As someone who receives numerous pitches from Public Relations teams every single day, I know what catches my attention and what doesn’t.

One thing that lots of people will tell you to do that you really don’t need to do is send a “media kit.”

Now, having said that, you still need a media kit, just not the super designed one you may be thinking.

Include the information you would have included in your media kit directly in your email. No one is going to look through your 10-page kit. Seriously.

Also don’t mention pricing at all. If you do, you’re giving away all negotiating power.

For more info on how to become a well-paid influencer, sign up for my free 3-day course or my full college level course here.

Additional posts you may enjoy:

• How To Become An Instagram Influencer
• How To Get Brands To Notice, Collaborate And Pay You As An Influencer

Things To Include In Your Pitch

1. Write a short and catchy subject line.
2. Include a direct link to your Instagram and blog, not to a press page—don’t make them have to do any extra steps!
3. Include your qualitative stats.
   • Engagement rate
   • Monthly views
   • Audience demographics
4. Quickly list the top 3 brands you’ve worked with, and then link to each of the promotions.
   • If you’re a newbie and haven’t worked with any brands yet, include your growth from month to month.
5. Be genuine! People can tell if the email has been sent a bunch of times, so include a genuine compliment or personal tidbit about the company to make your pitch stand out.

Your entire email should be as short and concise as possible—3 paragraphs max, 3 sentences per paragraph.

Use bullet points and bold lettering to direct to the most important elements. More than likely your email isn’t going to be read all the way through; it’s going to be scanned.

So make sure they are scanning your best points.

Imagine how many emails this person gets a day, now imagine if that person were you—would you read every single email, or would you scan them? When scanning, what type of information would pop out at you to make you interested in learning more?

What Not To Do When Pitching Yourself

Never put yourself down.

Example of what not to do:

“Hi, I’m Elaine Rau, I would love the the opportunity to be able to work with Elf Cosmetics. I just started my blog www.ladybossblogger.com a few months ago. I also created an instagram page @ladybossblogger to go with it. I know I’m just starting out and don’t have a ton of followers, but I would really love to promote your products! Thank you for your consideration.”

Everything mentioned is exactly why a brand wouldn’t want to collaborate or become a partner. All I did there was highlight how much of a newbie I was and then ask the brand for a favor (aka freebies).

You have something valuable to give to brands and that is your ability to create content and showcase it to your audience no matter how big or small.

What To Do When Pitching Yourself

• Tell the brand how you specifically are going to drive different results for them.
• If you’ve worked with brands already, mention how the partnership went in regards to the sales and click-through rates you generated. Use bit.ly to track all your links.
• If you haven’t worked with anyone yet, simply pitch them an idea.
• Don’t make brands think of creative ways to work with you—that is your job.

Example Email Pitch If You’re New

Hey Kat,

I’ve used Elf Cosmetics for over a year now and it has worked wonders on my cystic acne. I particularly love your acne fighting spot gel with aloe and your acne fighting foundation. I know my audience of 100% female entrepreneur readers also love your products.

My blog, LadyBossBlogger.com, sees over 15,000 page views/month with an incredibly high 30% engagement rate. My Instagram @ladybossblogger sees about a 6% engagement rate and generates thousands of views per image.

With summer ending soon, I’d love to share some of your products with my readers on repairing sun damage, protecting against pollution, and anti-aging.

I would love to partner with you guys soon!

Thanks, 

Elaine Rau

• Notice: there is a sense of urgency in the language I used but nothing pushy—just straight to the point.

Example Email Pitch If You’ve Worked On A Few Partnerships

Hey Kat,

I’ve used Elf Cosmetics for over a year now, and it has worked wonders on my cystic acne, especially your acne fighting spot gel with aloe and your acne fighting foundation. My audience of 100% female entrepreneurs love hearing about Elf Cosmetics whenever I post about you guys. Check out the Elf giveaway I posted on my personal instagram @elainerau.

I’ve worked before with brands like Bare Minerals and Revlon. With Bare Minerals, I drove a 40% click through rate with $300 in product sales in 1 week. Over 6 months, they sold $2,000 in Bare Minerals loose powder foundation.

My blog, LadyBossBlogger.com sees over 15,000 page views/month with an incredibly high 30% engagement rate. My Instagram @ladybossblogger sees about a 6% engagement rate and generates thousands of views per image.

Would love to partner with you guys soon!

Thanks,

Elaine Rau

Example Subject Lines

• For the Newbie: “Potential Eye Cream Holiday Gift Guide—Reach a new audience”
• For the Experienced: “Collaboration with Beauty Blogger—30K Instagram Followers”

It isn’t necessarily a good thing or a bad thing if you’ve worked with brands or not. It boils down to which brands. This is why niching down is so important!

Grab my list of the Top 12 Most Profitable Niches below.

What To Do If They Don’t Respond

1. Start a new email thread with a new pitch.
2. If you pitched to a specific individual, pitch to someone else.
3. If you have found a specific person, follow them on social media, and interact with them.

Make sure to wait at least a week before following up with them! PR reps get and send hundreds of emails a day, it may take a while for them to come around to yours! Be patient.

Reasons Why They May Not Have Responded

#1. The message was unfocused

Make sure every sentence in your email matters, having a clear focus and a goal.

#2. The subject line was confusing

They should get a gist of your entire message simply by reading your subject line.

#3. You sent it at the busiest time

Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday is the best time to send emails, because on Monday they are catching up from the weekend, and on Friday they are finishing everything.

#4. You were too specific

A partnership has to be two-sided and help both the blogger and the brand, so leave some room for negotiation and change.

#5. You included your prices and they were too high

It’s good to know your worth, but it’s also good to be priced competitively. Make sure you do your research to see what is out there.

How To Price Yourself

Run your Instagram through this free Instagram Money Calculator to see how much your earning potential is!

If you have any questions about pitching brands, feel free to reach out to me at ladybossblogger@gmail.com, and I would be glad to answer any questions you may have!

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Much Love,

<3 Elaine Rau

*Disclosure: There are some affiliate links in this post, but these are all products I highly recommend. I won’t put anything on this page that I haven’t verified and/or personally used.