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Creator's Academy

How to pitch a brand as a content creator

Pitching yourself to other brands can be intimidating, especially if you’re just starting your #PawjourrCreator journey. As a new face, you may be wondering “How do I secure partnerships?”, “Am I good enough for the job?” Well, all you have to do is ask!

How do you ask? Through pitch emails and even decks! While creators with larger profiles are commonly approached by these brands for partnerships, partnerships can form the other way round.

What is a brand pitch?

A brand pitch is designed to convince a brand to work with you. It should include:

  • A brief introduction of yourself including statistics of your profile audience 
  • What you love about their brand/product 
  • Media kit with your own rates
  • Past partnerships/experience

How do you pitch to brands as a creator?

The importance of these pitches is to convey what you can offer and why you’re the perfect influencer for the job. Less on how badly you want the job. Remember to keep the pitch brief – within 2 to 3 paragraphs – as an overview of your performance in achieving various campaign objectives; building awareness or increasing conversions.

While 2 to 3 paragraphs might seem very short, a proper structure can help make the most of your “word count”:

  1. The perfect hook
  2. Introduce yourself 
  3. Why you love the brand/product 
  4. Include your media kits and quote your rates
  5. Call-to-action (CTA)

#1: The perfect hook

Whenever you’re applying for the campaign, remember that the person receiving it is probably receiving hundreds of applications too. So make sure yours stands out among hundreds by keeping it short, direct, and memorable.

It should also include the benefits to the brand, and including emojis or small greetings helps to grab attention. 

The goal here is to convince the reader to read the entirety of your pitch. 

#2: Introduce yourself

This section can be kept as short as possible! The quickest way is to direct them to your profile. So don’t forget to add in links straight away. Highlight and showcase your personal brand by focusing on information that really matters – what makes you stand out from the crowd. 

#3: Why you love the brand/product

Brands gravitate towards influencers who have used their products, and loving them is a bonus! Working with a brand that you love makes the partnership a lot more genuine, allowing you to come up with content easily.

While writing your pitch, use these prompts to get the ball rolling:

  • What about their product/service that stands out to you?
  • Has the brand done anything specific that resonated with you?
  • Does the brand value and mission align with yours?

Show them that there’s a reason you’re reaching out to them, and you’ve done your research. Give them an outline on how you want to work together within a sentence or two.

Pro-tip: by focusing on shared values, brands are more likely to view you as a perfect fit. 

#4: Include a media kit and quote your rates

When pitching to brands, having a media kit helps to highlight your work. Think of it like a CV or portfolio! Important information to include:

  • Your bio and contact information
  • Your audience’s demographic – age, country, gender, and interests
  • Previous partnerships and testimonies (optional but appreciated)
  • Overview of your rates

By including your rates, brands are able to save time by gauging whether they have enough budget to partner with you. 

With Pawjourr, you can save the hassle with the Creator Dashboard. As a #PawjourrCreator, your details are automatically saved in your profile where brands can view them in an instant. While applying for campaigns, you can also  quote your own rates depending on the job!

#5: Call-to-action (CTA)

You may think that your write-up has ended here, but remember what you want your reader to do, after reading your pitch. Don’t forget to let them know how to contact you in the future, especially if they plan to continue the conversation.  And always give your pitch a second read, to avoid any spelling mistakes which can form a bad impression.

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Creator's Academy

How to boost your personal branding as a freelancer

There are millions of freelancers out there who are just as ready as you to take on what comes their way. And here comes the dreadful question, “What makes you special?” Then comes the spiraling of coming up with a list of reasons that makes you… you.

Building your personal branding can be intimidating and confusing when you don’t know where to begin. But you’re in luck! Here’s a guide to how you can boost your own branding — simplified of course.

Find A Niche & Create Your Mission Statement 

Personal branding is for everybody. However, oftentimes creators are too focused on becoming “everything” and “everyone”. The first step to making unique branding is to find your key message. 

