Many photographers like myself work with many brands, but many times I often get the question how did I manage to get this or that cooperation, in short, I will explain how I approach each company and how you can start doing it as well.
First I do my research about a company I want to work with, after that, I usually look for the person in charge and send them an email, many times you can’t find the person in charge but I noticed that more often then not if you send a message on social media like Facebook or Instagram they will help you out by sending you in the right direction and a lot of times the person who is in charge of the social media is the right person to talk to.
So I usually start by telling the company my name and where I’m from, I tell them the number of followers I currently have I tell them what I have accomplished so far, for example, I have been published on this or on that magazine, I have done this or that, I work with the company X, Y or Z. Yes I know it is a weird feeling trying to show off all your allocates when you are just reaching out to someone but if you don’t do it they will most likely ignore it, they get many emails/messages daily from people like you and me, so you need to stand out in a way or another, I always leave my website link below in case they want to look at my work and what I’m doing.
After I tell the company what I have done, I do focus on how the company can benefit from me working with them, depending on your time off work this will be different, but for me I do reviews on my website, I teach photography, and I have some social media following, if you don’t have many followers don’t be discouraged, tell them what you can do for them and if they like what you have to say more often then not they will work with you. This part of the email is key to success companies need to know what you can do for them and how, if you have a great idea you never know where it will lead too. Make sure you send emails personalized to each company, don’t be lazy and write one email and send to all the companies you want to work with, by doing that you show you have a real interest in their product and help them to grow, if by any chance you already used one of their products make sure to let them know.
I got many “No” along the way, and I’m sure many more will follow, I don’t let that discourage me, and I will come back to them when I have a what is required to work with them, some of them give you pointers like, it is too soon, you need at least this amount of followers before we can start talking, so I take all the feedback and once I managed to get what I need I go back, why do I go back? Because every company I have contacted I genuinely want to work with them because I like the company for a reason or another, I might have used/tested/tried their products, and my interest is real, don’t settle with just anyone just because you didn’t manage to get the right company to work with you, value or work and with time you will succeed.
You can find some of my reviews in here.
I hope this was helpful, if you have any question, please leave a comment down below.