When it comes to hosting reviews and giveaways on a blog, you may be wondering, "How in the world can you afford to buy all that stuff?" Well the answer is, I don't. Our reviews and giveaways are always sponsored by a company, where it is a trade for JadeLouise Designs promoting their company and products to our amazing readers. I'm quite picky on the products I allow to be showcased on JadeLouise Designs, as I try to take into consideration what you, my amazing readers, could enjoy or what would be helpful to a family friendly environment. So your next question may be, "how do you get companies to sponsor reviews and giveaways?" There are many different ways which I talk about in how to find review opportunities, but what I want to talk to you about today is when I contact a company to sponsor a review or giveaway. This is called writing a Pitch or Ask letter
Writing a Pitch /Ask Letter:
Writing an ask letter is almost an art form. You can create a generic pitch or ask letter, like a template. And then change a few key words and personalize it each time for each individual company. But you don’t want to be set on a solid “this is my ask letter and I will never change it”. As you grow in your blogging skills, your ask letter can change, be re-written and perfected. You will learn what works well and what doesn’t. Here are a few hints to help make writing an ask letter a little easier.
- Keep it short. Most companies get hundreds of pitch letters a day, and only browse the first part of the letter to see if it interests them. You want yours short, to the point and easy for them to read.
- State who you are, your blog’s name, and include your blog address and very briefly explain your blog.
- Get right to the point; say what type of relationship you would like with the company, any specific product you want to review, if you are looking for a possible giveaway or discount to be included, etc.
- Include your most popular blog statistics such as how many page views your blog has each month, the unique visitors each month, how many subscribers you have. You also want to include your Facebook, Twitter and other social media statistics and numbers. But again, keep it short. Usually include the most impressive stats you have, but always be 100% honest in your numbers. It’s fairly easy for companies to do a little research and see if you are telling the truth or not.
- If you have worked with previous companies, you will want to list a few of them, usually the most impressive names grabs attention, but sometimes listing others that fit the same category as that company help too. For example, if you are pitching to a toy company and you’ve worked with another toy company that will look impressive. Saying you worked with a kitchen gadget company even if it’s a bigger named company, although it still looks impressive, it may not resonate as well with the toy company you are currently writing to.
- Sign off with a thank you message, include your name and then again list your blog website and the direct links to your social sites so the company can do research on you easily to see if they want to work with you.
Ask Letter Sample Template Example:
Hi (Company’s name or Direct PR agents name)
My name is (Your name) and I am the owner of (your blog’s name and URL). I am writing to see if you would like to work with me on a review and possible giveaway or discount for (product name) on my site. (Blogs name) is a (briefly describe your blog). Most of my readers are (include a demographic, if they are moms or dads, etc). My Site has XXX monthly unique page views. I currently have XXX Facebook Followers, XXX twitter Followers and XXX blog subscribers. I am ranked XXX in Alexa ratings for my site with a Klout score of XXX. I know my readers would love to hear about your (describe the company’s niche) products. I invite you to visit my website and let me know if you are interested in forming a working relationship. Some companies I have worked with include XXXX. Thank you! I look forward to hearing from you.
*Your Name
Blog Name
URL of blog
URL of Twitter
ETC.
15 Days Left 
2 Days Left 
Contest Closed 
Contest Closed 
Contest Closed 
Contest Closed 
Contest Closed 
{ 36 comments… read them below or add one }
Congratulations on the beautiful work
You have some great tips here!
One thing I would steer clear of, though, is mentioning that you will work for a discount. Unless it’s a discount that gets you a trip to Disneyland for $100, or Australia for $500, it’s most likely not worth it.
Oh Sadie, that is definitely something to make clear! Working for a discount is SO not worth it! I think I need to tweak my letter a little. I meant willing to offer a discount coupon to my readers, AFTER they provide full product for review. I think I need to fix my letter so it is more apparent that I don’t work for discount, but I am willing to offer discounts to my readers.
I really like this post! Thanks for writing it! I have a couple pitch letters for certain products that I am proud of, but for other products I am struggling. I will take some of your tips into considerations for my future pitches!
This was very helpful! Thank you so much for writing this post. It helps give a good framework.
Sigh. I really wish bloggers would stop sharing this info. There are TOO MANY of us already and even fewer who pitch, receive and write well-written reviews.
On another note, you’ve got great ideas, but at the end of the day, it all boils down to writing a personalized letter to a company whose products you want to try and share with your readers, as well as PARTNER with said company. It’s all about TRUE INTEREST. I just don’t feel like sharing your techniques or using a template is the way to go.
Introduction and inclusion of LINKS to stats or specific related content links is the area that might be okay for templates, but simply sharing your TRUE interest with a company is what really takes the cake.
You are correct about brevity. An effective pitch will LURE in the reader as companies receive far too many requests to count from bloggers as well as consumers, on a daily basis.
Yes, there are many bloggers out there that don’t do well written reviews. But honestly if it wasn’t for knowledgeable bloggers who help out the ones just getting started, then the poor bloggers don’t have any resources on how to do it RIGHT and they just keep writing poorly. I hope that I can help someone who wants to do the review job, know how to get started but also know how to do it in a quality manner, instead of just making poor articles. That’s why I created my blogging 101 series, as a way to try to help others learn how to do things in a quality manner. Just like I was blessed with amazing bloggers who helped me get started and learn there is a RIGHT way and WRONG way to do things. I hope I can pass that knowledge on too.
Thank you Amber this post. Your sample letter is very helpful. Although I am a fairly decent writer, it is always nice to see an example of what other people are doing. Many other bloggers are not willing to share. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the advice!!
I keep a media kit updated once a month and I’ve written a few pitch letters, but mostly stuff comes to me. However I’d like to write to companies I really want to work with. Thanks!
proofing has to be the hardest this ever!!! it really needs to be done by fresh eyes! thanks for the great tips
Great post, this will help so many bloggers thanku and shared x
*fantastic*
Fantastuc post! Bookmarking! I always struggle with writing pitch letters
Great tips! I’m going to try adding some of the companies I’ve worked with to my pitch letter!
Great suggestions! I love the ‘proof read’ reminder! nothing worse than hitting send just to realize you misspelled a word!!
This is very informative and lots of great tips! This is an excellent post for bloggers. Thanks for sharing Amber!
Great post, just what I needed to read. Thanks!
This is something I’m just starting to think about. How do you find the contact info of it to send it?
If you are contacting a company, normally you are looking on their main website. often times they have “contact us” or “media” menu options on their blog somewhere. Some I’ve seen up top, others it’s in the footer, and other’s it is in the “about us” section. Just look all over their website to find some kind of contact us info. The best is definitely a Media contact email, but if you can’t find one, then general Customer service is the next option.
Excellent advice. I’ve bookmarked it to refer to again and again. Thanks!
Thanks for the helpful tips! I need to update my pitch letter …
Great post! This is something a lot of us struggle with.
Awesome post! You hit on some very important points when it comes to pitch letters! I can learn a lot from this! Thank you!
Thank you so much for posting this. I feel like this is by far the most informative and helpful post for new bloggers looking to expand that I’ve ever come across.
Love it! Great advice, really. I can’t tell you the amount of these letters I have written since I started blogging.
That was very self-less of you for sharing. Thank you. (Detroit Mom)
Sounds great! I do almost all of that, but I haven’t listed companies that I have worked with… that’s a great idea. Definitely PROOF READ! So important!!
This is a great resource for someone just starting out! You definitely ticked all the boxes on the important info.
Great post! Thank you for sharing.
Erinn from http://3sonshavei.blogspot.com
I use a very similar letter to that and i get good results =]
This is good advice.
Same pitch letter that I use. It is a good one:)
Great info! I bookmarked this and Still Blonde After All These Years’ page.
Thanks for the great tips! I could use some help pitching!
Sounds good all have to reread it a bit slower. It sounds like a good idea. I would love to do more reviews unfortunately I do get the hits but companys are not intrested. I suppose because It’s been 8 months in blogging for me.
Thank you! I pinned it to my “Blogging Stuff” board to refer back to. My pitch letter could use some tweaking!
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