  • What type of content are you creating? 
  • What do you want people to know about you? 
  • What do you plan to achieve by creating such content?

“I want to recommend products, especially brands that I trust, to help hoomans out there!” – @Benjithechicky, content creator with Pawjourr

It might seem strange to craft a statement, but it helps to keep you focused on what makes your brand stand out among others.

Networking & Partnerships 

Embrace networking. Building partnerships and reaching out to brands is a key indicator that you’re ready to take your brand to the next level. Partnerships tend to form when brands reach out for collaborations, but who’s to stop you from contacting them

Some key questions that you should answer in your brand pitch are: 

  • Why should brands work with you?
  • What can you offer them?

Besides collaborating with brands, you should also partner with other freelancers out there. Remember, expanding your network leads to a larger reach. Reaching a larger audience helps to make your brand much more recognizable. 

Additionally, having personalized merchandise helps your associates to remember you and your brand better. Just starting your freelance journey and don’t have the budget for it? Well, you can always start small with budget-friendly merchandise like postcards and stickers!

SingaPrinting, an online custom sticker printing provider here in Singapore, offers a variety of products for branding needs. This one-stop shop offers stickers, labels, hang tags, and many more, suitable for marketing, events, special promotions — you name it!

With their affordable prices and an array of options, you’re bound to find excitement in expressing your unique style and personality through your very own merchandise. Check them out today!

Don’t Follow Cookie-Cutter Solutions 

It can be tempting to jump on trend, and replicate what others are doing, all for the sake of going viral. But before you jump on the bandwagon, consider how the content might impact your brand and image.

If you’re planning to leverage visuals for your feed or websites, avoid using existing templates. Unless you’re starting your freelance journey, we highly advise against using commonly found templates that make your branding just like many others out there. 

Alternatively, you can use these templates as references or the basis of your final design. It’s important to come up with a distinct style so that brands are able to form a unique impression of your service/skill. You don’t need to be skilled to come up with eye-catching designs. All you need is to showcase your personality and just have fun!

Things you should keep in mind

There are no hard rules to being a freelancer. As the name suggests, it should be liberating and invigorating. Don’t be afraid to try out various ventures when you’re just starting out. Explore to find what fits you and your brand, and never stop developing your personal brand!

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Brand's Resources

Instagram scheduling – and what it means for brands

If you haven’t already heard, Instagram has just released a brand new function for creators. So, buckle up ‘cause you’re in for a treat!

What’s new on Instagram?

Wait for it… an in-app scheduling tool!

This new update comes in after weeks of testing with selected users, and it’s officially available for professional accounts on the platform. With this new tool, creators can schedule Photo and Carousel posts, and Reels up to 75 days in advance — doesn’t that sound sick?

And that’s not all! Instagram has also launched “Achievements” celebrating the efforts Instagram creators have put into their Reels. 

How does the in-app scheduling work?

Looking to schedule your first Instagram Reel? Head over to “Advanced Settings”, where you can find “Schedule this post”. Select the time and date that you want the post to go live, click “Schedule” and there, you’re set!

There are three ways you can unlock various “Achievements”:

  1. Collaborate with other creators on the platform using Add Yours stickers, or collab tools 
  2. Interact with the community by making your Reels more interactive (with stickers like Polls, Quizzes, etc.)
  3. Join conversations by using trending audio or effects

How does it change the way you work?

SAVE TIME

Whether you’re a creator or working as a social media manager, you’d know all too well about third-party scheduling tools like Hootsuite or Planoly, used to schedule posts on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and even LinkedIn.

You’d also know that these tools are not 100% foolproof and might fail you from time to time. However, you can now save time with Instagram’s latest feature. You no longer have to jump across multiple third-party tools and tabs just to schedule a single carousel post. 

