Affiliate links | Although my inbox is not jam packed full of opportunities every single day – there are of course times where my blogging inbox is a bit dead and work is slow, which is the case for a lot of bloggers – but I am at a stage where I rarely go a couple of days without agreeing to some sort of blogging work. There are various strategies I put in place – and you can too! – to help you get sponsored blog post opportunities on a more regular basis!

Sponsored Blog Post Opportunities

Photo by STIL on Unsplash

Working with brands is one of my favourite parts of blogging. As my blogging career has grown, transformed and evolved into what it is today, working with brands is not only one of my favourite aspects of blogging – but also one of the most important elements of it too.

And lots of people end up blogging with the hope and dream of working with brands. And I think that’s amazing. Blogging has become such a recognized industry over the last few years. With so many mutual benefits for both the bloggers and the brands involved.

But exactly HOW to get blogging opportunities is a question I see a lot. 

And I get it. A few years ago, I really had no idea where to look or what to do to put myself out there to gain and attract more blogging opportunities. I got the odd email directly, which felt great. But if blogging is a source of income for you, you absolutely can’t rely on brands finding you all the time. You HAVE to put yourself out there and seek out opportunities instead of waiting for them to slap you in the face.

Recommend resource: Blogging Mindset Mastery eCourse

I’ve wrote a post in the past about how and where to find blogging opportunities which is useful if you’re looking for specific places, networks, websites etc in order to find blogging opportunities. But today, I’m going to be focusing more on how to maintain the momentum when it comes to blogging opportunities and brand collaborations.

Related read: Getting Your First Collab As A Blogger – 8 Things You Should Do

Here’s all the strategies I use for how to get sponsored blog post opportunities regularly:

Sponsored Blog Post Opportunities

Firstly, be professional and build up a rapport with brands and PR’s

Nobody wants to work with someone who’s always mouthing off on Twitter and causing drama. So if that’s you, I’d recommend dialing it down a notch. It pays to be nice – literally. Seriously though, building up a professional relationship with brands and PR’s can help massively. They’ll be more likely to come back to you of their own accord.

Ensure your sponsored content is always your highest quality work

And for them to WANT to come back to you for repeat work, you also need to make your sponsored content the highest quality possible. Which is a bit of a Captain Obvious thing to say but truly, it needs to be said.

I’ve seen a lot of content which is SO VERY OBVIOUSLY sponsored before I was even aware it was sponsored (which should NEVER be the case as all sponsored content needs to be clearly labelled BEFORE the reader starts reading – check out this PDF for more info) because it seems half-arsed and not like the bloggers regular content.

Keep track of PR’s you’ve successfully worked with on blogging opportunities in the past

Back in July of this year, I created a spreadsheet of all the PR’s I’ve worked with over the year so far on successful campaigns, including their emails. I gradually emailed them one by one, asking if they would consider me for any suitable upcoming campaigns they might have…

And I had one of the best paid months I’ve had in a while! And contacting those PR’s directly no doubt played a huge part in that. Of course some of them had since left their companies. Or didn’t have any sponsored opportunities at that time, which is fine. But a lot of them did. If you don’t ask, you don’t get!

Pitch to brands yourself for sponsored blog post opportunities

I guess you can say me emailing those PR’s directly was *sort of* pitching. But I already had a professional relationship with a lot of them and have worked with them in the past. But ACTUALLY pitching content ideas to brands you love is another amazing way to regularly get blogging opportunities if you’re pitching right.

Recommended Resource: Your Pitching Toolkit eBook (use code jenny for 15% off)

Check regularly for sponsored blog post opportunities

As in… every day. Multiple times a day, if you can. In this blog post which I mentioned earlier, I state plenty of places you can look for blogging opportunities, including Twitter, Facebook and websites such as Get Blogged. And these places get updated ALL THE TIME. So make sure you’re checking them ALL THE TIME too.

Because often, PR’s get so many responses to blogger requests and they obviously can’t work with everyone. So dropping your details in 5 days after the tweet was posted when there’s a chance the opportunity has already been filled is no good to anyone.

Consistently work on your blog

And while you’re hustling away, make sure you’re still working on your blog too. It’s all those little things that often take time (and you’re not paid for!) which make the difference. Such as updating your media kit, checking for broken links, working on your DA, updating your theme and much more!

Related reads:

Sponsored Blog Post Opportunities

If you’re not putting yourself out there and wondering why you don’t get many brand collabs – you may have just answered your own question! Try putting these techniques in place and see how many more sponsored blog post opportunities you get over the course of a month!

120 Comments

  1. Awww Look at year ago Claire that said she wasn’t at that stage yet and honestly I never thought I would be but here we are.

    This is great advice that is probably more relevant to me now than ever. I like the idea of the PR spreadsheet. I think I might create one this weekend.

    You know there is no way I would have had the confidence without you, I don’t think I could ever thank you enough x

  2. This is a great post. I always need reminders when it comes to getting opportunities and really trying to build my DA

  3. Really good tips! Working with brands is one of my favourite aspects of blogging too and I’ve started to develop some good relationships now. That’s a great idea about the spreadsheet contacting – I’ll make sure to do that next year when I need some opportunities!

