3 THINGS THAT BOOSTED MY INTERACTION WITH BRANDS

Occasionally, I sit down and think of how far my blog has come. When I first started it and within the first few years in which I didn't really show much dedication, there was very little interaction with brands but in the past few months, I have been really quite lucky to have been working with lots of different brands and attending fantastic events.

Don't get me wrong, I am still constantly building a rapport with brands - creating relationships and a good reputation - so I'm very far from being the next Zoella or Blogger-Millionaire at the moment, but I'm actually having a hella lot of fun. The events are great fun and experience, being gifted products makes me incredibly grateful, and even just speaking with PR teams makes me excited for what's to come.

However, the interaction between myself and brands didn't just come out of nowhere. Since rebooting my blog last year, I have made a few changes that I do feel have increased my chances when it comes to being reached by some companies. If you're looking to get in the good books' of a few more businesses, these 3 actions that I took might be something for you to consider taking on.

Disclosing my location.
I spoke previously about how completely hiding my identity on my blog was something I consider a 'Blogging Mistake' of mine. Now that I share a little bit more about myself, such as my face and my identity, I feel like I can connect more with my audience and they can with me. More specifically, brands can see who I am and if I'm the style of blogger that they want to work with.

So, it can start with just showing your face a little more but, taking one step further and sharing your round-about location once in a while is also pretty helpful too. As many of you may know already, I'm from the North East of England and, because I've disclosed this information in places such as my blog and Instagram Location, local brands and event holders have invited me to work with them.

When I first started blogging, I would never have thought of doing this - I was quite happy sitting at home on my laptop, watching the clock tick by as I waited for Urban Decay to send me all of their products. If you start local, not only do you get to know the amazing things going on right in front of your doorstep, but you're almost learning to walk before you crawl.

Embracing my interests.
At the start of the year, I spoke about why I wanted to start embracing my interests and the interest that I'd like to indulge in - little did I know, this would provide interest for brands. One of my interests to embrace was nature and to not be afraid to show everyone my enthusiasm for nature walks and, surprisingly, some brands picked up on my nature style and wanted to work with it. For example, Yes To were really interested in being part of my blog post on Reducing Plastic Waste and promoting compostable wipes that were kinder to the environment. Similarly, when I joined the Time To Change campaign for spreading Mental Health Awareness I was encouraged by the brand to embrace the outdoors and, quite gladly, that's exactly what I did.

Admittedly, the brands like you to post collaborative content that reflects similar vibes to your usual content because, if your audience are following and enjoying you for your usual style, then the collaboration has higher chances of going down well. By showcasing my interests and establishing a 'style', it almost gives the companies a playing ground; a canvas to paint on, or the first points of a mood board.

Going the little extra mile.
If you feel capable of producing more content than initially requested by the brand then DO IT. Show the brand you're willing and creative - you would do it in your day to day job, so do it with your blog.

On a few occasions I have gone that little extra mile for brands, not to lick their backside or suck up like a goody-two-shoes, just to express my gratefulness and because, frankly, it's more content for me. An example of this is when I was invited to see the new Himalayan Charcoal Range at one of The Body Shop stores. I was in no agreement with the brand to review these products after the event but, a few weeks after I'd tried the products out, I shared my review and how much I was loving the products.

But it's not always going that far. If you're attending an event that you've been given free tickets to in return for just a blog post, or one instagram story (just a few examples), sometimes it's not only beneficial for the brand if you share one extra Insta pic or exceed their minimum word count, ect. but beneficial for bulking up your content as well. If you present your willingness, dedication, and creativity where you can like this, you'll end up growing a great relationship with the brands and could potentially be considered for more campaigns.

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There are so many different ways that you can build a rapport with your favourite brands but it all pretty much starts with dedication and always being eager to learn. I'm certainly looking forward to learning more and more and working with different brands in the future.

Which brands do you aspire to work with?