SAVE COST

That’s not the only thing you’re saving! These third-party scheduling tools do come with a price; a subscription fee. Now, with Instagram’s in-app scheduling feature, you no longer need subscription plans across multiple tools. I’m talking about $20 to $50 a month per tool, so if you’re currently subscribed to multiple, that’d be almost $100  — creators and brands rejoice!

EASY TO USE

If you own a creator account, and you aren’t scheduling your posts, now’s the time to do so. By scheduling your post, you’re able to upload real-time updates. For example, if you’re hoping to upload seasonal posts or preparing for product launches, scheduling allows you to post them at the exact date and time you want. 

Additionally, you can now work with a better schedule as it allows you to plan your content accordingly. Rushing through content and only posting whenever you’re done can lead to inconsistency in your feed. Furthermore, your posts can get lost in your follower’s feed or drowned out by the algorithms, if you have a sporadic posting schedule.  

Instagram’s newest feature makes it convenient for creators who are new to scheduling. 

Conclusion

Instagram’s latest tool allows you to accomplish what some of the aforementioned third-party tools can’t (like Carousel posts, location tagging, etc.). Which is bound to come in handy with the holiday season coming up. What are you waiting for? Get to scheduling!

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Creator's Academy

Pawjourr’s Creators: Allthatauss

Have you ever come across a mother-daughter pawdel duo? Uncommon, but not a rare sight. Let me introduce you to Scarlett and Penne!

The AUSSventures begins

Scarlett is a two and a half years old Red Merle Mini American Shepherd, also known as Mini Aussie. Penne, a Red Tri Mini American Shepherd, is her four-month-old daughter.

Their story began in May when Scarlett gave birth to a litter of eight puppies*; four boys and four girls. The entire litter of puppies was named after Pasta noodles — voted via Instagram polls — with Penne being the second pup to enter the world!

*Check out their Instagram Stories to watch Scarlett’s entire pregnancy journey.

The litter has since gone their separate ways, renamed, and taken into different families. However, the puppies would appear on their social media now and then for a mini-reunion, staying connected forever!

Zeus (left) spending time with his mom, Scarlett (right)

Thrill-seeking Aussies

Miniature Shepherds are active and athletic, and our two Aussies are no exception! Scarlett is the master of tricks — knowing 10 — Penne, on the other hand, is still a work in progress. But one day she will know just as many as her mom!

Their parents love making reels of all the crazy things they do, especially documenting all the AUSSventures they partake in on Instagram and TikTok. They can be frequently spotted taking boat rides, swimming, hiking, and playing tug of war with each other — what an adventure!

Scarlett becomes a #PawjourrPetCreator 

It’s a dog life

Our favorite Aussies appeared in many campaigns this year, which allows their hooman to put their skills to the test.

Since joining Pawjourr as a pet creator, Scarlett has been a part of two campaigns. As Scarlett tends to get anxious easily, it only makes sense that our creators worked with Finn and Tailspring. Scarlett has benefited a lot from Finn supplements and Tailspring goat milk toppers, these calming aids have helped Scarlett in more than one way; these calming aids do not just soothe Scarlett, they also serve as nutritious treats!

Daughter Penne was featured in her first campaign this past August – yay! Unlike her mom Scarlett, Penne isn’t suitable for all the campaigns available. However, Aroma Paws pet shampoo is perfect for young pups like her. This is because their coats are softer and more delicate, which requires more care.

Scarlett and Penne hoping to join their hoomans in Italy

Versatile creators 

The brands that Scarlett and Penne have worked with this year all share one thing in common: pet wellness and health.

Our creators do not just share the action-packed adventures they take on. They also use their experience and exposure to good use, showcasing brands that aim to improve the lives of pets.

As doggos of different ages, Scarlett and Penne would require different products that meet their different needs. This would come in handy as it allows our creators to showcase a variety of products to target a wide range of audiences — the perfect fit if you’re looking for creators that are versatile. 

Want to connect with creators like Scarlett and Penne? Reach out via hello@pawjourr.com now!