I've had quite a few people asking me lately via email and Twitter how to connect with more brands, so as a follow-on from last Saturday's post about How to Make Your Blog a Success, I thought I'd share the list of blogger outreach programmes I've been compiling for the last year or so.
I've found the easiest way to connect with brands and getting your name out there is to sign up to platforms that specifically connect bloggers with brands; it's known as blogger engagement or blogger outreach. Best British Bloggers describe it as
"the management of a brand’s reputation across blogs. It is the practice of building and maintaining relationships with bloggers who have a particular field of interest, in order for them to write about, discuss and share brand messages with their readership"- which is great for bloggers, because it saves the hard work of approaching brands and wondering what to say to them. Brands can see which bloggers they think would be a suitable fit for them and then get in touch with offers of collaborations (of varying quality, I must point out); sometimes it's the outreach programmes themselves that contact you. So for your reference - and in no particular order - here are the ones I've signed up to:
1. http://fohrcard.com/about (essential, see below)
2. http://thebloggerprogramme.co.uk
3. http://bloggers-lounge.co.uk
4. http://bestbritishbloggers.co.uk
5. http://bloggersrequired.com
6. http://etailpr.com/bloggernetwork
7. http://generationblog.co.uk
8. http://brandbacker.com
9. http://linklift.co.uk
10. http://bloggersreprise.com
11. http://bloggforward.com
12. http://talentedtalkers.com
Additions:
http://joeblogsnetwork.com
http://uk.nuffnang.com
http://susurrus.io
The one I would highly recommend as a must for every blogger is Fohr Card - as well as connecting brands and bloggers they create a profile page for you with automatically updated stats (traffic, social media followers, profile, links to features, etc.). The brilliant thing about this is that you've got a ready-made media kit right there - you can email the link for your profile page to brands if they ever ask for updated stats. To see an example, click here to see mine - hopefully it'll give you an idea of just how detailed it is.
Hopefully these will give you a head-start in working with brands - do be prepared to receive a lot of emails, however. I find that I respond positively to about 15-20% of the offers I'm sent, and even then some of those never get back to me (which I don't understand as they approached me first). Be patient, as it may take a few months for brands to find you - it won't happen overnight.
One last thing: Don't let the thought that your readership isn't big enough prevent you from signing up to these programmes. I have read on many occasions that brands don't just look for blogs with the biggest number of followers or page views: it's all about fit. If they think your blog and your readership (no matter how small) is the right fit for their brand, they will approach you.
Good luck - and do let me know how you get on and if this helps at all! If anyone has any more outreach programmes that I haven't included, I will add them on as amendments - give me their URLs in the comments :)
P.S. If anyone is reading this from a blogger outreach point of view, i.e. you work for a brand that reaches out to bloggers, please take a moment to read this excellent post entitled "The 10 Most Common Mistakes of Blogger Outreach" - it'll explain why I hit "delete" so often after reading only a couple of sentences of the email...!
Linking up to: Funday Monday, All Things Thursday, Friday's Fab Favourites
8. http://brandbacker.com
9. http://linklift.co.uk
10. http://bloggersreprise.com
11. http://bloggforward.com
12. http://talentedtalkers.com
Additions:
http://joeblogsnetwork.com
http://uk.nuffnang.com
http://susurrus.io
The one I would highly recommend as a must for every blogger is Fohr Card - as well as connecting brands and bloggers they create a profile page for you with automatically updated stats (traffic, social media followers, profile, links to features, etc.). The brilliant thing about this is that you've got a ready-made media kit right there - you can email the link for your profile page to brands if they ever ask for updated stats. To see an example, click here to see mine - hopefully it'll give you an idea of just how detailed it is.
Hopefully these will give you a head-start in working with brands - do be prepared to receive a lot of emails, however. I find that I respond positively to about 15-20% of the offers I'm sent, and even then some of those never get back to me (which I don't understand as they approached me first). Be patient, as it may take a few months for brands to find you - it won't happen overnight.
One last thing: Don't let the thought that your readership isn't big enough prevent you from signing up to these programmes. I have read on many occasions that brands don't just look for blogs with the biggest number of followers or page views: it's all about fit. If they think your blog and your readership (no matter how small) is the right fit for their brand, they will approach you.
Good luck - and do let me know how you get on and if this helps at all! If anyone has any more outreach programmes that I haven't included, I will add them on as amendments - give me their URLs in the comments :)
P.S. If anyone is reading this from a blogger outreach point of view, i.e. you work for a brand that reaches out to bloggers, please take a moment to read this excellent post entitled "The 10 Most Common Mistakes of Blogger Outreach" - it'll explain why I hit "delete" so often after reading only a couple of sentences of the email...!
Linking up to: Funday Monday, All Things Thursday, Friday's Fab Favourites
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