Avoid DMing
Avoid DMing
True Story:
This past week I received a DM from a brand representative saying they’d love to work with me. Great, I thought and I asked them for their email address so we could discuss specifics…
Her immediate response was that they only operate via Direct Messaging on Instagram.
If a brand won’t share with you their email address, proceed with extreme caution.
Actually, don’t proceed at all…
I understand that this may be a bit off-putting. After all, this could be a great opportunity for you, as an influencer, to garner some work. But please trust me when I say this is not the right way.
Every brand should have:
A functioning website where you can see their products. Sounds strange to hear, but you’d be surprised how many of these social-media “brands” don’t have a website, and what they’re after is your contact information, rates, and other proprietary information to sell off.
A professional email address where you can contact a representative. Please note their email address should contain the name of the brand. For example, my company’s email address is admin@idaliasalsamendi.com. Be weary of brands that have generic email address like gmail.com ; yahoo.com ; hotmail.com; etc etc.
A contract in place should you decide to work with them. I’ve found that sometimes a brand will ask me if I have a template that I would prefer using. YES! I love love love using my template versus a brand’s generic one. This template is the one I use with all my top influencers.
So what did I respond to that DM telling me they didn’t have an email address?
I kindly let them know “No worries at all. When your company does supply you with a proper email address, please let me know and I’d be happy to continue talking with you. Thanks again for thinking of me.” Short. Sweet. Professional. TO THE POINT.