How do I get work with brands?

Whether you’re a model, photographer on influencer, making money and getting work through social media is going to be a key aspect of your job. In this day and age, it’s difficult not to! Obviously being an influencer, you’re main income is going to come from collaborations or work for brands. As a model, growing an Instagram account can be really beneficial, and it will help getting work with both photographers and brands. As a photographer, social media is a chance to showcase your talent to a huge audience, and collaborate with brands to earn more money!

Where do I find brands to work with?

Social media. Easy as anything. Personally, I use Instagram and the wonderful world of google to find my brands. I get quite a lot of sponsored posts on my news feed because of the way I use Instagram, which is hugely beneficial to me as it means I don’t need to go searching too far to find brands to contact! From there, I can find more brands on the suggested tabs. If brands follow me, I always email them and usually I get a reply, which is great!

Just searching on google is another great way to find brands. Searching, for example, ‘top 20 UK clothing brands’ and then finding them on Instagram is a really easy way to find more brands.

How do I go about contacting brands?

Email them. You can’t wait for brands to just contact you, because unless you’ve got over 100,000, realistically they’re not going to come looking for you. Most companies have their contact information on their Instagram page, and if not it will be on their website, so it’s more than easy to find out an email address. Just send them an email explaining who you are and what you offer and hopefully they’ll get back to you!

But no one’s responding to me…

It’s not going to work like clockwork. I email so many brands to get work, and only a very small percentage will get back to me, and then an even smaller percentage will actually say they’re willing to pay to work with me. Offering free services to start your collaboration is a great way to create a working relationship that might lead to them paying you for your services further down the line. I always say that even if a brand doesn’t have a social media budget to spend, I will always post stories on my Instagram in return for them sending over products. If your stories get loads of views, this can be really beneficial for them, and then you’ll probably get a paid collaboration with them in the near future.

All in all, you’ve got to put in the work to find the brands to work with. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve got 5000 or 50000 followers, you can still find work on social media, you’ve just got to go out and get it! If you’ve got any tips on how to find work on social media, let me know in the comments!

The cutest petite clothing brands you'll find on the internet!

So as some of you already know, I’m no lamp post. At 5”3, I can just about fit into the children’s section and the adults section for normally sized people, but when it comes to spending a decent amount of money on an outfit I need, I’d much rather shop at somewhere with clothes designed for the shorter physique, especially if it’s online. There’s nothing worse than buying a dress you wanted so much, for it to arrive in the post and the sleeves be slighter too big, or the length being weird on your legs. Therefore, I’m compiled a much needed list of a few petite clothing companies I love, and I’m sure you will too!

Jeetly

@jeetly

If you’re like me and wear a lot of dresses and jumpsuits in the office, you’ll love Jeetly. With their collection of smart dresses, jumpsuits, blouses and trousers, they aim to get the perfect fit for the petite person. They do this by using smaller buttons, shoulder pads, leg measurements and a range of other only slightly noticeable differences to create great workplace attire.

Jennifer Anne

@jennifer_anne_ petite

Described as the ‘petite women’s work wear go to’ by You Magazine, Jennifer Anne use top fabrics that feel fabulous, meaning they last a long time and wear well. Their huge range of tops, trousers, skirts, dresses, blouses and blazers means there’s something for everyone. Whether you’re popping to the office or going for dinner, there’s an outfit for every occasion!

Charlotte London

@charlottelondon_

Specialising in jackets and blazers, charlotte london produces the perfect outerwear for the modern, international and globe trotting woman. The boutique brand aim to represent the elegance of London and the fashion capital of Italy in their clothing. If you’re looking for the perfect finishing touch for your outfit, be sure to check them out!

Precis Petite

@precispetite

The parent company being Jaeger, Precis Petite produce a beautiful range of clothes in bold prints and colours, designed with an eye for detail. Their dresses are perfect for weddings, the office or even just for a casual summery day out, meaning their so versatile and well worth the investment into buying one. Along with their dresses, they also produce a large range of jackets, tops, knitwear, skirts, trousers and accessories, so you may as well buy an entire outfit on their website!

Bomb Petite

@bombpetite.official

Bomb petite are firm believers that petite fashion should be fun. Featuring a collection of exciting designers shown on realistic models, you know what you’re getting if you purchase one of their items. Their huge selection of premium petite style includes dresses, jeans, jumpsuits, trousers, tops, skirts and lingerie, meaning there’s loads to choose from!

Working with Goodeehoo - a vegan handbag and accessory brand!

Working with brands is one of my favourite things to do, especially when they produce products I love, and would definitely use on a day to day basis. I reached out to Goodeehoo simply because I loved their bags, and hence started our collaboration! Their products range from larger tote bags to smaller purses, key-chains and day to day clutch bags. I personally use the Tucuman Tote bag and a matching Tawny Large Pouch most days for when I’m out and about or in the office.

We started the collaboration by producing 10 photos of me modelling a selection of their items around North Devon. Starting at Westward Ho! and making our way to Appledore, we got a range of photos in several different locations, along with some we took in the house before we left for the photoshoot. I also changed outfit twice so that the photos didn’t look too similar, but went with a couple of dresses to fit in with the summery theme and because it was too hot to wear anything else.

When I posted the first post on Instagram, I also ran a competition too (which at time of writing is still running for another week) offering the Tucuman Tote bag and a matching Pacific Large Purse if you won. I also use the purse daily too as it’s a decent size and fits in all my other day to day bags I use. The one I’ve got is grey and blue, so fits with the grey handbag I’ve got that I use sometimes if I’m not carrying much.

All in all, I loved working with Goodeehoo, and hopefully this will be an ongoing collaboration as I can really see my followers on Instagram loving the bags as much as I do! If you wanted to enter the competition, it’s over on my Instagram (@oliviajtucker), and whilst you’re at it, you may as well go check out @goodeehoo too! If you wanted to check out their products, then head down to www.goodeehoo.com where they’ll be releasing new items soon too! So keep an eye out! ;)