Blogging Tips

I attend many Social Media conferences and invariably I see a flood of tweets and blog posts from people who are begging brands to sponsor them in their attempts to get free trips, hotel rooms, flights and more. Here is what is I see “Sponsor Me“. Bloggers and Tweeters just shouting to the rafters “anyone willing to sponsor me???“. It is really an irritating and ineffective way to get the attention of brands. It is also a way to alienate your followers and generally piss people off. There are ways in which to actually get the attention of brands that are much more effective.

Do Your Research

Do you know anything about the brand that you would like to work with? Start your search, find out who the social media or PR people are, follow them on Twitter. Now resist the urge to call them out with an “@brand hey send me free stuff” sort of message. It is hard to resist, I know but don’t be that guy.

How Can You Help

In your research learn what you can about what the company does, what is there message, how can their message fit your blog. It it a unique proposal that you can offer the brand? In what way would your readers benefit from a campaign with this brand? What would the brand get out of working with you?

Is the ROI Measurable?

Can you monitor Tweets, Facebook fan likes, traffic to blog posts and more? Remember that you are talking to people who most likely are more number oriented thank anything so you have to give them numbers. Do you know how many pageviews you get daily, weekly, monthly on average? Are you tracking these stats? You should be if you want to work with brands.

How to Connect without being “That Guy”.

Make the initial inquiry privately. – Don’t blast things out on twitter or Facebook screaming with the rabble, have some finesse and class. Friend the contact on Twitter, Facebook or Linked In and when you can send them a quick message requesting if they would be willing to read a proposal on a sponsorship opportunity. Don’t make the pitch all at once, make that initial small ask and if they agree make a bigger ask. Many people are willing to hear a pitch if they are asked rather than having it forced upon them.

Be Bold – If you don’t ask you don’t get.

Write a well thought out proposal – Introduce yourself, your blog and blog topics, make your request, provide numbers, graphs and charts backing up your claims and showing your reach, readers, twitter followers, Facebook friends. Sites like compete.com are good resources and also Google analytics. Be sure to focus on how working with you benefits the brand.

Most Important:

Follow up with your brand contact and send them a report on the numbers. Tweets, Re-Tweets, Contest Entries, and so on. Then THANK the contact for working with you. Write a note, make a blog post but whatever you do make sure you give follow up and a Thank You.