Happy Tuesday guys!

I am actually in Switzerland today (Bern to be exact), but this post was written last week to make sure that I would have it up for you today!

When I talked about Fohr Card last week, I had so many comments and emails from you guys wanting to know how to pitch to brands so that you could take full advantage on everything Fohr Card has to offer.

I am by no means an expert on this. If you wanted an experts opinion you would need to talk to someone in PR (preferably someone who works in the fashion/influencer industry.)

I have been doing this for almost three years now and have worked with some amazing brands, so I can at least offer my best advice!

How to Pitch to Brands- TUESDAY TALKS

*make sure to Pin this image to your blogging tips board so you have it for future use!

An influencer is an influencer. Mainly meaning that we ALL have influence, big or small.

I once heard that MICHELE watches ran a campaign on Instagram using an influencer with almost a million followers and an influencer with around 30,000 follower. What they saw changed their opinion completely about the industry. While the larger influencer had many more clicks on the watches, the smaller influencer actually had many more sales! And sales, sales, sales is really what everyone is looking for these days. At least the bigger companies who feel as if everyone already knows about them so they don’t really need more brand recognition.

So many reasons why/how the above example could happen, but this has caused the industry to turn a different route altogether when targeting influencers. They now target what they like to call the ‘micro-influencer’.

A micro-influencer’s range varies depending on who you are talking to. An agency I talked to recently told me their idea of a micro-influencer was anywhere between 50-180,000 followers. Recently I heard 20-100,000.

What does this mean for you? It is anyone’s game out there! You should NOT be deterred from reaching out to a brand just because you have a small number of followers. Everyone now realizes our worth is greater than the amount of followers we have.

The Email:

Most people, like myself, like to pitch in an email. I am not brave enough yet to pick up the phone and call a company to ask for what I want.

Here is how I write my email pitches:

1. Create an email title that will capture the attention of who is reading it. Many PR firms or media contacts within certain retailers can get hundreds to thousands of emails a day. They may only have enough time to skim through titles. I always title mine with The Miller Affect X (brand name) or The Miller Affect (what I am looking for, where I am traveling to, etc). For example, if I am reaching out to Kate Spade for a purse I need for a work outfit, I will title it The Miller Affect X Kate Spade Work Wear. If I am reaching out to Iceland to get help with hotels, I will title it The Miller Affect Takes on Iceland (or something like that.) Many people also like to add all caps THE MILLER AFFECT Takes on Iceland. This seems somewhat spammy to me, but it is completely up to you. Try a few different titles and see what works best for you (gets the most responses.)
2. The first paragraph should be short and sweet with who you are and a very brief introduction on what your blog is about. You can also thank them for their time.
3. The next paragraph should be about why you are reaching out and why you think that brand would be a great fit for your blog. The latter part of that is super important. You want to make the email seem as personal as possible. If they think for a minute you are mass-emailing with the same message, you will likely get a DELETE as soon as they start reading. Examples of this could include talking about your demographics. Ex: I think Kate Spade handbags would sell very well on my blog because all of my readers are working women from the ages of 24-35, who have been requesting a review of a great tote that will fit their laptops. Or I think working with Forever21 would be a great fit for my blog because items between $10-$30 sell the best on my blog. Showing proof also works wonders as well. I would show Kate Spade the avg. page views on my Work Wear Wednesday series, or I would show Forever21 analytics from latest sales (avg. number of clicks & conversion rate on those lower priced items.) If you have already done a post wearing Kate Spade or F21, definitely link back to the post if you are proud of it. You could also show them how many KS or F21 items you have already sold. Mainly, you want to tell them why you want to work with them, and why you think it will benefit both of you. The ‘I just love Kate Spade so much’ doesn’t work as much anymore unless you are a larger influencer. It is ok to be small, just have a big voice!
4. The last paragraph should tell them what you would give them in exchange for the item/working with them. This could be where you tell them you will write a blog post for the gifted Kate Spade tote, or when you tell Forever21 that your media kit is attached with your rates. When I first started, I accepted gifted from a lot of brands in exchange for blog/social posts. I am now working with many of these brands, but for sponsored content. It definitely helps building a relationship before you start asking for money.
5. End the paragraph with a ‘Looking forward to hearing from you’. This implies that you would like to hear back regardless.
6. Before hitting send SPELL CHECK!! Copy and paste your email into Word. Re-read twice before sending. Misspelled words & bad grammar can ruin your chances of a partnership!

Lastly, do not be afraid of rejection. You have no idea how  many times I have gotten a ‘no thanks, we aren’t interested.’ It has not stopped me! I have heard some people actually write the retailer back asking why they don’t want to work with them. I wouldn’t do that. I think that comes off as super pushy. If they want to, they will tell you why they are choosing not to work with you in the first email. Just thank them kindly for their time and tell them you hope to work together sometime in the future.

I hope this helps! Of course I can answer any more detailed questions if you leave a comment below! I would love to know your thoughts! If something has worked super well for you, please share below for the other readers!

If you love this post, make sure to check out this post about writing your blog post first thing every morning and/or this one about why you should pay your interns!

xoxo Amanda