So last week, I wrote about blogging tips for working with PRs, which was very well received by bloggers. So for today, I decided to write about PR tips for working with bloggers, because lets face it, some of these PRs are completely clueless when it comes to working with bloggers. We need to hold their hands, and I hope they find this post useful.
Provide ALL information in the First/Second Email
I hate it when I receive an email with for a blog request, and I have to keep asking for all the required information to be sent. It is off-putting guys. I like working with PRs that send full or part information out in the first email to see if I am interested, and send the rest of the information, if not already sent, in the second email. It just shows they have their head on their neck, and they know what they are doing. So information like – budget, type of link required, anchor texts if any, deadlines, and so on, I need to know in the second email, so I know if I am going ahead or not.
I hate having to go back and forth many times, when such information should have been sent in full earlier. It is just a waste of my time and it puts me off working with such PRs in the future.
Do Not Hide the Fact That You Do Have a Budget
I hate it when PRs hide the fact that they do have a budget for a campaign, and try to see if they can get me to work for free. This has happened so many times now and I find it so annoying and dishonest. I know many bloggers fall for this trick because many are uncomfortable talking about money and I really don’t know why.
Well I am VERY comfortable talking about money so I don’t fall for this trick but it still gets to me. Many PRs will approach you with a request, and won’t mention anything about a budget until you do, and then they say yes they have £X budget for this, and I am like, why did you have to wait for me to ask you? Surely, you should have said that in your second email when I asked for all the necessary information to be sent. This puts me off working with such PRs as I find them dishonest, and looking for inexperienced bloggers to rip off.
Pay Us On Time
Pay bloggers when you say you would. If its 24 hours, pay in 24 hours. If its 20 working days, pay in 20 working days. There are so many media agencies and PRs that I have had the pleasure of working with and that do pay when they say they would. Digital agencies like Mediaworks, and Bronco, pay invoices within hours of receiving them, which I find fantastic. I enjoy working with these agencies because I don’t have to continuously chase up payments, but these type of agencies/PRs are few and far in between.
I have discovered from personal experience that those companies/PRs that say they will pay your invoice in 30 days for example, hardly ever pay in 30 days. I usually have to chase the payment up daily and stalk them on social media to get it paid. Unlike those that say they will pay immediately they receive the invoice. I usually never have to chase payments up with those companies as they pay on the same day most times.
I am currently waiting on a couple of invoices to be paid, fingers crossed I will get paid within the agreed timescales.
Editorial Control
I hate it when PRs ask me to send a draft of a post before it goes live, and I always let them that is not going to happen, and they are free to go to the next blogger. I do not allow anyone else have editorial control on my blog. If you need to read a similar blog post, I would happily send you a link from the blog archives but sending a draft before publishing a post doesn’t sit well with me at all.
It makes me fill uneasy to send a draft of anything I write to anybody. No family member or friend read a draft of my book until it was live on Amazon. The only person to read a draft was my proofreader and editor. That is how I like to operate because I trust my instincts and judgement too much to ask for a second opinion when it comes to my work, and having someone else approve my work gets me anxious. Many PRs respect that, and I hope many more start to understand that.
Mutually Beneficial Collaborations
PRs need to understand that for a collaboration to take place, and for both parties to be happy, it has to be mutually beneficial. There has to be something in it for you and me, not just you. So you want me to write about your client, you need to pay my rates, you want me to review your products, I will pick the products I am interested in if possible, and you may need to pay an admin charge if required. You want me to attend an event, it has to be an event that would change my life, event I would enjoy attending, for me to drop everything and come.
The point am making is there has to be something in it for me, there is something in it for you already, if not you won’t be contacting me.
Be Personal
I understand PRs and SEOs are very busy, so some of them send general emails to many bloggers at once. That is completely understandable but I like to read personal emails every now and again. It catches my attention when you address me by my first name, and you metioned something personal about me or Fashion and Style Police, that confirms you have read my blog and done your research. It shows you know what you are doing and I am so quick to respond to such emails.
So there you have it. My tips for PRs, working with bloggers. I hope you enjoyed reading it.
Please leave me a comment adding your tips. I will love to read about your experience working with PRs/SEOs.
Thanks for reading xoxo
I work in blogger outreach & I’m a blogger, so luckily I see both sides of the situation. These are some really handy tips though. I completely agree with the point about sending over a draft before the publish date… it always makes me feel really uneasy! Wh should someone else have to approve what is going onto my own blog?
I guess the PRs want to make sure you write what they want you to write…
I hate it when pr gets in touch with me first and we send email back and forth then they turn around and say that they don’t want to work with me because I wont expect a no-follow link or my facebook following is too low
So annoying isn’t it?
