Tuesday 5 March 2013

Guest post: Crown & Glory



This week we have the lovely Sophie from Crown & Glory guest posting for us and her topic of choice is 'For Brands, By Bloggers'. If you have a small business or are a brand reading this post we hope this gives you a little insight into what bloggers want, and what they get on a daily basis. If you're looking to use bloggers to promote your site this article will be useful. And if you're a blogger wanting to know the point of view of a brand who works with bloggers on a regular basis here you go..

"Ah, the topic of PR gifting. In some circles, it's the bloggers' holy grail, and in others in can often cause a PR nightmare if not executed correctly. This post is intended as a guide for brands on how to deal with bloggers and make the most of your collaboration.

The first thing to determine is what you want to gain from your collaboration. Are you looking for sales, brand exposure or both? As a brand, get out of the mindset that by sending bloggers 'freebies' you're doing them a favour. This is a collaboration, your're both gaining from this partnership.

With a plethora of blogs out there, these girls and guys are going to repost everything that's sent their way. With this in mind, make sure you're targeting the right sort of bloggers for your niche. Treat your collaboration proposal as a pitch, be friendly and be personal. Everyone likes to think their email is tailored to them and the dynamic of their blog. A brand must is to greet the blogger by their name!!



Ensure you establish exactly what you are expecting from the collaboration. It's absolutely ok to lay down some initial requests so everyone knows where they stand. What isn't ok, is trying to push content on bloggers. By the very nature of individuals that want to blog, they want to be creative with their posts and also honest about the product their are reviewing.

It's a pretty sad fact in blogging that there are a lot of people getting into it now just for the freebies. Realistically, from a brands point of view, sending pieces to someone that is clearly in the business for this reason isn't going to the best kind of partnership. These types of blogs lack integrity, longevity and you're more often than not going to find your product on eBay after it's been snapped. Absolutely of course, monetising blogs is 100% ok. I'm not suggesting that you beware of blogs that consider their hard work to be a business, in fact, this is probably the best sort of blogger you could ask for coverage from. But these blog have got where they are due to hard work, determination and skill."


We'd love to hear your thoughts on this somewhat hush hush subject. Are you a blogger who thinks that post after post of 'c/o' would put a brand off working with you? Do you appreciate and work hard on blog posts featuring gifted items?

You can follow Crown & Glory on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Blogger

5 comments:

  1. Great post! I think healthy relation involves talking about the post in question. And I never expect items to be given for free - it's someone's hard work in terms of item and PR and I know I am should give something back in terms of my honest opinion.

    P.S. I LOVE Crown & Glory and have the exact same headband as Milly here. Few more are on my wishlist! X

    Mademoiselle-Lala.com

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  2. I've never heard of Crown & Glory before but their pieces are gorgeous!

    Wondering what others will comment about this 'hush hush' subject too! :)

    in-my-sundaybest.blogspot.co.uk

    XOXO Sade

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  3. I've been working with gifted items for quite a few years with my blog now and I think it is important to have a balance of gifted and bought products in your outfit posts, also it is important for the blogger to show appreciation of the items they receive, otherwise it does start to feel like they are taking it for granted!

    www.kristianavasarina.com

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  4. When I first started blogging, I didn't even know this sort of thing happened, so when I was first sent a gift, I was over the moon! I did my best to get their name out there to my readers and genuinely like the things they gave me. I try to have a good balance of regular posts and 'c/o' posts (mainly regulars) and have turned down gifts in the past if I'd had too many c/o's recently or it didn't fit the theme of my blog.
    I think it's a great thing for bloggers and brands to collaborate, this business is all about networking and I don't see the harm in a nice swap every once in a while :)

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  5. I completely agree with you, a lot of people are starting to blog just for the gifts/money off etc and it's wrong. You should be blogging because you want to share interests and ideas with fellow bloggers not trying to get in companies good books! But at the same time, the majority of bloggers i've seen that get freebies do blog a lot and put lots of effort in :) xx

    www.helloellaxo.com

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