Working With Brands

One question I get asked frequently is “How did you get sponsored?”. My goal in this blog/vlog is to shed some light on the process. From start to finish. As well as share some tips and tricks I’ve learned along the way to better your chances at getting sponsored by the brands you reach out to.

Now before we dive into this I want to distinguish the difference between sponsorship and ambassadorship. My method will help you get both however, it’s good to know which is which so you know what to ask for from the brands you desire to work with.

Ambassador: An individual advertising/sporting the brand in exchange for free products.

Sponsor: To sponsor someone is to support them in a financial manner.

What are your strengths?

The biggest concept to grasp BEFORE actually reaching out to brands is “How can I benefit them?” Each person has their own strengths and unique abilities to offer brands. Before you start contacting brands you need to create a list of your strengths/skills and how you can apply them to benefit your potential sponsor. Make it as easy as possible for the brand to see how valuable you can and will be working with them.

Finding the brands

The important thing to keep in mind is while starting out is you want to reach out to smaller brands.  Instagram and Google are amazing resources for finding smaller brands in the niche you want to jump into for ambassadorship or sponsorship. The reason behind this is depending on what your strengths are these smaller brands have had fewer people approach them with an opportunity so they tend to be more open to jumping on board with you! I try to reach out to brands whose products I currently own or have used in the past. This can be a good conversation point for you and the brand.

Who to Contact

So you have finally completed your list of potential prospects. Now what? There are a couple of ways to proceed. You can either shoot the company an email or annoy them with a phone call. I choose the email route for numerous reasons. One of the biggest ones is you have the time to collect your thoughts and appropriately respond to their reply. I find this extremely valuable as each company is obviously different and requires different responses. Surfing through companies you might come across a few who have multiple emails. When this happens I usually email them all and also ask if they are not who I’m supposed to be talking to then to redirect me to who i should be talking to.

Time for Action!

Now here comes the final step. This is where most seem to get hung up on. Most people aren’t sure what to say or what to include in the email. I created somewhat of a template that sometimes i will use and alter accordingly.

Hello XYZ,

After coming across your company, I had to reach out. I love your XYZ product, especially the design and colors! I would love to help grow your brand and watch it succeed. With several years of experience as a professional photographer and filmmaker I’ve been able to gain as an extensive following on social media (over 40 million active followers on instagram, youtube, facebook, twitter blah blah), I have the unique ability to market your products to an audience of consumers which are already interested in the lifestyle which XYZ represents. Utilizing the dynamic combination of my photographic/video style and personable online presence, together with the aesthetic of your products would be a winning combination for XYZ. Effectively being sponsored by XYZ, I would produce high-quality content including reviews which not only exposes your products but depicts them in the context of a colorful, adventurous lifestyle–making them truly come alive in the eyes of thousands. By providing a face and voice to back your products, they become more desirable and more accessible to others. I’d like to be that face, that voice. I look forward to hearing from you, thank you!

Hopefully, this template will help you get started and get those creative juices flowing. It would be a really good idea for you to add your own flavor and style into it. Brands what to get a feel of who you are as a person as well. Hence why I kept it pretty light and added my own flavor to it. Don’t be stale.

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