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    That Tall Lady

    a travel and lifestyle blog

    How I landed my 1st paid collaboration with 1K+ followers

    15 October 2020TRAVEL

    Brand Collaborations are one the main ways bloggers and influencers monetise their online presence. However, with many things in the industry, there is not a lot of transparency about it. As someone just starting out as a travel blogger and building my online presence, I decided to write this post to share my experience on how I landed my first paid collaboration. It was with a travel tour company when I had a little over 1K Instagram followers.

    The aim of this post is not to educate (although I will share some resources that can help), I don’t believe I know enough to begin educating. The main reason I am writing this blog post is to encourage anyone starting out and go through the entire process step by step.

    How I landed my first paid collaboration

    Mindset

    It’s almost a cliché to start with a mindset but this is a very important aspect. It is so important to believe that this is something that is possible, and it is something that is possible FOR YOU! The way you think has a huge impact on your ability to learn and grow. It is important for you to identify any ‘self-limiting’ and don’t allow them to control and dominate the thoughts we have about ourselves and our abilities. For me, I had this misconception that my value or worth was tied to the number of followers I had so I needed tens of thousands of followers to be able to work with brands. This simply isn’t true. To make sure I got into a growth modest, I surrounded myself (virtually) with people that are growing and achieving what I desired. This was a game changer for me.

    Get help

    We all know that if you want to go somewhere you have never been, you need guidance. For example, if you are on vacation, land in a new city, rent a car and are trying to get to your accommodation. You will need help – it could be from a map, a person, or sat nav, but you will meet help. In the same way, I needed the help to know how to start reaching out to brands. How do I find the brands/opportunities, how do I find the right contact information, how do I pitch myself etc. I knew I had to invest in resources to help me. I took part in Pelumi of Black Kinstugis working with brands workshop (looks like it’s currently unavailable). This was specifically for creators with a small following and it helped clarify the steps to take before reaching out, during and after. Some other resources that I have come across are:

    1. Working with brands for micro influencers and brand collaboration bundle
    2.  First paid kit by Mattie James
    3.  Insta Collab Secrets by Chasity Lyn 

    Any of these bundles will set you on your way to securing that first paid collaboration

    My Process

    • Finding the brand

    It goes a long way to pitch brands that already work with bloggers so what I did was scroll through another travel bloggers page (in the same sub niche) and had a look at brands they had working with. When I saw some that looked interesting, I had a look at the Instagram page, website and also o a quick check in news. The reason I do that is because I really want to make sure this brand aligned with my vision. I also want to know if there are any “scandals” our there so, I read reviews and I make sure this is a brand I believe in and can support.

    • Pitching the brand

    For my first paid collaboration, the brand had a marketing@ email address on their Instagram, so that was straightforward. I knew the email would reach the right person. If it was an info@ email address, I would then use LinkedIn to dig deeper for an appropriate email address.

    To pitch, I sent an email based mainly on the email templates in the brand collaboration bundle. The brand replied a few days later and asked if I could also contribute to their blog. I agreed to this, but this was where I asked if there was a budget available. I knew that the deliverables I offered, in addition to a blog post is something valuable and worth paying for.  We agreed on a price and went on to secure a suitable time for the collaboration.

    • After the collaboration

    After the brand collaboration, I followed up with some stats on how the campaign did. This included comments, number of link clicks on Instagram, and screenshots of a follower that made a booking based on my recommendation. After that, I asked for a review and stated that I would love to be considered for any future work.

     Landing my first paid collaboration was such an exciting process. I was so happy do something that truly brings me joy and get paid for it.

    Here’s what I learnt:

    1. My online presence is valuable
    2. Don’t afraid to ask to get paid

    I hope my experience helped and encouraged in some way, if you have any other questions at all, feel free to shoot me a DM

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    Hi and welcome! I'm so glad you found my corner of the internet! With thattalllady.com, my goal is to encourage you to find beauty in the here and now - to enjoy and make the most of where you are now, not waiting for the next big vacation or move. I do this by being a tourist in my town and sharing more of my beautiful home - Scotland.

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    Out of office ✌🏾⁣ ⁣ I’m so pleased to b Out of office ✌🏾⁣
⁣
I’m so pleased to be done with work for the year! Now relaxation mode is fully activated. After what has been a year of isolation, I’m looking forward to ⁣
✨ seeing my fiancé again (⁣𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝟷𝟶 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵)
✨ spending time with my family⁣
and ⁣
✨ becoming a Mrs 💍⁣
⁣
What are you looking forward to this season?⁣
⁣
📸: pictures from my birthday at @cottonshotel⁣
📍: Cheshire⁣
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#travelgirlsgo  #uktravelblogger #traveldetails  #prettylittletrips #blackgirltravel #blacktravelfeed #madtravel #brownskingirltravel #travellife #nigerianblogger #travelinfluencer #sheisnotlost #solofemaletraveler #blackgirltravel #blackandfly  #blacknomads #hardlyhome #hertraveltribe  #nigerianabroad #nigeriantravelblogger #naijanomads #luxetravel #alifewelltravelled #nanoinfluencer #blacklifestyleblogger #discoverunder2k
    ✨TWENTY NINE ✨ So grateful to be able to cele ✨TWENTY NINE ✨

So grateful to be able to celebrate another year. 2020 has been quite the year but I’m alive, I’m well and I’m loved!
    Aberdeen at its best - This is Marischal College 🏰 one of the largest granite buildings in the world. (swipe for the full building).⁣
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In fact, Aberdeen is known as the Granite city (or 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺 - which I personally prefer)  because many buildings are made of the grey, sparkly rock that was mined in Aberdeen. ⁣
⁣
Where do you live and what's your city known for?
    I asked my fiance to caption this and he said:⁣ I asked my fiance to caption this and he said:⁣
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"𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧." ⁣
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So there you have it, your #mondaymotivation.⁣
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No matter what, promise me that you’ll remember that you have an incredible amount of light in you. So no matter what life throws at you (and we’ve all had our fair share this year), keep believing in yourself! ⁣
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𝘏𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴
    The streets of old Aberdeen... there’s something The streets of old Aberdeen... there’s something photogenic round every corner! 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵!⁣
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I don’t do this often but swipe left for the unedited picture.⁣
[𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘺]⁣
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📍 Old Aberdeen, Aberdeen
    I love a good afternoon tea!⁣ ⁣ Not just becau I love a good afternoon tea!⁣
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Not just because of the food but because of how it makes me feel - super fancy and opulent, like I live on an estate with a butler. ⁣
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Looking for the best afternoon tea in Aberdeen? These are some of my tried and tested favourite spots:⁣
▪️Mercure Aberdeen Ardoe House Hotel (pictured) - @ardoehouse 
▪️The Chester Hotel - @thechesterhotel 
▪️Patisserie Valerie - @patisserievalerie
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