If you follow me on Instagram (www.instagram.com/wayeoflife) you will notice that I am often referring to brands and tagging them.
Often these are brands that help support me.
I got this question today and wanted to answer it as honestly and openly as I can.
The question: "Out of curiosity, how much support do you get from different brands do you get for mentioning them in your posts and from which companies?"
Here is the answer I gave.. kinda.. I tweaked it a bit.
Hiya.. it varies..
All the brands that help are listed here..
The help I get is pretty varied but some key things..
I reach out to the brands and not the other way around for nearly every case.. I would love it to be the other way around, but even if it is, I will only choose brands that I feel I can wax lyrical about and stand behind 110%
None of them gives me money
(Would love to turn this into something full-time one day)
But they do gift stuff
The big brand is Brooks. For that, I am currently in their runhappyteam (ambassador program).. so I am one of around 25ish runners in Benelux.
The stuff we get from them is amazing
But the cool thing is that they have embraced my plogging and are so supportive. Incredibly so!
Ed: I really cannot express how amazing being part of the team is. I took a chance with Brooks when I joined in 2020 because I had never used their shoes! Ever! But I loved their RunHappy spirit. Best decision ever. I love their shoes, their clothes, the team.. but most of all the company. Brooks is truly unique in the running brand space. Something that deserves shouting out loud each day. I'm so proud to step into their shoes each day.
Beyond that.. I do get some cool one-off gifts from many brands
Sometimes it takes ages and ages.. It took close to two years I think to find a sunglasses brand that I felt comfortable with and that would help me
Often these are cool little companies that I am so thrilled to champion
I have a golden rule.. all the work I do around my plogging really does cost me every spare moment of my day.. so I made a rule that it will only cost family time and not family money
Most of the time if I do need to make an agreement, the brands will say "1-2 posts and some stories".. but I will always tag them as much as I can even though I don't have to.. I want people to see I fully use the products but I also want the brands to see that so that they can see my reach out was genuine. I am looking for help with a product that will be used for YEARS not a post or two. The SUP is a good example of that. I haven't been able to use it must now that winter is coming (I am still a novice).. but already I am making plans with it for next year and how I can really make the most out of it each week.
I have met a few big influencers who will use the product they are promoting, get the money from the brands and then resell it on eBay
That won't happen to me.
If I really can't use it fully I will probably gift it (this is a future scenario I have thought about but hasn't happened yet)
But more than likely I will not work with the brand.. I am only trying to be gifted stuff I need and will help my mission
An exception to that will be a brand that wants to make an impact that they think I can help with. In those cases, I will consider it on a case-by-case basis (I suppose that is the path where I could turn this into a career? But it has to be something I am fully comfortable with that is helping me also in creating an impact and inspiring and is something I am 100% comfortable with)
Up until now it has been very easy to walk a line that I am very comfortable with. But this will get more and more cloudy if my account does grow.
Sometimes there are concessions that I just have to accept.. if another brand brings out a very awesome eco running shoe, is there something i can do to promote it without it being on conflict with my sponsors?
That is something I am still trying to figure out.
For now I would rather focus on the products I use and provide an open and honest review with the caveat that, yep.. i am aligned to the brand. The key thing is that I chose that brand for a very specific reason. It was my choice. And it is my choice to review the product.
I actually did that here:
In Summary
I hope this provides some insights. And just put a comment below if you have any questions
I got carried away, huh? Haha
But I love this question.
It is something I am super proud of.. not everyone will agree with my approach, but hopefully, even if they don't, they will be able to see that it is something I consider carefully.