Collabs, collabs, collabs. The more the merrier right? That’s all a blogger wants right? The most collaborations they can get!
Well, I’m definitely not a mega influencer (yet hehe), but I’ve done a good share of collabs to give some good pointers on keeping true to yourself and your content as well as things I’ve learned about companies thus far. Just like everything else in life, the collaborations you partake in should resemble the infamous quote, quality over quantity. I will get into all the ‘why’s’ of this later in this post.In the beginning of your influencing career, when brands first begin reaching out to you, it’s SO exciting! You think, “Wow, someone is finally taking an interest in me and wants me to create personalized content for them!” Deservingly so, you should take on these first couple collabs. You’re finally kickstarting your business and that’s such an accomplishment! HOWEVER, after your first few, you need to begin considering the following. If the brand:
- Does not align with your style or feed theme
- Is not something your necessarily excited to create content for
- Are not products or styles your followers will resonate with
…Do not feel obligated to turn them down! This isn’t the end of the world and don’t feel like you’ll be missing out. After all, why would you have FOMO over something you aren’t extremely pumped on?
Some folks do take on any and every collab and that’s totally fine – each to their own. However, if you begin to notice or catch on, their content starts looking more forced or fake, especially in their captions. They begin to lose themselves and cohesiveness in their overall feed – their instagram begins to look like magazine ads, just tons of random products forced and thrown at you.
If you are shooting to land a collab with one of your all time favorite brands ever, you need to make sure your content stays true to you and your style. For example, say you want a collab with Forever 21. Well, if you’re endorsing random products and brands who’s clothing are not similar to that of Forever 21, when they go to check your feed/feed vibes, you’re going to lose out on that collab. They will analyze your feed and determine whether you align with their company’s creativity & marketing goals. If you don’t, as mentioned, you’ll loose out, which is unfortunate because that’s been you’re goal this entire time.
It is totally OKAY to say ‘No’. It is NOT the end of the world, and just because you decline one collab does NOT mean other brands will stop contacting you too. Honestly, I politely decline collabs with brands quite often. Why? Because if I’m not excited about brand, I won’t produce as creative of content. Also, I’m not good at lying and being fake about content so if I’m not pumped on a brand or product, you’d easily be able to tell. Plus, I’ve never taken on a company I didn’t want to work with anyway, because at that point, I feel like I’m being fake to my followers and that’s not cool. On the contrary, if I am excited about a collaboration, my gears churn before I even select and sent what items I want to be sent!
From experience, the quicker you stay true to yourself, your style, and your values, the quicker the brands you love will reach out to you. Brands will be able to tell from your first 12-15 photos what you’re all about. Not every post needs to be something paid to or gifted to you by a company. Just remember that you still need to showcase your own style and personality. Be creative with the closet you already have. I began getting contacted by brands whom I avidly shop for just because my outfits were of interest to them! And it was such a gratifying feeling because all I did was document old outfit pieces of theirs that I’ve had for months/years and still wear till this day!
Another important tip is: don’t be greedy – the objective here is not to have as many free things as possible. It is to be given pieces you love, know you can rock, and can create great content for in return. Plus, there’s nothing worse than hoarding your home with tons of unwanted items. It becomes stressful, creates clutter, and you’ll just toss it. Another way you shouldn’t be greedy is taking on a ton of brands all at once. Space them out. Once brands start reaching out consistently, you’ll get overly excited and want to take on everything. DON’T DO THIS. Trust me – it gets overwhelming and meeting deadlines when you have 7 brands to post for within two weeks gets tough. You feel burnt out and your creativity begins to diminish. I learned that the hard way. So if you’re feeling stressed, politely let the company know you have a lot of content for other companies due soon and ask to push the collab back a couple weeks. If they’re reaching out to you, they won’t get offended & peace out – you’re not the only influencer they’re emailing and you’re not the only one who has to put them on hold. Let them know you’ll notify them with the pieces you want in a week or two. I’ve never once had a company be rude or get offended – they always say, ‘Of course, no problem!’. Why? Because they still want your business and your marketing. To them, that is all it’s about.
Lastly, if you’re trying to land collabs with certain companies but are either getting turned down or aren’t being reached out to, reassess your feed. Reassess your goals and in what direction you want your content to go. Don’t get discouraged if the brands you want don’t want to collab right away. We’ve all been denied, it happens to everyone! If your life goal is to collaborate with a particular brand, study their feed, study what/who they post and what their captions say. Study it so hard that you can tailor your feed to align with the mindset/theme of theirs. Still & OF COURSE put your own personality on it, but you have to show them what you can offer and show them why they should bring you onto their team. If it doesn’t work out, try again in a few months. Don’t ever let a ‘no’ ruin your confidence.
IN SUMMARY:
1. Choose wisely
2. It’s okay to say ‘No’
3. Tailor your content
4. Keep trying if it doesn’t work out
5. Stay true to YOU
I hope this helps! Blogging and influencing is here to welcome everyone. Yes, it is a very saturated community however, at the same time, there are so many brands and clothing lines being started everyday and definitely more than enough room for everyone to pick and choose what brands they want to represent. Don’t ever let another blogger or influencer close you off or act as if there’s no room for you in the blogging and influencing world. If they do, they’re selfish and a mean girl 😛