When I wrote this post on Networking and this post on Giveaways , I heard from a lot of you about your fear of sending that initial email. Reaching out is pretty terrifying and I know what it feels like to reread that email 20 times and save it in your drafts for a couple days. It is easy to never send that email but that is doing you no favors and getting you nowhere.
Introduce yourself and your blog
This is so important, please don’t skip this step. When you meet with someone in real life, you always start by introducing yourself. The same thing goes for sending emails. You need begin building a relationship with the person you are reaching out to. This is a great place for you to link your blog into the email! When they read the email, they can just click on the link and spend as much time as they need learning about you! This should be the first paragraph and should sound a bit like small talk.
Compliment their shop or blog and share with them WHY you personally want to work with them
The second paragraph should jump straight into the why. Share with them why you are reaching out to them and what you love about them. This is a place for authentic flattery. If you are wanting to connect with a shop or a blogger, there is a reason you admire them. Share with them those things that make you love their shop or blog.
Give them a detailed explanation of what you would like them to do
(ex:I would love for you to host this Christmas Exchange with me, be part of a giveaway or review on my blog, provide the items for a DIY post.)The third paragraph is where you place your request. If you jump into this before the first two steps, you might not get the reaction you were hopping for. Now that they know you & know why you are interested in them, they will be more open to hear the plan. It is important in this paragraph to be detailed and organized in your request.
Share how it will help them
It is true, bloggers love helping each other but make sure when you are asking for something, you respect them by explaining what is in it for them. If I email GAP and ask for $100 to spend on clothes because I want to buy more clothes from them they probably wouldn’t do it BUT if I pointed out how I would do a review on the blog which would draw attention, post on social media, etc.. they might be more willing to get behind it.
Be respectful of the time, talent, and product of the person you are emailing. Share with them why it will be worth their time, energy, and/or financial backing. When you ask for a lot but do not mention what they will get out of it, it can come off as disrespectful of the product or service they offer. Also, this does not always need to be monetary, some things have other benefits like “the joy of sharing this devotion for free with all our readers or the invaluable help you would be able to offer on a product and see it thrive.” Keep all those things in mind as formulate this section.
Follow up
After you sent your initial email, give them a couple weeks to respond. We all know email inboxes are demanding and overwhelming. Your email is most likely not the only email sitting there for them to respond to. I have received emails full of questions about blogging that I was happy to answer but it may take me a couple days to respond because I work full time and blog on the side. I have a 7 day goal of responding but that does not always happen. If that blogger emails back one day later asking me if I got there initial email, it is stressful and makes me feel like they expect me to drop everything and spend an hour answering all their questions which makes me want to respond less. Give them two weeks (to be gracious) and then follow up only once. If they never get back to you, they probably do not have the time or margin to work together at this time. You can reach out again, but give them a couple months.
BONUS
- Make sure to use proper grammar and punctuation. Having capital letters, structured & complete sentences, and paragraph organization reflects well on you.
- Keep in mind that email paragraphs are shorter than college essay paragraphs. Avoid adding too much filler so that your email doesn’t take too long to read.
- Don’t stress about “Sorry, not this time” responses or unanswered emails. Those will both happen and you just need to pull a Taylor and Shake it Off. There can be a million reasons that the other person cannot collaborate at the time. Just send an understanding and respectful response and move on!
I am always getting stuck on the initial reaching out email. Thanks for sharing these tips, pinning this for next time!
I LOVE this post! I've been thinking lately about reaching out to companies regarding sponsor posts and giveaways and such, and have NO idea how to do it without sounding 1) ridiculous or 2)unprofessional. I know professional emails in the realm of a law firm, and that's it! Now I just need to get past feeling too shy/awkward to even send the initial email…. Thanks for these great tips!
I love how you are always so open about sharing what you have learned with others!
Thanks for the tips! If you are doing a Giveaway from a specific review, do you ever add more items to the Giveaway or add collaborators to broaden the audience? What have you found to be the best overall experience? …basically I have a review/giveaway coming up of 1 item and am wondering if I should seek others to add to the mix.
Great advice, Elizabeth! I've found that reaching out pretty much always pays off simply because you're making a new friend! I'm so excited to work with you in October! 🙂
Great tips! It can definitely be intimidating to put yourself out there… but worth it!
These are awesome tips! It makes me happy to say I've been formatting my emails just like that. 🙂
These tips are seriously awesome – I'm a huge advocate for just how HUGE networking can be. You're totally right about how sending that initial email can be overwhelming, but these are some great pointers to gain some confidence and step out of your comfort zone. Thanks for sharing, girl! xo
Ooh, these are great tips! I feel like I don't have the guts to send out emails like this, but these tips definitely make me feel like it's actually do-able and not nearly as scary as it seems! 🙂
I think your last bonus point is the most important. Fear of that kind of response stops a lot of potential collaborations before they can even get started. Be brave, reach out, and realize it's probably not all you when the other person doesn't want to collaborate!