Join
me for a chat about how essential it is to blow your own trumpet when trying to
move up the ladder in the blogging world.
I think that it’s something I’ve learnt through my blogging career
because to get opportunities in this industry, you have to tell others about
you/your blog’s achievements in order to secure collaborations and – let’s face
it – gifts! Some bloggers talk about how their numbers (in so far as their
amount of readers) don’t matter to them, and it’s made to sound like those who
say they do are… blogging for the wrong reason, perhaps? As though you’re only
blogging for popularity and not because you enjoy it or benefit from it. Of
course, this isn’t true. The popularity of my blog is really important to me
but those of you who know me or have followed I’m NOT Disordered for a while
will know how much I enjoy blogging, all of the opportunities that come with
it, and what a hugely positive impact it has on my life/mental health.
If you want your blog to grow, improve, and succeed in the
industry, then getting some collaborations and partnerships under your belt is
one of the greatest ways to do this. The blogging industry is so huge these
days that it takes more than unique and original content to attract people’s
attention.
Being overlooked by companies as a small blog could actually be
used as motivation to get out there and make your own opportunities. And this
is where your trumpet comes in! You’re going to have to blow on it if you want
to get collaborations and partnerships with others.
To put it simply, companies have come back to me with more yeses
now that I’m almost on half a million readers than they did when I had 100,000.
The trick is, to target smaller companies when your blog is starting out; it’ll
help you to attract the attention of fans of the company/brand/organisation;
whilst also laying some groundwork. Many bloggers have begun working with small
companies that have grown and taken the blogger along with them. Approaching a
more equal, and realistic brand also increases the chance of you actually
getting the partnership and a successful collaboration will lead to a higher
chance of landing a partnership with a larger company. For example, in my early
days of blogging I began working with Time To Change as a volunteer handing out
leaflets. Gradually, they saw the effort and hard work that I put into my blog
and after volunteering at a few more events… I now take on the role of Social
Media Manager at events, have done talks at conferences, and written reports
for their funding organisations. Working with Time To Change gave me the
experience and knowledge to approach other companies for collaborations.
When I approach organisations, I tend to tell them first (after a
brief introduction to myself and I’m NOT Disordered) the current amount of
readers the blog has. I find it the most essential thing to say because it
seems that only at that point do you actually get their attention. I write
about my total number of readers (365,272 at the time of writing) my stats on
how many readers I average at per day (1,000), the countries that read my blog
the most (1. USA 2. UK 3. Germany 4. Brazil 5. Ukraine 6. France 7. Czechia 8.
Canada 9. UAE 10. Spain) and my average engagement figures on Twitter (just
over 3,000 a day). There’s then another trumpet blow when I go on to talk about
my previous and current work with organisations, brands, companies, charities,
and well-known individuals. I use the experience to illustrate my knowledge, creativity,
and any talents or skills that they may want a person collaborating with them,
to have. Before approaching the company, I often check their previous partnerships with other bloggers to
get an idea of the sort of content they like to produce. I also use this
research in proposing the kind of work that we could do together so that I can
suggest something both reasonable/realistic and still original.
Trumpet blowing is essential in blogging and having to do is
nothing to be ashamed of or to be reluctant of doing. And it shouldn’t be
something that has bad connotations. Sometimes being modest doesn’t get you
anywhere. You have to make the opportunities. At the end of the day, if you
want to climb the ladder… but remember – there’s a difference between climbing
the rungs and stepping on people to get to the top.
Happy Blogging!