I agree with all of these points, nothing is worse than PR’s that send emails without enough information, don’t mention they have a budget and what I will achieve from working with them. I was working with a PR recently, and we had an agreement that I was going to post it on my blog, but now days later I haven’t heard anything from them and the last email said that the woman wasn’t agreeing with her boyfriend and therefor she were going to post it on her blog instead. I know I got a payment for writing, and it took me forever to write it but still the original agreement were that I was gonna post it on my blog, that bugs me a little:/ You have a great blog!!
Celia x
http://www.brandobeauty.uk
So annoying isn’t it..Thanks Celia x
Thank you so much, this post was so helpful!
MadeFromBeauty.co.uk
Glad you found it helpful x
It is actually sadder when people think you charge too much or that writing shouldn’t be paid that highly for in the first place. I really like the way you’ve summed up all the things here!
Will be following! xx
Maybe you could check out mine. erubescentecstasy.com
Thanks Aditi. Will do x
I’ve not really worked with PR much, so I will take these tips (and the previous ones) with me! Thank you for sharing x
Thanks for reading Tanya x
These are great tips and what should be expected when pr people want to work with bloggers 🙂
Thanks Claire x
Some great tips there. I hate it when PR’s aren’t clear with what they want because it wastes both our time x
Yea. So annoying x
Some good tips here, I always get nervous when a PR asks for a copy of the draft prior to publishing x
Yea me too. So I don’t allow it x
OMG, I was so waiting for the text you put under your Be Personal headline, I got a generic email from the PR of an online store in China andI it started with Hey and then came the next paragraph. ARE YOU FREAKN SERIOUS ‘LADY’??!
I know its ‘hard work’ to do your research and find the blogs that match your brand’s target audience and find out their names etc, but that is your J.O.B.
I always send such emails straight into the Trash Bin where they belong!! ( :
I get emails like that all the time. Straight into the bin, lol..
It’s great to read a blog from the other perspective, there are 1000’s of “How to work with PR’s” but what about PR’s they don’t understand how to work with us!
So often do I get an email offering me a great product.. for “free” I reply back with my rates and my media pack and they just shut the door on me. If they think the work is “free” then they should come and do it. My blog is my job, I spend around 40 hours minimum a week updating it and researching the information I put into it. They could spend 5 minutes researching me.
So many of them have no clue Amy x
Great tips. My biggest bug bear has got to emails sent to ‘Ms anonymous’. It doesn’t take much time and research to quickly read my blog and find out that I do actually have a real name. Tx
Ms anonymous? Oh my. Yet to have that..Lol.
This is really interesting post and as a blogger I agree with all of the above. As a PR, sometimes one or two of those things aren’t that simple, but I always try to ensure I have all of them ticked off.
Thanks Jessica x
I know I despise emails that don’t even bother to call me by my first name or expect me to work for under 20 pounds for an 1,000 word post, not going to happen mate!
Hahaha, emails like that go straight into the bin x
Some great advice and tips here. I always try to respond to a PR Email in a timely manner.
Yea me too. Thanks Leanne x
Some really interesting tips, some of them some people would do well to read before sending an email x
Yeap x
Agree with them all and my pet hate is when they say hey we love your blog but they don’t even know my name …. maybe we should send them a link to this blog post ask them to read it then email us back correctly
Ha I think we should, lol.
I’ve been a blogger for quite some time now, but I still feel like a novice with PR although I’ve worked with a few. But great tips. Can’t get enough of good ones like these. So thanks for sharing. 🙂
Thanks for reading x
Excellent tips here! I hope a good few PRs read this post.
I hope they do x
It drives me mad when PRs don’t disclose budget upfront and I have to ask about it!
Yea me too..Lol
LOVE this post – all so true! I can’t say any more because you have covered everything I would say! Working with brands is a two way thing! Kaz x
Yeap it is.
I think the point about mutually beneficial collaborations is so important. The tone that lots of brands seem to take is that they’re doing me a favour when really I’m the one doing a job for them!
Yea I just agree the tone and send them my rates, lol..
Some good points there, all very true. Sometimes I think some PRs should be very clear on what they expect
Yea. The clearer the better.
Great post! I like everything to be upfront in the first couple of emails too. x
Yeap me too x
Point one, yes! It drives me dotty all the back and forth just to eventually find out they want something I don’t do.
Yea so annoying.
I agree with all of these points but especially the budget – just say what you want, it’s so annoying going backwards and forwards for no reason! X
Yea very annoying x