BRANDS & YOUR BLOG: PART TWO (REWARD)

Hello!

So this post ought to have been published a while ago, but for some odd reason, it wasn’t. Apologies…

First, let me say thank you to all the amazing new subscribers I have, you all are awesome. The last post on this topic brought awesome exposure and I’m grateful for this. In fact the kind of mails I’ve been receiving from brands ever since then has been bringing smiles to my face. Very detailed, polite and ‘rewarding’ if you know what I mean…..

Incase you missed that post, ensure you read HERE! it’s a good one.

Speaking of rewards, I’m going to be discussing that today, basically talking on remuneration. (A.K.A Payment or compensation either in cash or kind) but before I go to the heart of the matter i.e what you should charge or accept I’d like to clarify a few things with you as a blogger. I’d discuss them in bullet points to foster ease of read.

KNOW YOUR BLOG: Now, I say this because many bloggers are starry-eyed and want to get paid substantially. The truth is only a novice company will dole out great compensation to a blog with little/no audience for their target market. Before we begin to call figures and charge brands ask yourself this “how great, effective or compelling is my blog”. e.g in my case, Will someone read Tosin’s blog and purchase that bag embedded in that link. Or is the quality of my blog great enough for a brand of that repute? These are honest questions you should ask yourself. It’s important we know the actual influence we have. Not just by the number of comments or Instagram followers, but how you can successfully direct traffic or create awareness to an approaching brand.
BE REASONABLE: This is just a continuation of the above but its country specific. No matter how truly awesome your blog is, remember we are in Nigeria. Regardless of what statistics says about internet penetration or the impact of social media, understand that ‘bloggers, brands & remuneration” is still a growing tool. Majority of Nigerians are TV watchers or newspaper readers, hence a Large organisation’s first form or advert is via those means. Implying that smaller organisations (SME’s) are your major clientele and in most cases meaning smaller marketing budget. So in your compensation evaluation, acknowledge that these organisations would really want the value for every Kobo spent. Hence, heavier weight bloggers like Linda Ikeji may be considered prior to you.
PUT IN THE WORK: Any brand coming to you with the intention of working with you on any form expects utmost quality. For example, I own a beauty brand (@ekomakeup) and if I send you a product for review, I don’t want shabby pictures taken with a cell phone or a post filled with typos. I’d require the blogger to represent my brand well. So also with these other companies either great or small. As a blogger, try to ensure your work is relatable and of good quality. Doing company A well would attract company B, it’s a cycle. Furthermore, by the time you have 10-20 companies in which you’ve worked with on your blog/website/social media you can call this a ‘portfolio’ which you can use as a yardstick for attracting more brands.

Now that I’ve discussed these three I’d like to answer the almighty question of “how much should I charge for posts/reviews/ads”.

The answer is hidden in the above points. meaning it’s totally up to you and your work. There is no fixed fee or stencil rate in which all fashion or food bloggers should adopt. The proof is in the pudding.

Personally, I don’t always seek cash compensations. I’m pro partnerships and lasting offers. Money will finish except when extremely substantial and even as at that…….

Some companies prefer to send products worth a specific amount while some rather just pay you cash. For instance when it comes to product reviews you ‘may” decide to do it for free if the product is worth a lot. e.g Gadgets/Luxurious Hair/or shopping vouchers, still the choice depends on you.

However, this doesn’t mean I do not accept or have not received cash compensation. In fact most of my sponsored posts/reviews were paid for.

These are a few clauses I consider when evaluating ‘compensation’ :

Is this company selling a product/service? How can I benefit, how can my readers benefit?
Am I simply creating awareness for an event or is it for a charitable cause?
Is it a one-off/long-term collaboration? e.g Product reviews Versus affiliate programmes.
What is the size of this brand? e.g Are they a known gadget manufacturing company or Becky who makes beads. This would certainly influence pricing or compensation agreements.
How will my blog add value to their brand. i.e. do I represent the face of a product, am I only creating more awareness, is my integrity or reputation needed in this collaboration? or am I a product of a generic search of Nigerian bloggers?…….
How much work am I actually doing? is it a long/short write-up? a tweet? an Instagram post? or a video as they case may be with youtubers.

The above points are what I consider before accepting or making an offer, but then again this is what works for me, another might prefer something different. The truth is we all blog for different reasons some for fun, some from passion, some for solely business and this would certainly affect how we work/blog. ( I discussed more on this in a previous post, read HERE) .

So! that’s all for the part 2 of brands and your blog. I hope I was able to provide some pointers for consideration when next you’re taking on a new collaboration. My aim is not to provide stern guidelines, but to simply share what I feel and I practice.

Do Feel free to drop a comment and ask questions below….

xoxo

Tosin.

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