Bridging the Gap Between Bloggers and Brands
There are many things new bloggers are unaware of – one being how to connect with PR companies and brands. Bloggers are known to connect with brands to form symbiotic relationships – they need each other. To be simply put, blogger reviews are typically a quid pro quo for free products. So who bridges the gap between bloggers and brands? Where can one start? Well, that’s what ProfNet is for. Not only is the service easy, it’s free.
Bloggers can connect with companies in six easy steps:
1) Type in www.profnet.com into your Web browser.
2) Bloggers should click on “Journalists: Send a Free Query.”
ProfNet caters to two sides: experts and journalists. The journalist side is found on the right-hand side of the page.
3) Fill out your general information – name, blog name, URL, etc.
4) Tell ProfNet what you’re looking for and set a deadline.
I provided an example in the image below for a “Father’s Day Gift Guide.” I wrote:
I’m looking for the best in men’s clothing, shoes and accessories. These items will be reviewed and featured in my Father’s Day Gift Guide. My blog has 6,900 unique monthly visitors and complies with the FTC blogger guidelines. There are no fees to feature an item.
Feel free to add in any other relevant information or Web metrics.
All-Star Tip
We typically require three things from our bloggers:
- amount of unique monthly visitors, along with a screenshot to prove it (e.g., from Google Analytics, WordPress statistics, etc.)
- your blog complies with FTC blogger guidelines
- no fees to feature an item
Also, please note our deadlines are set in Eastern Time.
5) Choose the region and institution types of the audience you want us to send your query to.
Please note that we only send blogger queries to four institution types:
- Authors/Speakers/Analysts/Consultants
- Corporations
- PR agencies
- Small Businesses
6) The final step is to hit submit and wait for email responses.
Forming your first brand relationship can be exciting. Just wait for the magic to happen and enjoy. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at [email protected].
Happy blogging!
Whether you’re a reporter, blogger, author or other content creator, ProfNet can help you with your search for expert sources. All you have to do is fill out a quick form telling us what you’re looking for, your deadline, and how you want to be contacted, and we’ll send it to the appropriate experts in our network. The best part? It’s free! Get started here: Send a query.
Melissa Ibarra is an online community services specialist at ProfNet, a service that connects journalists with expert sources. In the past, she has worked for CBS Sports and News 12 NJ and done freelance reporting for New Jersey News Room and Reel Reporting. She specializes in social media, graphic design, and video production. Follow her media journey @melibarraTV.
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The only nitpick I have with this is the use of “quid pro quo.” On my blog, there’s sometimes quid pro quo for my opinion, but it’s never preordained. I can say anything I want. The danger is when brands play with fire and team up with “mercenary” bloggers who view everything very transactionally, meaning these types of bloggers are very literal with quid pro quo. They’ll expand the meaning of quid pro quo to mean “preordained wink wink ‘opinion’ as long as the item is free”. This is a dirty dance. It tarnishes one of the definitions of influencers. Example: I get invited to events all the time such as George Wayne’s Downtown 100, and there was a local event the night of Mayweather-Pacquiao, but the people inviting me aren’t expecting anything quid pro quo. Same goes for the brands who mail actual items to me without me even asking. They better be super confident in mailing products to me, because they know I can say anything I want, even negative — or that I might not say anything at all. So there’s no quid pro quo with legit influencers. Mercenaries, yes, and they corrupt the concept because they see things in black and white and are a real blemish on the entire internet. Other than that, great article.
Great point! The thing is through this blogger/brand relationship, what these brands get is exposure — whether good or bad. If they really trust in their product’s quality, they’ll expect more good than bad. And if brands do receive bad reviews, they can take that as *constructive* criticism to only further improve their product. 🙂 ProfNet also requires bloggers state they are FTC compliant. Therefore, bloggers can only give their honest opinions. No fees are also involved.