Firstly, pat yourself on the back, you’ve done it. A company recognized you.
Secondly, don’t pat yourself on the back too hard because they’ve recognized you and 100 other bloggers. They are not paying you, they want free promotion from you.
They know a few things about the blogger psyche:
- They know that we love to be recognized by a company or brand.
- If they’ve checked out your blog they know that you’ve never or seldom worked with a company before, so you don’t know what to expect really.
- They know that flattery gets them a free promotional blog post.
How can you use this situation to your advantage?
You can tell them that you will do the post, but in return, you would like them to give you a review of your post. What do I mean by a review?
They can say something like “Very insightful, clear and funny blog”- Coca-Cola (or whoever)
Then you take the quote they have given you, add a page to your blog called ‘Testimonials’, and write the quote there including the company name, etc.
This will help build your blog profile. When potential advertisers visit your blog, they will see that you have worked with different companies and this raises your credibility.
Should you accept all free blog promotion offers?
No. Try to do 4 or 5 ones that you like. And get the reviews for your blog then don’t do any further.
Why? PR companies talk. If they realize you are doing a free promotional post all the time, no one would want to pay you to write a post in the future.
I think doing a free blog post does have benefits.
- You get to experience working with a brand
- You get a ‘review’ to build your blog.
- You build professional relationships.
- You get exposure to other parts of the blogosphere.
But do keep in mind, that you’ve worked hard for your blog. It takes time and effort to build a relationship with your audience and create great content. Don’t overwhelm your readers with so many promotional blog posts that you lose their interest.
The email normally starts of by them telling you that:
- They’ve read your blog and they like it.
- They have a blog idea for your blog.
- They would like you to promote their website.
- If you agree, you write the post and send it to them so they can check it and change a few things.
With these types of promotions, you don’t get paid, or send any products. You give the company free publicity. Some of the companies enter you into a ‘draw’ and you might be chosen to be featured on their website.
Here are 3 different examples from 3 different companies contacting me.
If you liked this post and would like to read more beginner blogger tips, click here. 🙂
Until tomorrow.
Happy living 🙂
Chantal
chantalandshekinah.wordpress.com 