As a blogger I have had the opportunity to work with some wonderful brands and PR companies. I have had a great time stretching myself in relation to my writing and also in relation to my confidence levels with my ability to help promote a product and company.
I am often asked how I go about getting so many giveaways on my blog and if I have any tips for working with brands or companies. Hopefully with this post I can help answer some of your questions and you may even want to start working with them yourself.
I have really enjoyed the new friends I have made with these opportunities and I have over time come up with a list of what I look for when approached to do a product review or company promotion.
Here are my top 10 tips for working with brands or PR companies:
1. Research: When I am approached to promote a company I always look them up. I google them and research what other bloggers or other people have said about them to help me make a decision on whether I want to work with them.
2. Look to the future: When a PR company approaches me I always check to see what other companies/business' they work with. I always look ahead. Generally if they ask me to do a company promotion for one company they will approach me to work with another they have on their books.
4. Compensation: I always, always look at what is in it for me. Writing a review or promoting a company takes time and effort. I like to be compensated for my efforts and try my best to make sure this happens. Sometimes my payment is cash, sometimes it is product and sometimes it is both.
5. Does it fit: Whenever I am approached by anybody for my blog I look at what is in it for my readers. I ask myself, 'Is is a product my readers would be interested in reading about and will they enjoy the promotion?'. In my case my target audience is mainly women so I am mindful of what products they will enjoy the most. I have had several offers to do product reviews that I felt would be fun but would not fit what I know my readers would love.
6. Ask: Once I know a product or promotion would be a good fit for my blog I ask if I can include a giveaway to help engage the interest of my readers. I also love to give back in some way to the wonderful readers of my blog. Hence the reason I have so many giveaways on my blog! I have found that most companies are willing to say yes to a giveaway as generally they have no budget for advertising but lots of products for promotion.
7. Cover your expenses: If a company has agreed to say yes to a giveaway I always ask them if they are available to take care of the postage cost and to post the item out to the winners. Then it is not an extra expense on me. If they are not able to cover this cost I always look at what the product is and how much the postage is going to cost me. I try to guess how much the postage cost will be verses the amount of blog traffic I may receive for the promotion. Sometimes it is not worth doing the giveaway.
8. Be bold: Blogging for me has become more of a work than a hobby. It is taking up more of my time as I am being approached by more and more companies to do promotions. As this is the case I have started to tell companies that I charge money for doing a promotion and charge a fee for running a giveaway. For me in deciding this I looked at the amount of time and effort that I was putting into each post and as I have been bold and upfront I have been delighted with the amount of companies who are prepared to pay for my writing and skills.
9. Product Angle: When I receive an email or phone call about a product or company promotion I look at how I can promote the product and what angle I may be able to write about it from. If an idea does not immediately come to my mind I do not run with the product review. I am a busy mother and I need my writing to easily flow for me. If it is a product that I really do believe in, I generally do not have any problem writing about it.
10. Have fun: Working with business and companies and PR reps is fun. I love to sit down and plan out in my mind how I can have fun with a blog post promotion. I often talk to my cherubs about it and we have a great time hamming it up around our house and taking pictures for you all to see. If you are not having fun doing reviews and promotions - they don't do them.
I hope some of these tips have been helpful for you and I look forward to sharing some more promotions with you in the future.
Great tips Naomi. I do many of these myself. I remind myself to be confident (as it doesn't come naturally for me) and also to stay in contact, that is send them a link of the post once its gone live.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Naomi. There are some really great tips here. Much of this I already follow, apart from asking for payment for a promotion. It's something I've been contemplating, but haven't actually done yet. At some point I'm going to have to now the pitches have really increased. xx
ReplyDeleteFantastic post - very helpful!!!
ReplyDeleteCan you please tell me how you came upon a figure to value your "time"? I have found it very difficult to find any data on what an average blog post is "valued" at.
Any how do you receive payment - do you invoice the company? How does this work for tax?
Thank you so much for your help!!
Thanks for your comment ladies. Natalie I just picked a figure I felt comfortable with charging. Sponsored posts are around $100 as a starting price with certain companies and I picked a lower figure to charge for giveaways. I wanted it to be affordable for companies but also worth the time I put into it. For payment I send them an invoice through paypal and check with them first if they want my bank account details or just to go through pay pal.
ReplyDeleteFor tax reasons, it all depends on how much your earn on your blog. If it is a hobby you can earn up to $6000 I think but over that it is a business. You would need to check with your accountant. Hope that helps. N x
Thank You that was an awesome read!!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant post! Has given me much food for thought x
ReplyDeleteSome really handy tips Naomi! I'm so happy you were honest about how much you request for doing sponsored posts, Ive wondered how much you are supposed to charge without ripping yourself or the company off.
ReplyDeleteThanks :)
x
Thanks Naomi. I'm getting quite a few requests and am in that stage of 'do I?' or 'don't I?'.
ReplyDeleteI haven't made a decision yet, but hubby is keen!
x
It is a difficult decision to make as it can be time consuming and many companies are still working out how to best work with bloggers. It can also be hard to determine how many people we actually reach when we do a blog post. I am still learning how I can be more effective and I think many PR companies are as well. We are all learning how to better do this together. N x
ReplyDeleteThanks Naomi - your honesty is so helpful!!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!!
ReplyDeleteGetting clear on your own guidelines is the best way forward Naomi and you've certainly done that - these are great tips for other bloggers too. x
ReplyDeleteTerrific tips, Naomi. Very important to know your worth :)
ReplyDeleteThese are really helpful as always!
ReplyDeleteThanks ladies, I have had such a great time working with companies and look forward to working with many more! N x
ReplyDeleteHi Naomi
ReplyDeleteI love that more bloggers are speaking openly about this. As you are someone whose views are valued and have been blogging consistently for a long time, I'm glad that you've taken leadership on this issue and helping others by sharing.
Thank you for stating how much you charge for a sponsored post. Although, I think you could easily charge more :)
This is a great article, thanks Naomi! Very useful and thought provoking
ReplyDeleteThankyou for this also from the other side of the fence Naomi!
ReplyDeleteIt is valuable to me, as a marketer, to see what's important to you and how you make your decisions. Mostly I wasn't suprised - mummy bloggers are a smart bunch and we expect you to think about all those things and understand not every product is a fit for every blog or blogger.
The paid giveaways thing is a bit new but as you say - you can put it out there, and companies can either agree or not, it's a two-way street and blogging is definitely considered a valuable marketing portal in our business.
It only devalues that asset when blogs are flooded with unsuitable or disingenuous spin. I think you have a lovely balance, well done.
Great post, Naomi.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your wise advice Naomi.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, love it! I can't get enough of these "blogging" posts :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post, love it! I can't get enough of these "blogging" posts :)
ReplyDeleteThat's a great balanced post Naomi.
ReplyDeletethanks for these tips naomi. Really so helpful as I am now beginning reviews and giveaways on my blogs.
ReplyDeleteI have a question regarding postage. You often receive products to test and review. Is this product you get sent for you personally to review and then a separate giveaway is sent by the company? Or do then review the product and then send it yourself? For a more specific example, I have a few books I am reviewing and then to giveaway. Should I be asking the company to send me a book to read and review and for them to then send the book once I have completed the review and giveaway?
thanks again
Fantastic post, thank you. So many points to think on, I appreciate you sharing your experience.
ReplyDeleteVery good tips indeed.
ReplyDeleteThese are great tips. I would just like to add that when reviewing a product make sure you test it out yourself and see if would be safe for the readers.
ReplyDelete