  4. These are some great tips, I remember when I first started to contact brands myself it felt so weird but you just kinda have to put yourself out there nowdays! Thanks for sharing lovely x

  5. Great post Jenny, it’s always helpful to read these type of posts. I have stopped looking for brand work for a while as I had a bit of a break from it, but when I was looking for it I decided to pitch to brands that I’d like to work with and so many of them came back to me which was awesome, so I’d agree with you there and definitely recommend pitching to brands!

    Chloe xx
    http://www.chloechats.com

  6. Great advice. I am nervous about the pitching part. Once I find a chance to write a post, my anxiety takes over and I end up writing a horrible blog post

  7. Thank you for all the useful the tips! As my blog grows, I definitely want to start working worn brands regularly. This gave me some idea on how to do that!

  8. This is excellent and it’s so true! When I work on it, I get opportunities, but when I don’t it’s just whatever drops into my inbox.
    There are fantastic tips here, I think one that’s really important is working on your blog – there’s always something to be doing in the background. I do weekly broken link checks and sometimes feel like tearing my hair out haha.
    Cora | http://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk

  9. This post was really helpful! I’m trying to get more blogging opportunities, so these tips are really useful. Thanks for sharing 😊

    Shannen

  10. I saw your post as I was doing my morning scroll on twitter and retweeted it to come back to read and here I am haha! That’s amazing that you’re at that stage where every couple of days there is a new opportunity waiting for you, massive congratulations, so well deserved!! One thing that’s been great over the past few years are companies moving away from traditional methods of advertisements such as on television, to more with bloggers since they see that that is a great way to reach their intended target demographic.

    As I am going to be getting my domain this weekend, one thing I am excited about it working with more brands but also question how to go about it a lot. At the moment I do get the odd email, which is great! But like you said, can’t rely on brands finding you all the time, sometimes you have to make the first move!

    I 100% agree with you, sometimes I do see sponsored content that’s not mentioned until WAY at the end and it is so obviously sponsored, the best sponsored content is when it fits so well with the blogger that it doesn’t seem out of the ordinary for the sponsorship.

    I haven’t thought of creating a spreadsheet before, but now that you mention it that’s a great way to keep tally of who you’ve worked with and future wise to send an email inquiring if there were any other suitable collaborations! Love the example you’ve included, it’s similar to writing to recruiters in a way!

    I have yet to create a media kit, going to have to get started on that this weekend! Super excited to be putting these techniques to work, amazing post as always Jenny!

  11. This is such great advice Jenny. I’ve started putting myself put there recently and had some wonderful feedback from brands. Even ones that will keep on file because they don’t have anything right now. It was scary sure, but one of the best things I’ve done so far. Thank you for the advice as always, I love reading your blogging posts.

  12. Very informative! As a new blogger, this was really helpful to me. I’m considering trying to start making money with my blog, and I really just need to put myself out there! Thank you for your advice!

  13. Such brilliant advice and tips, Jenny, like Beth said, you really are a blogging guru! That’s a wonderful suggestion about emailing PRs I’ve worked with before, I don’t know why I haven’t thought of it. Putting yourself out there is scary (hello, ghosting) but you’re right, it’s often the difference between landing those sponsored posts or not. Thank you, as always! XX

    Lisa | http://www.lisasnotebook.com

  14. Fantastic advice as always! I’m still new and honestly haven’t really put much thought into working with brands yet as I wouldn’t know who to work with or even what to do. Once I get more settled (if I do!!), I’ll have to start considering and looking more into this. Great post as usual and wicked informative!

  15. This is such a helpful and informative post for people like me who have never had a proper opportunity to work with a brand and get paid for it! I’d love to see a post from you soon about the process of working with a brand, from the first E-Mail to putting up the blog post, and of course all the bits in between!

    Soph – https://girlvsworldblog.com x

  16. Some great tips here, going to keep this post in mind for when I’m approaching brands in the future. I’m always too nervous to actually go for it but I want to for sure! Thanks for sharing Jenny x

  17. You are a genuine blogging guru. You have so much knowledge and I learn a ton from you, thank you for always being so generous with it! I need to get into a real groove with blogging again before I think about pitching properly, but I have a good relationship with a couple of PRs and it makes all the difference!
    Beth x Adventure & Anxiety

  18. This is so helpful. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this post. I’ve only started really working with sponsors etc, so it’s good to know how to handle it, how to continue the requests coming in and where to find other opportunities.

  19. These are all such helpful ideas! I seem to go through phases where I have a lot of collaborations on and then nothing for a while. I always try to reach out to pr’s I’ve worked with in the past every few months or so just to get my blog back out there, and a lot of the time that is how my sponsored posts come about. It’s always worth being brave and emailing first rather than just waiting for the opportunities to come to you xx

    Tiffany x http://www.foodandotherloves.co.uk

  20. I really needed this post right now! Brilliant advice, I’ve pinned it for future reference. I’m normally really shy about talking about my blog and what I do, but then I wonder why I’m not getting any paid opportunities! Thank you for the push to put myself out there
    Bella x
    theruralsoul.com

  21. Great advice. It seems like a hugely daunting thing to do.

    I suppose once you’ve had success your confidence grows and it will become easier.

    I am not at this stage yet but I will be revisiting this if the time comes x

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: