In Delight With Niche
Disclosure: this post is my recap of an event which I was sponsored to attend
Last week I told you I was heading to Niche Parent. International Delight was wonderful enough to notice my addiction love of coffee and creamer so it was a perfect match for me.
At the conference, I used International Delight as a case study to talk about building relationships with the brands as well as what happens after the brand says yes and you get to execute on your pitch. I wanted to share some points for those of you that blog. If you don't blog, I think recaps also apply to whenever your employer sends you to conferences, workshops, etc. so there might be something in here for you.
They bought your pitch, now what?
- Make sure you pick up the phone and talk to the brand to follow up with your pitch. This helps to work out any kinks in your pitch. My pitch with ID looked a little different when I presented it than when I executed because of the conversations had with the team. This leads to...
- Be open to change. The brand might have campaigns going on that you can use as part of own campaign and vice versa. For example, the brand decided to name a flavor after me when they heard I was doing this *
- Create a schedule and let the brand know when you will be doing certain things (when you're posting, etc). This allows them to support your efforts
Some things to remember
This business (as with any, I believe) is about relationships. Don't lose that thought. Make connections with those you meet, get to know new folks when you attend conferences. And don't just look for the business opportunities. Look to build a relationship.
I recently got a call from someone to discuss an ambassadorship TWO YEARS after we first met. But guess what? In the time since, I've built a relationship with them. I chat with them, I email to find out what's going on, I've done some posts, etc. In big part, I built those relationships not because I wanted to get something but because I genuinely liked the people I was working with. Obviously initially you meet someone for a deal but I urge you to think of it as relationship building first and everything else will fall into place at the right time.
After your event/conference/workshop
- Make sure you provide a recap with metrics. This will include any hashtracking you did on Twitter, Facebook posts and Google Analytics metrics from whatever post you've done
- Do the recap in PowerPoint so that the brands can use your information when reporting themselves
- One no doesn't mean never. Sometimes the timing isn't right. Stay open to the opportunity and keep those lines of communication open as well
In the coming months, I'll be doing more posts about this and other business related topics. If you have any particular subjects you want me to tackle, let me know.
At Niche this year I got to connect with old friends, meet face-to-face with some virtual ones and take in all the awesomeness from other speakers workshops. I was reminded of how small the world is and how this blog connects me to so many wonderful people (my readers).
Jenny from the Blog gave me a little courage to repost something I took down and put in drafts after I received some not so great comments and Ted Rubin reinforced my belief that it is all about relationships (I'm a fan and now, so is the frog princess). I am eternally grateful to International Delight. Not just for their yummy products that help this Mami make her coffee taste delicious but for being open to working with me and trusting me to be the voice of their brand during the conference.
For those that did not make my session or didn't get to ask a question, I have a chance for you to win an International Delight goodies bag including an awesome tumbler and coupons to purchase your favorite flavors.
- 1 International Delight Bag (as seen below, minus the sunrise)
- 12 coupons for FREE International Delight product
- 1 International Delight branded coffee scoop
- 1 Fantabulous International Delight Branded tumbler
*Please don't take me completely serious. Read the post regarding the new flavors to get the full effect of my humor