HOW TO FIND BLOGGERS TO COLLABORATE WITH
As a blogger, some of the best things I have done have been collaborations with other bloggers. There’s no doubt that bloggers have lots of appeal to brands too. Often they have an engaged audience and so working with bloggers can be really effective. So whether you’re a blogger or a brand, I thought I’d share some information on how you can find THE perfect blogger to collaborate with.
Know your why
Before you start you need to understand your why? Why do you want to collaborate? The more clarity you can have the better, as it will make you sound much more professional. Is your main desire to gain more traffic to your blog? Increase your email subscribers? Or maybe your social media follower numbers? You need to be clear on what you want to get out of the collaboration for it to have a chance of success.
Grab the Perfect Pitch script template
To pay or not to pay?
Next you should decide whether you’re willing to pay. In most cases a blogger won’t work for a brand free or charge (they may accept payment in goods), but many collaborations between bloggers are mutually beneficial and so payment is not usual.
(pppssst have you seen my membership? The Revolution Inner Circle)
Consider the ‘fit’
Don’t just work with anyone. This advice goes for working with bloggers, as well as brands. Consider the congruency in the partnership. Is it a good fit? Does it make sense? You could do more harm than good if you just work with anyone who offers, as you may come across as disingenuous.
Where to find bloggers?
If you’re a brand then you might have the budget available to work with an agency such as Britmums or Tots who can source bloggers for you and manage them through the campaign. For bloggers seeking collaborations the way to go to find a potential match is to pitch! I have a great freebie for you at the end of the post!
Twitter: Use Twitter to start exploring the hashtags related to your niche. Then spend some time exploring who is prolific and who follows who. Take time to create a list of people who are an authority in your niche and are therefore a potential collaborator.
Instagram: On Instagram you can find potential bloggers by searching groups /networks / location / similar businesses /niche # /industry #.
Facebook: Facebook can be an awesome source of potential connections. You can browse the official FB pages of people in your niche to see if they seem like a good fit or you can use groups. Groups are so powerful and can connect you to people with specific interests in all niches. So you can explore industry /network groups or groups for specific interests. I have a great group the Mamapreneur Revolution where collaborations are often happening (feel free to join!).
Blogging friends: Reach out to existing blogging friends and connections with your ideas and see if there is a good fit with any of them.
Consider engagement not just numbers
Keep engagement in mind when you’re making connections and pitching bloggers. An smaller engaged audience will do you much more good that a larger one who doesn’t engage with the persons content at all.
Consider influencers who might be primarily on social media, they might not have a blog but they may still have an active and engaged community.
Keep track – everyone loves a spreadsheet!
When you start making connections with bloggers, it’s a great idea to keep a spreadsheet so you know where you are with each person you are reaching out to. If you’re contacting a few people things could get messy if you don’t keep track. You can check out my spreadsheet bundle here if you need help.
So who are you going to reach out to? I’d love to know in the comments. Don’t forget to grab your freebie!
Comments 17
This is really helpful – especially re keeping a spreadsheet…I’ve been trying to do this much more but I use my phone so much more than my (very slow) laptop I often end up getting behind updating things on excel because it’s not always just ‘there’ #thelinkylist
This looks fab. What a great way to collaborate and a handy template too x
Great tips as always Aby! #thelistlinky
I really need to get my act together and start using spreadsheets! Great tips, Aby! Thanks! #thelistlinky
I’m slowly attempting to do some collaborations with other bloggers. I like some of the ideas you’ve listed, although for now, I just let the opportunities find my eyes as I browse along. #thelistlinky
Great to see it from the brand’s point of view, I think this will help me as a blogger too #thelistlinky
Great tips, I’d like to do some more collaborations in the future x
#TheListLinky
Great tips. I met Alana through Linkies and your FB page and now we collaborate with an instagram hashtag. I’d like to do more in the future with brands! xx #TheListLinky
I crowd sourced for the first time the other week for a post and it was great – will definitely be working like that again! #thelistlinky
Fab tips as always! I do need to create another spreadsheet x
Great ideas, I don’t think I am there yet, but hopefully will be soon. #TheListlinky
These are really great tips! I love collaborating with other bloggers!
Fab tips as always Aby. And thanks for the freebies too. #thelistlinky
Thanks for the freebies! Great Advice! I struggle with spreadsheets! It’s so difficult to keep up with everything! #thelistlinky
keeping track is so important I’m a big spreadsheet fan myself! #TheList
Love this article! Mamapreneur Revolution has been my best resource for collaborations! Thank you! #thelistlinky
Some useful effective ideas to find other blog experts here.
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As blogging expert, I am just looking for some other blog experts to work with to even faster grow small businesses now.