Working With Brands: Chicago Bloggers December Meet-Up Recap

January 20, 2020

Written by Xi Marquez

Our December event was a quaint holiday meet-up that brought together bloggers to discuss working with brands. We learned all about working with brands from Abby Baffoe, who not only secures partnerships regularly, but also, is now a brand owner herself! Abby leveraged her local following to launch an online boutique called Meraki&Gold. She now sits on the other side of the pitching table and gave us all of her insights on what brands look for when they’re partnering with bloggers.

We were so fortunate to be hosted in a stunning pop-up shop that showcases female-owned brands. Marii Lang, owner of Swirl and Sparkle, not only hosted her in her stunning space, but even had custom swirl and sparkle make-up brush cleaners made for us!

Her space was the perfect backdrop for a knowledge-packed presentation from Abby on her top tips for working with brands! Some of the tips she shared were:

Start to get on influencer platforms if you can– they make brand collaborations easier! She recommended Mavrck.
If you plan to start your own business outside of blogging, your community will support you! She was able to launch her business Meraki and Gold in large park thanks to the support of her following that loved her style.
You can learn anything, including great pitching strategies and contacts to pitch to. Self-research! Abby advocated using the internet as your blogging bff: from finding marketing contacts to putting together a killer media kit. She said all the tools you need, you can find with some research online.

Of course, our event could have been compete without delicious sparkling wine from SOCIAL. Leah Caplanis was diagnosed with thyroid cancer when she was 26. Instead of surgery, she took control of my health and quit drinking, became vegan, and learned about holistic ways to heal. Three years later and her cancer was gone! Her social life took an understandable back seat through her health struggles. Once she beat my cancer, she was ready to get her social life back without compromising her passion for health and wellness. That’s why she created SOCIAL sparkling wine— with only 88 calories, sugar free, and all-natural ingredients, it is the perfect way to enjoy social drinking and stay healthy.