Blog Talk: Pitching 101
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January 22, 2020
There are several ways to make money blogging, but my personal favorite way is partnering with brands for sponsored posts. As an established blogger that’s been full-time for almost 5 years, I get countless emails daily from brands and pr companies who want to work together. Granted, most of them try to get away without paying, but that’s a whole other topic. With so many inquiries, it’s hard to make the time to pitch brands, but I’ve recently started doing it again and the results are so much better than I could have imagined. Because while you’re always in control of your content and what brands you partner with, pitching puts you in the driver’s seat.
Choosing the Right Partners
There are a few basics to always keep in mind when pitching to brands. When it comes to blogging, content is king, so it’s important to come up with post ideas before selecting brands to work with instead of vice versa. This helps ensure that your content will remain authentic and organic. Once you have your post ideas, pick brands that would be a natural fit not only within the post, but also your blog as a whole. A media kit is a great way to do this. Which brings me to my next point: you need to have a handle on your branding and convey that to the brand you want to partner with. It should go without saying that you should choose brands that align with that branding, along with your niche. For example, as a style and travel blogger, partnering with a luggage company to showcase their stylish pieces would be right up my alley. Working with Tyson chicken as a vegetarian, not so much.
The Pitch
Now for the actual pitch. The number one piece of advice I can give is be specific. Brands get a ton of emails from bloggers and wannabe influencers every single day. It’s important not only to stand out, but to tell them how you envision working together. Tell them a high-level overview of your post idea and tell them what you can do for them. Be specific with your strengths. Do you have a ton of pageviews? Get lots of comments? High Instagram engagement? Great sales on Rewardstyle? Use that!
It’s important to have a thick skin when it comes to pitching. Most people probably won’t even respond, and some will say no. It can take 50+ emails to get one yes, but at the end of the day you’re putting yourself on their radar. While it might not be the right time on their end, they could reach out when it is the right time. I’ve had this happen quite a bit. Don’t take things personally and keep on pitching! And when you don’t get a reply, you should definitely follow up. Emails get lost all the time and people get busy. I’d recommend following up twice when you don’t hear back after a week or so.
Always remember, partnering with a brand is exactly that: a partnership. You should both be bringing something to the table. Never sell yourself short, but also go above and beyond to make the brand happy. I can’t tell you how many partnerships have turned into more sponsored posts and more income because I made the brand happy. After all, the worst thing you could do is look at is as if you’re doing them a favor. Only partner with brands you’re excited about and on terms you’re excited about and you’re sure to end up with a win!
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What’s your best advice when it comes to pitching?
Photos by Bryce France.
June 21, 2018 @ 8:31 am
Great tips! I’m always looking for new ideas 🙂
K A T E L A T E L Y || fashion + lifestyle blog
http://www.katelately.co
June 22, 2018 @ 11:12 am
Yay! Glad to help, babe!
June 21, 2018 @ 1:11 pm
Thank you so much for these tips. We are so small and have not really moved forward with pitching ourselves to brands.
June 22, 2018 @ 11:10 am
You’re so welcome! I would just start small. Even just small partnerships or working on trade in the beginning can really pay off in the long run. Good luck, lady!
June 22, 2018 @ 12:53 am
These are awesome tips babe! I love the idea of taking charge and pitching to brands. & totally agree about not being too hard on yourself!
Kileen
cute & little
June 22, 2018 @ 11:09 am
Absolutely! I like having control over the situation too!
June 22, 2018 @ 1:24 am
Lovely tips dear! Thanks for sharing these, definitely learned a lot from this post.
Jessica | notjessfashion.com
June 22, 2018 @ 11:08 am
Woohoo! So glad!
June 22, 2018 @ 10:37 am
These are great tips! I’m trying to be better at pitching to brands so this post came at the right time!
June 22, 2018 @ 11:08 am
Awesome! I’m glad to help!
June 24, 2018 @ 3:55 pm
Love your sweater!! So pretty
June 25, 2018 @ 6:39 am
Thank you!
June 24, 2018 @ 6:18 pm
Love all these tips!! Not being afraid to ask and tell what you can bring always helps when pitching
June 25, 2018 @ 6:39 am
Yes! Exactly. You have to have confidence in yourself for others to have confidence in you!
June 24, 2018 @ 8:42 pm
I love how you point out the single most important point of being specific. I know so many bloggers go crazy on mass pitching and then complain they don’t hear back anything.
June 25, 2018 @ 6:39 am
Yes, absolutely! It takes just a few extra minutes to really take a look at what you love most about a brand and convey that to them, and it makes such a big difference!
June 25, 2018 @ 1:36 pm
This is such helpful info for sure! Brand partnerships are so important.
June 25, 2018 @ 2:16 pm
Thanks, Whitney! I agree. My favorite part of blogging for sure!
June 26, 2018 @ 5:05 pm
This is a great post. Pitching can be so intimidating but the pitch itself is only part of working with someone.
Xx, Nailil
http://thirtyminusone.com
June 26, 2018 @ 7:37 pm
Yes! You’re so right.
June 29, 2018 @ 7:43 am
You totally nailed the pitching part here. What I find most important is to keep a friendly tone throughout the dialogue, even though I sometimes would want to rage about how much they actually get compared to traditional advertising. Most companies still don’t get that part and it can make me both mad and sad as they don’t see how much work we put into it, nor how they’d never get the same effect with a billboard campaign… Anyhow, I haven’t been pitching for a while, as I just as you get tons of emails on a daily basis and just keeping up with those is a struggle, haha. Getting back to pitching is also getting back to being your own boss, so I’ll sit down and start pitching again!
Thomas xx
June 29, 2018 @ 9:02 am
I feel the same way! Although I will say that I don’t get TOO friendly initially; I find that if my business tone is stronger people are more likely to respect me and take me seriously. I got out of pitching for awhile too for the same reasons, but it feels good to be back at it! 🙂
June 30, 2018 @ 8:26 am
Love the pictures I’ve seen on this site. 🙂
July 2, 2018 @ 7:22 am
What a sweet compliment!! Thank you!