5 quick tips to up your influencer status
As a blogger, how should I reach out to more brands?
What’s the best way to request a paid collaboration?
How many followers do I need before I start asking brands to collaborate?
These are just a few of the questions influencers and bloggers as me each week.
The short answer is: Be yourself and reach out.
As in today.
However, there are a few other pieces of advice you should hear before you jump into your first (or next) collaboration.
Here are five quick ways you can up your status as an influencer—and snag the collaborations of your dreams—no experience required.
know your unique selling points
What are your unique selling points as a blogger or influencer?
Your unique selling points are the differentiating factors that set you apart from everyone else.
List them out. All of them.
Then, narrow these points down to the top two or three that best describe your brand.
Commit these points to memory.
Don’t take any collaborations or partnerships on that don’t further your brand or align with the unique points you just wrote down.
By finding your unique selling points, you ensure your brand won’t sell out because X company wants to give you free product you’d never use if it wasn’t being offered for free.
Find your own voice
What may have helped one blogger reach 100,000 followers on Instagram and allowed her to leave her soul-sucking job to be a full-time influencer may not be the best path for you.
Everyone is different. And that’s more than okay.
Rather than copy others, take the time to find your unique voice.
In taking this time, you will learn what doesn’t work for you.
You also will learn what does work for you.
That’s a huge victory to be able to own your niche after trying it all.
We know what you’re thinking, “But this takes so much time!”
Guess what? It takes time to be a successful blogger, influencer, or even a brand.
It doesn’t happen overnight or through one partnership.
Show up, do the work, and do it all consistently.
You’ll see movement on all fronts in no time.
Partner with the right brands
Who you collaborate is the most important part of maintaining your brand.
You’ve heard the saying that the five people you spend the most time with reflect you as a person, right?
The same applies to brands you collaborate with.
For this reason, I urge you to be cautious of the brands you choose to partner with.
Don’t just take on any old collaboration.
Make sure the partnership is meaningful to you. And meaningful to your audience or those you wish to attract.
Being selective about who you will and will not work with makes you more alluring to higher-end brands.
It shows you won’t just take on any old collaboration.
This tactic of being selective also means you’ll never be the fifteenth blogger posting about a product on the same day that twenty other bloggers are mentioning the same item in the same way for the same brand.
stop worrying about numbers
Stop worrying about numbers
You know how stressed you make yourself daily about your follower count and number of likes?
Forget about it.
These days, brands aren’t looking for huge numbers of followers or who has partnered with a ton of brands.
Instead, brands are looking for who is engaging with their followers, who can get their audience to convert.
And that doesn’t mean hundreds of “I love you” or “follow me please” comments on your feed.
Brands are looking to collaborate with influencers who can help sell their products or services.
Plain and simple.
Seriously, numbers do not matter. Engagement and a following that follows your lead does.
about those numbers…
I’d be remiss if I posted this on the blog and didn’t touch on my biggest personal pet peeve: Please do not beg for followers
Like, DO NOT EVER.
Especially if you ever want to be taken seriously as an influencer.
Saying “I’m almost at 11,000, will you help me reach me goal by following me?” does what exactly?
Aside from making you look desperate, that is.
If you’re engaging your audience and able to convert for brands, what difference does having 11,000 or 110 followers make?
No brand wants to see fluffy numbers of followers that aren’t engaging with you in an authentic manner.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what your final overall number is.
Remember, people can (and do, sadly) buy likes and followers.
What no one can buy is real engagement.
Would you rather have 11,000 followers you can’t engage with or convert or 110 who were always liking, commenting, engaging with you, and eager to take advantage of whatever fun find you put in front of them?
have a plan for reaching out
Ready to reach out and get more collaborations, but not sure how?
Do you struggle with what to pitch to start the collaboration discussion?
Start with a friendly and informative subject line.
Offer a timely, helpful subject, such as “Three ways to promote [insert brand name you’re reaching out to] for Valentine’s Day!”
Go simple with “[brand name] x [your brand or blog name]” or “Let’s collaborate! [Your blog or brand] loves [brand you’re reaching out to].”
Or be playful with one that’s fun like, “Why haven’t we collaborated yet?”
