Successfully Representing Brands Without Being a Star Food Blogger

Speaker Raj Thandhi from Pink Chai Living will provide a blue print for how you can represent food brands without being one of the few stars out there with an amazing Alexa rating on your blog and over 100,000 social media followers. Raj would consider her blog only semi successful yet she is under contract to represent three companies on a long-term basis and is a social media ambassador for her city.

Transcript

1. SECURING SPONSORED CONTENT (EVEN IF YOUR BLOG ISN'T FAMOUS) @PINKCHAI
2. RAJ THANDHI @PINKCHAI PINKCHAILIVING.COM
3. RAJ THANDHI PINK CHAI LIVING 17-25,000 monthly pageviews 9K Instagram followers 2500 FB followers
4. BRANDS I'VE WORKED WITH
5. 1.COMMUNITY/ ENGAGEMENT 2.PROOF OF INFLUENCE 3. SALES STRATEGY 4.RESULTS & REPORTING
6. CONTENT CREATORS WITH SMALLER REACH CAN'T WAIT FOR OPPORTUNITIES WE HAVE TO CREATE THEM. SHIFT YOUR MINDSET TO SALES & SELF PROMOTION
7. CREATE GREAT CONTENT ENGAGE WITH AND BUILD YOUR COMMUNITY
8. #1 IDENTIFY YOUR SELLING POINTS
9. 1. Something you are very good at making, or extremely knowledgeable about, but preferably not an over- saturated space. 2. (a) Access to a specific and if possible, measurable demographic. (b) A means to amplify your message to them. 3. (If possible) A content creation or delivery method that is new, up & coming, or something unique. SELECT 3 SELLING POINTS TO PROMOTE
10. New York City blogger street food connoisseur creates recipes that replicate famous street food cart recipes. has a NYC food cart foods related Facebook group or email list Cooks one street food inspired recipe on Insta Stories each week EXAMPLE 1 EXAMPLE 2 Passionate about reducing food waste reviews/recommends products with limited packaging, share green resources have a weekly rescue series where I reuse or reinvent leftovers or sad vegetables into a family meal. "Clean the fridge Sundays" Has an email newsletter focused on reducing food waste
11. Canadian blogger who lives in Surrey, BC - top 3 cities for traffic on my blog, FB, and Insta are Surrey, Vancouver, Toronto. (HYPER LOCAL) Born in Canada, raised by Punjabi parents - excels at cooking fusion foods. Often takes inspiration from her travels and creates recipes. (NEW FOOD CATEGORY) Has a strong connect with South Asian women in Canada as seen through a combination of insights + Instagram and blog comments. (DEMOGRAPHIC) Distribution: working on a YouTube presence: youtube.com/pinkchai RAJ THANDHI
12. #2 COLLECT PROOF OF INFLUENCE
13. Show the brand that when you talk, people listen. Has someone bought a product because you recommended it? Tried your recipe and shared the results with you? Asked you for a recommendation for a recipe, sauce brand, or even a red lipstick? Get into the habit of collecting proof of influence, and sharing it with potential brand partners.
16. #3 MAKE A PROSPECT LIST
17. CONSIDER YOUR DEMOGRAPHICS, REGION, AND USP THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX (PERIPHERY INDUSTRIES) COMPANIES THAT HAVEN'T WORKED WITH INFLUENCERS BEFORE
18. #4 PITCH PERSONALIZED CONCEPTS
19. SPONSORED POST ASK #1 THIS IS WHO I AM: Hi! I'm Raj Thandhi, a food blogger from Surrey, specializing in creating Indian fusion recipes Hi! I'm Raj Thandhi, a South Asian lifestyle blogger from BC
20. SPONSORED POST ASK #2 THIS IS WHAT I CAN OFFER YOU: I have approximately 5000 Instagram followers from Surrey BC, and my current engagement rate is 4%. (Please see attached screenshots) I currently have the highest ranking post on google for the search term "how to dry and store kadi patta" Between the months of September - November, the traffic on my site doubles, with an intense interest in Diwali related traffic.
21. SPONSORED POST ASK #3 THIS IS WHAT I'M ASKING FOR: Would you be interested in discussing a product placement on my Instagram feed? Since your product is made in Surrey, and you are female run business, I'm sure my audience would be interested in learning more about your product. About 75% of followers are women, and most of them are between the ages of 25-34. I recently did a sponsored post for "company x" and they have a similar target market as you, I'm also attaching the results from that campaign here.
22. SPONSORED POST ASK #3 THIS IS WHAT I'M ASKING FOR: Would you be interested in discussing a sponsored blog post for your product, with placement during the summer holidays? My popsicle blog sees a spike in traffic between July and August because moms are looking for quick popsicle ideas for their kids to beat the heat. Since your popsicle moulds are available across the country via Amazon, my blog is a great fit since I get visitors from New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and Austin. (Those cities make up 50% of my traffic) I recently conducted a reader survey and 85% of readers said they are interested in more popsicle recipes
23. #4 PITCH OUTSIDE THE BOX & NETWORK
24. TEA INDIA - CHAI CHATS
25. TOURISM SURREY INSTA MEET
26. DIWALI FEST COOKING CLASSES RICHMOND WORLD FOOD FAIR MEDIA SPOTS
27. BC BUSINESSES
28. STEWART FARM HOUSE CAMPAIGN
29. #5 COLLECT DATA AND PROVIDE A REPORT (WHETHER REQUESTED OR NOT)
30. KNOW THE MEASURE OF SUCCESS What does success look like for the client and for the PR team. What are their most important metrics?
31. WHAT WERE THE BEST RESULTS YOU PROVIDED? Send a quick email to the contact with positive results, use screenshots when possible. Let them know about what you are working on next, and provide a "freebie" if you can
32. RAJ THANDHI @PINKCHAI YOUTUBE.COM/PINKCHAI BIT.LY/PINKCHAILIST