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