One of my most popular posts of all time is a little number I whipped up sharing ways that bloggers can partner up in order to grow, learn and benefit from one another. I filed it under “Blogging 101” because, while it is perfect for everyone, the tips are really aimed at those bloggers just starting out and developing their blogging community. Today, I’m going deeper and sharing ways that more seasoned bloggers can collaborate together – both in person and through our long distance relationships – to create blogger magic.
Let’s get crazy and file this bad boy under “Blogging 201: How To Partner With Other Bloggers (again)”
all photography by Jessi Nichols Photography
1. Pin It
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Instagram is o.v.e.r. If you want to drive traffic to your blog, you need to hop on over to Pinterest and start pinning, stat. Better yet, you need your friends to hop over to Pinterest and start pinning your content! Because of the algorithm (and whatnot) your content will perform better if others pin it and you pin the work of others. Who understands this better than a fellow blogger? Nobody! Make a board specifically for content sharing and add your blogging besties to it – pin each other’s fresh content and the evergreen goodness, you’ll see a bump in page views which of course means a bump in ad rev!
This is the perfect way for long distance friends (which is what most of us are) to support one another – you don’t have be local to collaborate!
2. Style It
A styled shoot is the perfect way to build a stockpile of gorgeous images for your channels but it can be a ton of work to create. I happen to love prepping for a styled shoot and love it even more when I’m working with a blogger whose style naturally jives with my own. My sweet friend Lauren of Love Lola Blog is the prime example of the perfect blogging cohort – she is crazy stylish, our brands share similar goals/vibes/niches and we partner really well together (you can see another shoot of ours here). Lauren asked me if I would partner with her in a styled fall picnic shoot and I couldn’t say “duh!” fast enough. She set the location and scheduled her photographer, we split the list of things to bring and trusted each other to follow through. The results are unreal – seriously, be prepared to see these photos again and again – and we each scored major content for our own platforms.
Bonus: we’ve now had the opportunity to work with each other’s photographers for the first time in a comfortable and familiar environment. Why is this important? Well, we got to skip the awkward “how do you like to shoot?” phase of working together and made it straight for the “oh, please make sure I have only one chin” phase from the first click of the shutter.
We also each had the confidence that our photographers were familiar with the craziness that comes with shooting for a blog and wouldn’t forget to grab detail shots, shots framed for Instagram or think we were weird when we gazed off into the distance instead of looking at the camera head on.
Seriously though, working with a new photographer can make a non-model like myself a little nervous so working with a new photog with your friend who is comfortable and has a great report established in tow is always a relief to me.
3. Skill Swap
Speaking of my beautiful friend Lauren, let me tell you this about her: she is insanely natural in front of a camera. I have never once seen her take a bad photo and she always knows exactly how to stand or the perfect way to turn her face to capture the best shot.
I, on the other hand, never know what to do with my hands. If you have a fellow blogger friend who has a skill that you’d love to master, ask her! I asked Lauren to coach me a bit during our shoot and the results were definitely more natural and less, shall we say, panicked looking.
I would happily set up a skill swap date where she taught me posing (in the privacy of my own home, because that will obviously be a nightmare) and I taught her something off of her blogging must know list. Set a timer for 20 minutes on each skill and you’ll be both be pros in under an hour.
4. Tech Swap
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve reached out to my friends who are masters of certain tech platforms, begging for help. Meg O. is my Pinterest guru, Jonathan knows his way around Photoshop like none other and Katie is the master of Facebook communities. If you have a platform that you want to know, are stuck with a code issue, or can’t for the life of you figure out what the “S” in HTTPS stands for, reach out! There is, without a doubt, a tech skill that you’ve mastered that your friends will be dying to learn. Perfect example: I’m often asked by new members about the Reward Style platform and how to use it from start to finish – it’s a program that I’ve been using for a while, so while I’m no master, I am familiar with the in’s and out’s – and sometimes, that’s all we need to know to help a girl out.
Now, go forth and collaborate!
Thanks for sharing all of this great info!! I always feel like it's so hard to meet other bloggers and create that relationship with them- but I'm working on it 🙂