of brands working within your niche.

Additionally, having blogger friends allows you to ask about rates and if you’re pricing too low/too high.

8. Reach out to brands via email

Want to work with a brand? Pitch to them!
I recommend compiling a list of all the brands you want to work with. If you’re a health & wellness blogger, create a list of your favorite wellness brands that align with your blog that your audience will enjoy.

Once you have your list then research who is in control of influencer marketing! Go to LinkedIn and look up who is the head of influencer marketing/social media or visit the website to see if there’s a contact email for it. If nothing else, you can even hit the brand up on social media and ask for the email contact who is in charge of influencer marketing.

Inside my influencer with income toolkit, I provide all the templates I use to pitch to brands. These templates are plug and play so you can customize to your liking and directly pitch!

9. Join influencer networks

Influencer Networks are websites that connect you with brands who are looking to partner up with influencers. It’s a great way to get brand sponsorships because You get to see current opportunities available with brands and apply for them.

Some that I recommend include aspireIQ, Tapinfluence, and famebit for YouTubers.

Don’t be afriad to ask what’s the budget?

 

10. Ask: What’s the budget?

If you want to get brand sponsorships that are PAID, don’t be afraid to ask what’s the budget?!
Seriously, how will you become a paid blogger if you don’t talk about getting paid?!

11. Send proposals

When you’re negotiating with brands, send proposals.
For example, if a brand wants to work with you… you can send a proposal for 1 blog post, 2 Pinterest pins and 1 Instagram post to be published over the course of a week.

12. Have a contract template and be sure to sign them

ALWAYS have a contract. Some brands will have a contract for you to sign. Other times you have to provide a contract. Either way, protect yourself with a contract that fully lists out what’s expected, what will be paid, and deliverables.

13. Have a PayPal and stripe account!

Some brands will mail you money and some will send it electronically. Make sure you have a PayPal account as a lot of brands send money through PayPal.

 

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What to read next:
Here are 7 tips to email pitch to brands as an influencer
3 awesome ways to monetize your blog (even if you’re just starting off!)