064: How to pitch brands to become a sponsor – with Jenny Melrose

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Are you a content creator ready to pitch brands to become a sponsor? If you want to gain traction, this will help you reach the next level.

If you’re an influential blogger or a podcaster (like me), people are tuning in and want to hear what you have to say. Where next?

Pitching brands to become a sponsor will increase your revenue potential, and expand your reach to further grow your audience. So, um… how do we do that?

My special guest today is lifestyle blogger turned business coach.

Contents

Jenny Melrose demystifies how to pitch brands to become a sponsor in 5 simple steps

In this episode, you will learn:

  • How to identify the right types of brands to target, that are aligned with you
  • How and where to find the key people at these brands to pitch, so you can create a target list
  • How to structure your pitch email
  • How to use InstaStories on Instagram in a strategic way, to develop relationships before you pitch them
  • Best practices in the follow-up process, that increase your chances of closing the deal

Jenny also shares the common mistakes people make when compiling their media kit and sponsorship proposals.

In my conversation with Jenny, I realized there is an art form to pitching sponsors. It requires…

  • A shift in your mindset,
  • Creating a target list of the 5-10 brands you’d really like to collaborate with, and
  • Setting a strategy to build those relationships over time.

As with anything new you incorporate into your weekly work schedule, you have to commit the time to do the extra legwork. And this sets you up for long-term results. Jenny shows us behind the magic ‘Wizard of Oz curtain’, which is super inspiring. Maybe it isn’t as complicated as we once thought?

Report back and let me know how it goes for you!

#DoTheThing!

My challenge for you this week:

Start looking around your environment for brands which align with you, and your work. How can you appeal to these brands and create a two-way relationship? Share it with me, privately or publicly, by snapping a photo of you doing the thing and tag @thesimplifiers on Instagram for added accountability and support!

Links, books and apps mentioned:

Tool: Tailwind – Pinterest and Instagram Marketing, Scheduling, and Analytics tools

Tool: Hootsuite – Makes finding, scheduling, managing, and reporting on social media content easier

Tool: TweetDeck – Social media dashboard application for management of Twitter accounts

Tool: Streak – CRM for Gmail, as recommended by Jenny

Pitch Perfect Live: 5 day free training that walks you through who to pitch and what to say when you do, starting May 13, 2019.

Book: Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-Free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals – Rachel Hollis

Book: Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be – Rachel Hollis

Favorite quotes from this episode:

[14:44] “You can be as creative as you possibly can to authentically create that content that your audience is going to want to hear about. That’s the biggest piece.” – Jenny

[15:04] “The bottom line, the why behind it is more traffic headed to your website” – Mary

[20:16] “The [brands] want you to authentically still tell the story, just incorporate their product into it.” – Jenny

[25:08] “Build that relationship where you’re going to ask them, ‘Hey, do you guys have any new products coming out? My audience loves this one line of stationery that you have…” – Jenny

[26:53] “Think of this in a much more strategic way; mapping it out for the year ahead and thinking about each quarter, the types of brands that you’d like to collaborate with or the marketing messages that you are putting out for your business.” – Mary

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About Jenny:

Jenny is a former reading specialist who ‘retired’ from her teaching career when her blogging income far exceeded her salary. Through hard work and dedication, her lifestyle blog, The Melrose Family, became regularly sought out by nationally recognized brands such as Neutrogena, Smuckers, Glad, Costco, Stanley Steamer, Sara Lee and many more.

The unique pitching process she developed for working with brands, transformed an empty editorial calendar into one that was completely booked months in advance.

Now, she’s combining her passion for teaching with her extensive experience working with brands to help other bloggers do the same via JennyMelrose.com and Influencer Entrepreneurs Podcast with Jenny Melrose.

Jenny’s vote for the perfect guest on The Simplifiers Podcast:

Morgan Wieboldt of Morgan Manages Mommyhood. Morgan shares how to make being a mom simple, and being a kid memorable.

Where Jenny hangs out online:

Website: jennymelrose.com

Facebook: @jennymelrose1

Instagram: @jenny_melrose

Twitter: @JennyMelrose

Video version of the episode

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