Dealing With Brands And PR’S My Experiences 

I have been blogging three years this October, and over the last 18 months my blog has gradually been approached by brands and PR’s, to the point today where now not a day goes by without me being approached to collaborate on a campaign, review or something else.

This is of course down to hard work and dedication on my part to hopefully make my blog as successful as possible. I’m not being big headed about it, please don’t think that. The truth is it is hard work, but also incredibly worthwhile.

When I started to have approaches from brands and PR’s I have to admit I was usually very confused about exactly what they wanted from me, and I usually never thought about budget or payment terms. I was lucky I had my wife who is also a blogger, and has been blogging about six years now to ask for advice, whenever I receive an email like this.

Nowadays I have learnt exactly how to deal with all collaborations and I leave nothing to chance if I decide to collaborate. So here are few tips and experiences that I wish to pass on and hopefully somebody might find it helpful.

1. Read the email carefully and if it’s from a mailing list, chances are there is no budget available, but it’s always worth asking. I don’t work for free and I won’t allow a company access to my social media following and reach for nothing. My main point is they’re not working for free so why should you? I genuinely think it’s very cheeky, but they always word it in such a way that it sounds as though they’re doing you a favour.

2. There is a belief that blogging is a route to riches beyond our wildest dreams,. If only that was true! There is no doubt that some bloggers are making exceptional money from blogging and I take my hat off to them because they are working super hard to achieve that.

So when you get an email and it gives a budget, you have to decide whether you think it’s worth your time and effort for the amount of money you have been offered. Remember everything is negotiable, but even PR’s have budget restraints and they can’t go beyond it. Rarely if you are offered £100 and you go back asking for £200, there will be no way in this world you will get it. You might get a little bit more. I have learnt to be realistic. Also if you set your minimum fee too high, the chances are you won’t get the work ever. It’s about being sensible.

3. Right then, now that you’ve have decided that you want to get involved in a certain campaign that’s good. This is where I have a checklist to make sure every angle is ticked off.

A. Make sure you agree your fee.

B. How and when you will be paid.

C. A deadline for when the post is to go live.

D. For me the most important part is confirmation from the brand or PR company to go ahead, don’t write or do any work until you have an email confirmation.

E. Always be polite in all emails. It costs nothing and I have found in life it tends to get you further, and also what you want.

4. There has always been talk that PR companies and brands have blacklists. This may very well be true. I have no idea, but I imagine even if a big blogger is awkward to deal with, PR’s will still want to work with them for the obvious reason that they want their product or campaign on their blog, otherwise it is kind of biting off nose to spite your face.

5. Finally most of what I have written is common sense. I truly believe there is no minimum fee. I am always happy to negotiate to come to an acceptable fee for both parties. There is no point in arguing over a few pounds and losing the deal, you need to be more flexible. PR’s and brands have budgets too that they have to live within.

I have never had a problem dealing with brands or PR’s concerning payment, or in fact anything and I put that down to getting everything confirmed before commencing the work, it’s simple really.

I would love to hear your thoughts on how you deal with brands and PR’s. Have you had any problems?