I starting getting serious about my Instagram and Youtube accounts towards the end of my pregnancy. I figured social media was a great way to keep in touch with all of our friends and family, who live far away.
The more I started engaging in my social media accounts, the more I started to realize that there is a lot of opportunity to be had. I didn’t start out looking to make money directly from social media, but it has been a welcome change.
The best part is, literally ANYONE who has the extra time to put in, can make some extra coin or receive free products thanks to their social media account. Across all my platforms, I only have about 5K follower. So If I can do it, you can too. Below I’ve listed my top tips to get you started on your collaboration journey.
Tip 1: Don’t Be Afraid to Reach Out
The first collaboration I ever did with a company was back in April of 2018 with Real Time Pain Relief. I only had about 300 followers on my Youtube channel at the time and was nearing 1k on my Instagram.
I had heard some good things about their products and was interested in giving them a go. So I reached out to the company, left them all my social media accounts and asked them if they would be willing to send me something to review.
A day later, their PR team responded saying that they loved my channel and would love to send me some things in exchange for a video that they could use.
Needles to say, I was super excited and still use their products to this day. But the lesson here is: You never know what you’re ‘worth’ to a company until you reach out. The worst you can hear is “No.”, which can be a let down, but isn’t the end of the world.
And you can’t hear the the words ‘Yes,” if you don’t open yourself up for that possibility.
Tip 2: Micro-Influencers Marketplace
Update: I created a list of all the networks that I like!
check them out in this post!
Personally reaching out to brands you like and building that relationship with them is awesome. But also never wrecking. This is where micro influencer marketplaces fit in.
These marketplaces act as the middle man. They vet active social media users and pair them up with companies looking to gain organic reach in a certain niche. And most of these places are FREE for individuals like you and I to use.
Hands down, my top favorites are Heartbeat and Influencers.
They take slightly difference approaches, but both are worth it in my opinion.
Influencers sends you boxes every couple of months from some of your favorites brands, and al you have to do is follow their instructions and honestly review them. I have received many quality, full sized products from this, including name brand department store make up–all for free
Heartbeat on the other hand allows you to select with companies you would like to work with. And if it’s a good match, Heartbeat will send you instructions on how the company would like youth post. Unlike Influencers however, Heartbeat does offer paid collaborations, which can be a great way to make so extra cash.
There are many options for influencer marketplaces out there though. My suggestion–sign up for as many as you can, especially the free ones, the maximize the opportunities you can get.
Tip 3: Make Your Wishes Known.
The first two tips will get you well on your way to receiving free products and making extra coin. But this last tip has lead to some of the most fun projects that I have ever done on social media.
Let it be known that you WANT to collaborate.
Post it in all your bios and leave a public email. I did this on my social media accounts back in August and it has paid off quite literally.
Nowadays, pretty much all companies have PR teams that scour social media looking for micro influencers. Building genuine connections and relationships with folks online is great for their business. And if they can cut out a middle man, then that is even better.
But they don’t want to waste their time fishing around in the dark either. So by making it known that you are open to collaborating and leaving them a way to connect with you, you are more likely to have someone reach out.
A lot of these companies that reach out are open to paying you for your content too, especially if you can drive traffic to their sites. And most of them are super receptive to any feedback you give them. This leads to a very funned trusting relationship with a brand.
This is probably the easiest thing you can do to start collaborating with companies, but it also the most effective. So make sure you take advantage of it!
I know that collaborating with brands, especially big brands feels intimidating and impossible when your small. But you are worth more than your social media numbers and many companies know this. And you should too. You have value and your thoughts and creativity matter! So I hope this post has encouraged and inspired you, but more importantly, informed you on how you too can collaborate.
Is there a particular brand that you want to collaborate with? Let me know below, I would love to hear!
It’s fun working through all the nitty gritty and getting connected with many different brands. You never know what they’ll offer. It never hurts to ask! 💖