Collaborate 🤝 with your favorite brands!

Since my book launch in 2019 I have been passionately engaged with health and wellness brands. Initially brands reached out to me that liked my content and proposed collaborations. I have always been very selective as it’s very important to only represent brands and recommend product that I personally use and love. Authenticity is key. Here is a fun story from those early days:

A Japanese tea company approached to  and asked if I wanted to try their tea and if I liked it they were going to pay me for a review post. I said “absolutely I love tea, drink tea all day, every day. Send it over!”

So I get the tea, I make the tea, sip the tea and spit the tea out!!! This is disgusting. Ugh. What the heck? How could they ruin a tea? I was so disappointed and I was just amazed that I did not like the tea. What's wrong with this tea? Now, there were a couple of things wrong with the tea (in my opinion).

First of all it had stevia in it! I don't like stevia, I prefer to choose my own sweetener or not sweeten it at all. Second, there was seaweed in it. The Japanese tea company had the best intentions to make seaweed and the health benefits more available to the US but it had a really awful aftertaste. And the third thing was there was a flowery essence that I didn't like. I emailed the company and I said, “Hey, I am so sorry I am not going to be able to do this collaboration. I don't like the tea, but I do know how to fix it, here is a recipe!”. They really appreciated me taking the time to actually revise their recipe and they emailed me back and said, Hey we really appreciate your input, how can we continue working with you?

I was really surprised by their response and then it made me think, okay, cool. If you want me to work with you, let me develop your flavors. And so I did! I was excited. I was really honored and a little nervous, of course, but this opportunity let me to work with that company for 14 months. Not only did they need me for their flavor development, but they also needed someone to take the lead in the US. I helped them with their website, social media content. I even created a commercial for them. I did things that I had not done before, but I did it with so much passion and every time I didn't know how to do something, I would figure it out. So it was not just a paid gig, it was a great learning opportunity and it gave me the confidence to reach out to other brands and companies. And since 2019 I have worked with many brands and accidentally became a social media manager and managed influencer campaigns and got hired by TRX fitness training to create, launch and run their ambassador program.

Give before you ask!

Now you might be wondering how to kickstart your own journey. While inbound requests are great proactive outreach is key. Identify your favorite brands; take a look around your house. What are your go-to brands? (your fitness or recovery tools, go-to snacks, pantry staples, cosmetics) The best brands to represent are the ones whose products you already use, love and recommend to others. Brands value their customers & fans and seek to tap into social media audience for exposure.      

When you have a smaller audience and  first start working with brands it is very likely going to be product in trade for a post. Back in the days a picture was sufficient but now it’s much appreciated and expected that you create a reel. Reels allow you to showcase product benefits, features, and demonstrations.And it’s good practice, because when you deliver re-post worthy reels; meaning that the brand will post your reel on their page- you can start negotiate monetary compensation for content creation

Become a brand ambassador

Start out with smaller brands before you reach out to the bigger brands; it will be easier to start a conversation with them. A lot of brands nowadays have affiliate programs that you can apply for. You can become a brand ambassador for a brand and receive a personal code or affiliate link that you can share with your friends, clients and followers and make commission on referral sales. When I created the TRX fitness ambassador program we rewarded our ambassadors with 20% commission and the user of the code would receive 20% discount, which is significant and felt like a win-win especially because the commission on the pricey TRX fitness tools was a nice- not just a couple of bucks. When you become an ambassador It has to be worth your effort or sooner than later you will stop promoting the products. When you make 10 or 15 percent on referral sales on an item that only costs $20 or less  you will need to sell a large quantity to make money that covers the electricity bill instead of a Starbucks coffee.

It is a privilege to make money promoting the brands and products that you already use, love and recommend. It’s what most content creators dream but how do you get a brand’s attention?

First you shoot an awesome reel in which their product is featured. You want to make this reel re-post worthy; you tag them in it and share the reel in a DM with a little note to introduce yourself and talk about how their product has improved your life; give some genuine feedback.

And the next thing I’m going to share with you is the most important, make sure you pay attention! You do not just say  “ I would like to collaborate” you tell them what you can offer them in addition to the reel that you just created.

How can you add value?

You study their website and IG page and learn about their values and see what kind of content they already have in place. And then you are going to think about how you can add value; do you see something that you can create for them that would be a great addition; you want to be specific; paint the picture for them, share the vision. This is how you are going to stand out from all the other content creators.

To increase your chances of collaboration:

1. Produce high-quality, repost-worthy reels.

2. Maintain an engaged, active social media presence.

3. Clearly define your target audience in your bio for brand evaluation. They want to know if your audience is a good match for them

By following these steps and offering genuine value, you'll stand out among content creators and attract meaningful collaborations.

Remember that initiating collaborations with your favorite brands is about fostering genuine connections and adding value. Stay true to your authenticity, showcase your passion, and approach each opportunity with enthusiasm and creativity. As you continue on this journey, embrace the learning experiences, celebrate your successes, and keep striving to make meaningful contributions to the brands you love. Who knows what exciting collaborations await as you continue to share your unique voice and vision with the world? Keep exploring, keep creating, and keep making an impact!

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