Are you a blogger learning how to work with brands? If you’ve been frustrated with brands coming back to you for campaigns with “no budget”, this blog post is for you! I’ll be sharing different situations and 7 ways you can ask to be paid for a brand collaboration.

How to get paid as a bloggers – how to make money with a blog – how to become a paid blogger – get paid to blog – blogging tips – blogging ideas – how to turn your blog into a business – influencer marketing

For the first 2-3 years of running my blog Emma’s Edition, I didn’t charge brands for blog posts or Instagram posts. I had no idea that I could even ask for payment as a microinfluencer or how to even begin pricing myself. When I asked other local bloggers in community, I was told to “just ask” and to “shoot a number out there” and see if the brands responded.

Learning how to ask to be paid for a brand collaboration was one of the scariest things for me.

It took me 6 months to a year to get comfortable asking to be paid. I had to stop and realize that I brought brands value (literally wrote a whole blog post on the 4 lessons I learned recognizing and asking for my value). Then I had to figure out how to professional phrase “please pay me” in emails and over the phone.

I also had to deal with my fears.

I was afraid of rejection. I was afraid brands were going to retreat back and decide they didn’t want to work with me. But to my surprise, most brands have come back with a budget – even if they first reached out and said they only have gifted products. And for the brands who said they don’t have budget, they still wanted to work with me on a gifted campaign.

After 2+ years of paid campaigns, I don’t even blink when I ask the brand for their budget. I’ve learned that rejection and “no” is just a part of the business. And that you’ll never receive if you don’t ask.

Today I wanted to share situations you might face working with brands and different ways you can ask to be paid for a brand collaboration. It can be intimidating when you’re first starting to ask brands for compensation, but with practice and patience, you’ll get the hang of it!

7 Ways You Can Ask to be Paid for a Brand Collaboration

Ask to be Paid for a Brand Collaboration - How to get paid as a bloggers – how to make money with a blog – how to become a paid blogger – get paid to blog – blogging tips – blogging ideas – how to turn your blog into a business – influencer marketing

Your situation:

A brand reaches out to you about a campaign. The brand is asking for an Instagram post, an Instagram story (with 3 unique frames), and they want a link in your bio for 48 hours.

Response #1:

“May you please share what the budget to produce the one Instagram post, 3 unique Instagram story frames, and share the link in bio?”

Response #2:

“This campaign sounds amazing and I think the product/service would resonate with my audience.

With the Instagram post, link in my bio, and Instagram stories required for the campaign, may you please share the budget?

Ask to be Paid for a Brand Collaboration - How to get paid as a bloggers – how to make money with a blog – how to become a paid blogger – get paid to blog – blogging tips – blogging ideas – how to turn your blog into a business – influencer marketing

Your situation:

A brand reaches out to you with a campaign that’s due in less than two weeks. The brand is requesting a quick turnaround time for a blog post, an Instagram post, Instagram stories, and more. The brand asks if you’re able to support the campaign.

Response #3:

“With the quick turnaround time in mind and the deliverables requested for the campaign, may you please inform me of the budget?”

By the way, if a brand is requesting the content be
delivered in less than two weeks – you can
charge more for the campaign. If you’re working full time like me or
balancing school (like I did for the last two years), your time is limited. You
have to reprioritize that campaign ahead of your content.

For me personally, I work my photographers for most of my campaigns. So if a brand is asking for content in a few days, it’s almost impossible to work with my photographers. I have to figure out a time that works for both our schedules and then factor in that she also needs time to go through the photos and edit them. Even if you charge an additional $100 for the campaign, charge something for that quick turnaround.

Emma’s Edition – Summer outfit – Lulus – Denim Skirt – Gingham Top – Seattle blogger

Your situation:

A brand reaches out to you for a brand collaboration. They’re a skincare company and they’re offering $100 of free product. They want to gift you products in exchange for 2 Instagram posts and 2 Instagram stories.

Response #4:

“While I’m excited and thankful that the brand is able to gift product, may you please also share the budget for the campaign?”

Response #5:

“Aside from the gifted products, may you please let me know what the allocated budget is for the campaign?

Emma’s Edition – Summer outfit – Lulus – Denim Skirt – Gingham Top – Seattle blogger

Your situation:

YOU PITCHED a brand for a collaboration. You want to offer one blog post and one Instagram post + 3 Instagram stories. If you’d like to get paid for the campaign, make sure you include this in the pitch email…

Response #6:

“If this collaboration sounds aligned with your goals, please let me know! I’d be happy to share my rates and discuss a budget that works for the brand”

Ask to be Paid for a Brand Collaboration - How to get paid as a bloggers – how to make money with a blog – how to become a paid blogger – get paid to blog – blogging tips – blogging ideas – how to turn your blog into a business – influencer marketing

Your situation:

A brand reaches out to you for PAID campaign. They’re requesting a blog post, 2 Instagram posts, 3 Instagram stories over the course of 3 months. They also require that you don’t work with any other brand in the same category for 3 months. They share the initial budget – but it’s way under what you would price.

Response #7:

“I’m excited to hear that BRAND wants to work together for an extended campaign. “

May you please let me know if there’s room in the budget to increase the initial compensation amount? I would typically charge between $$$-$$$ for this campaign.”

Remember, you can charge MORE if a brand requires you to not work with any competitive brands in the same category.

Emma’s Edition – Summer outfit – Lulus – Denim Skirt – Gingham Top – Seattle blogger

Do you need help with email negotiation templates?

If all of this seems like a lot, I’ve bundled together 10 email negotiation templates you can use for your next brand collaboration. How to Negotiate (Paid) Brand Collaborations is available for $120.

In this course, I include:

+ 10 EMAIL NEGOTIATION TEMPLATES (including how to turn a gifted collaboration into a paid collaboration)

+ 3 BONUS EMAIL TEMPLATES (INCLUDING A PITCH TEMPLATE TO BRANDS)

+ 3 REAL LIFE BRAND EMAIL NEGOTIATIONS – THESE BRAND COLLABORATIONS ARE FROM 2019!

+ AND TIPS ON NEGOTIATING AND PRICING.

In 2018, I brought in $10,000 in revenue on top of my full-time job and grad school in aerospace with my blog and Instagram. In 2019, I brought in $40,000 in revenue again, on top of my full-time job in aerospace and last quarter in grad school. 

Brands have the budget to pay you for your work. But it’s up to you to ask the brand for their goals, timeline, and budget. And it’s up to you to recognize your value as a content creator/influencer and ask to be paid. 

What tips do you have for asking to be paid for brand collaborations?

For more blogging tips, you can also check out:

5 Mistakes New Bloggers Make in 2019

How to Stand Out as an Influencer in 2019

When Should You Say YES or NO to a Brand Collaboration

Thank you for reading!

Love,

Emma

Photos: Karya Schanilec