Fun fact: if you google “Working With Sponsors,” two of my posts are on the first page of returns:
So, how about Part 3?
This one is simple and yet, I find people emailing me about it all.the.time.
It’s great when sponsors find you, right? Well, it sounds good. But be careful what you ask for. Pitches come in all flavors, and not all are legit.
So, when companies that I’m unfamiliar with send me a pitch of any kind — I always respond, even if I think it’s a no-way-in-hell opportunity.
Here’s my standard email (saved as a Gmail canned response, although I tweak and personalize it before sending…more than I can say for most pitches!).
Thank you so much for your email — I appreciate you taking the time to stop by my website and learn more about what I do.
I’m struggling with making the connection between your product and my blog, but if you can provide more information, I may be interested in working with you.
My blog is about staying healthy while living a hectic life — typically, I share information about using social media tools and technology to be more efficient, although I also share my experiences with triathlon training, strength training and other fitness ventures. How would your product fit that mission?
I do not, as a rule, accept products for review or giveaway on my website. If you’re interested in working with me as a sponsor, I have several options including advertising and event sponsorship. Depending on your timeline and budget, we can certainly find a project that supports your goals and also compensates me for the time I’d spend in reaching them.
As you can imagine, my blog is very valuable real estate, and my first commitment is to my readers. If you are interested in talking more, I would be happy to provide you with a proposal for a project that fits your parameters. If not, I understand, and wish you the best of luck!
I have found that this approach quickly separates the real from the just fishing companies (and the more you play the blog game, the more off-the-wall emails you’ll get!). It also helps me keep my mind open, because some emails that I’ve thought were too crazy actually turned into great relationships with brands and organizations.
Maybe not the most amazing advice I’ll ever give you, but it saves me time and helps me cultivate relationships!
About Katy
KAty, this is awesome. I adore your willingness to help others here. SO THANK YOU for great advice.
Thank you so much for this series. As a relatively new blogger (next month will be 1 year), I am starting to get multiple emails per week from different companies. Trying to figure out which ones are good and which ones are sketchy can be difficult. This is such great advice.
One question: do you respond to EVERYONE who emails you about your blog?
Thanks!
I was just about to email you a link to this post, Glenneth!
I appreciate this post and advice like this. I have been getting a bunch of odd ball emails lately and I have deleted a few. I see your point with the replay email. Thanks!
I used to reply to all of them. Now I get these ones that I can’t tell if it’s a real person or spam but they are like “writers” who want to guest post on my blog, who do not have their own blog and don’t say what they want to write about, but that all they want is links in exchange?!
Maybe I’m rude but I am not replying to crap like that.
When it’s an actual company I do still reply. Then there is also folks wanting me to read their E-Books. It’s neverending!
Off-the-wall emails are really annoying sometimes and it makes me think not to use my primary email in some not-so-important things…
I haven’t been around long enough to get these e-mails, although I did get one from a TV show asking about my supposed love of a celebrity cook and if I wanted to be on the show when they were on. It did prompt me to write a blog post about why I’m not a fan of the fake foods that celebrity cook is famous for!
LOVE google canned responses! Saves time…I think your email helps people to get the idea that you don’t accept everything and anything that comes your way but at the same time does it nicely but blunt too.
Very helpful. Thank you <3
Thanks for the help here…Anyway, you are really helping the people especially the bloggers here…
Sending peeps your way!
Thanks for this blog. Having a job through blog sponsors were awesome.
those advice really help me especially I’m a new blogger. thanks and i will book mark this page so that i will show this to my other friends.
Canned responses are fantastic for this. I have two types: One for companies and one for writers.
Learning to be selective was a hard lesson.
Love this, Katy! The only thing I would add to your canned response is asking the company to take a look at your media kit. That way, if they haven’t already, they can see what kind of value you bring to the table (many companies don’t want to spend on bloggers until the potential ROI becomes clear). Thanks for all you do!
Oooh, yes — great idea!