How To Pitch & Work With Brands: DC Bloggers June Meetup

On Thursday, June 24th 2021, the DC Bloggers hosted their first in person meetup in over a year and a half at the District Offices at one of the most beautiful rooftop venues overlooking the U.S. Capitol Building with over 100 DC Blogger members from all over the DMV.

Kelly McFarland, from MimosasandManhattan.com a full-time Blogger and Influencer who also does consulting for major brands, talked all things Pitching and Landing Brand Collaborations!

Top three things we learned about working with brands: 

1. To get started, post about the brand organically
2. When pitching, link to case studies of your similar brand work (but not the competitor of the brand). Include a boiler plate (brand summary, career/brand campaign highlights, recent press, analytics) at the end of every email. Don’t be afraid to pitch to larger national and international brands, the worst they can say is no!
3. Make sure when it’s time to sign the contract, that you read the fine print! You want to look at the usage rights (where will the brand be using your content). If a brand has “in perpetuity”, the brand has full control of content forever, and you should be charging more for that. If they have “detailed exclusivity” in the contract, charge more for that as well (because you would be losing out on other deals). Google contract terms that you don’t understand!

Thank You to Our Event Sponsors

Special thanks to our amazing sponsors from this event: District Offices, co-working and event space properties in DC, Eyeobee Photobooth, a must for any event, Lucy Blossoms who provided a white rose flower wall and balloon installation, Alpha Lit DC for the beautiful marquee letters and Table Saveur, for providing the absolutely stunning luxury picnic table set up! 

How To Pitch Brands for Partnerships Presentation Recap

Here is a quick recap of Kelly McFarland of @courtandkelly’s presentation about how to pitch and work with brands. She shared some awesome and invaluable information!

Introduce Yourself To The Brand

To get started, post about the brand organically! Brands look for this when considering partnerships. Also networking is so important, whether it’s in real life or virtually. Search for the info of a brand’s publicist, and ask them out on dates to chat! 

Research Your Potential Partner

Next, do your research before you reach out. Tailor your message according to the brand/products. Include your value added (what you can bring to the table). Link to your work mentioning the brand (include your previous posts where you tag the brand). Link to case studies of your similar brand work (but not the competitor of the brand). Include a boiler plate (brand summary, career/brand campaign highlights, recent press, analytics) at the end of every email. Don’t be afraid to pitch to larger national and international brands, the worst they can say is no!

Establish a Relationship With The Brand

Once you’ve connected with brands, you’ll start to get gifted and paid collaboration opportunities. For the gifted collaborations, decide if it is worth it. Will it establish a relationship with the brand, will it bring value to your audience (sharing something new and cool)? For paid collaborations, before and while you’re pitching them, mention, tag and feature them often. If a brand wants to collaborate with you with something that is off of your typical beat, and/or requires specific timing/messaging, you should be getting paid. Or, if they don’t have the budget ,you can negotiate the deliverables.

Review Every Contract

Make sure when it’s time to sign the contract, that you read the fine print! You want to look at the usage rights (where will the brand be using your content). If a brand has “in perpetuity”, the brand has full control of content forever, and you should be charging more for that. If they have “detailed exclusivity” in the contract, charge more for that as well (because you would be losing out on other deals). Google contract terms that you don’t understand!

Follow Up For Long Term Partnerships

After you’ve collaborated with a brand, you should always be pitching them your new ideas. Pitch those IG reels. Offer ideas that you think will resonate better with your audience! Be sure to capture your hidden successes (screenshot comments and DMs that the brand doesn’t see) and send them to the brand when the collaboration is complete.