Special thanks to river island for partnering up on this post!
Let’s Go Over Basics
Hello guys! Happy Wednesday, I can’t believe it’s already the last day of February. Time flies when you’re having fun I guess 😉
Yesterday on Instagram I asked you guys what kind of topics you’d like me to cover for this Industry Talk post. You guys had amazing ideas and I’m so excited to cover them all over time. One thing I noticed was a lot of people asking about basic logistical facets like how to pitch to a brand, what platform I prefer for blogging, etc. Therefore I decided I would touch on a few of the most important logistical starting points in today’s post. So if you’re just getting started blogging – this one’s for you!
What Platform To Use For Your Blog
I’ve personally been using WordPress since I started blogging and I love it. It’s hard for me to speak on other platforms because I haven’t used them. But I can tell you that most of my blogging friends use WordPress as well. It seems to be an industry favorite, and for good reasons. It’s super user friendly, there is a ton of layouts available, and their support team is great if you ever need them. I’ll also say that a little bit of research can go a long way. So before you settle down and pick your platform make sure you’ve done your research and solidified that it’s the best platform for what you’re looking to do.
How To Pitch to Brands
If you want a more in depth article on how to work with brands check out a previous Industry Talk post I did here. Once you’re in contact with a brand you’re excited to be working with make sure you’re keeping everything professional and get down to business!
When pitching to a brand you need to go into salesman mode. Sell yourself. In order to do this you need to know what you’re worth. So get familiar with your strengths. For example, you may not have a huge following but you may have great creative direction and stellar photography so let the brand know you’re going to be giving them very high quality content. Or maybe you’ve got a small audience but a ton of engagement, make sure you are highlighting this when selling yourself to the brand.
Although it is super fun and exciting to work in this way (being gifted clothing and creating content) it’s still a business transaction. Therefore you need to remember to highlight the value you will be giving this company in exchange for the gifts and or rate they are giving you.
Contracts
This brings me to my next point, contracts. To preface this I will say it takes time, effort, and a lot of hard work to get to the point where you are making money blogging. When starting out you have to do almost everything on a gifting basis. Which is totally fine, it’s still super exciting and fun. And it’s just the way you earn your stripes. Think of it as an intern phase of this industry.
However, if you are working with a company solely on a gifting basis but they are asking for specific deliverables, timelines, etc. you may still consider drawing up a contract to ensure there is no dispute at any point on what was agreed upon. If you’re going to write your own contracts just google example contracts and tweak them to fit your business. They don’t have to be long, some are only a paragraph. It depends how detailed you want to get. If you aren’t writing your own contracts be sure to READ the ones you are receiving from others. It’s extremely boring and tedious but you don’t ever want to agree to something you aren’t comfortable with etc.
And if neither party is writing a contract, your email agreement can still be used a contract if need be. Say you are working with a company for a rate and you are having trouble getting paid, if needed you could use your email agreement as a said contract agreement.
That’s it for today. These may not be the most glamorous things to cover, but I noticed that you guys were really looking for some guidance in this department so I hope this helps! If you have any more questions let me know and I will add them to the list of things to cover! Xx
Shop The Look Below
T-shirt – Here
Shorts – Here
Jacket – Here
Sneakers – Here
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