How do you approach companies to do product reviews as a small channel?

T

throwaway-s

Member
I imagine it's quite difficult as a new channel to approach big companies to do reviews of their product, as you have very little benefit to receiving one of their products to advertise.

Do you have any success with smaller companies, though? Or any company in general? I'd love to hear what you did to contact them, and what the process was to set up a deal to review their product.
 
If you can't bring them the money yourself, gather an army of friends who can. If you're friends with Youtubers larger than you are and they can make the impact you wish you could, try and find opportunities for them. This works very well with Minecraft servers. In fact, I've helped my friends earn hundreds of dollars in paid content deals and I always made sure I got a little commission out of it (5% or so, not much when you think about it).

The influence your friends bring to a product or a service (or in my case, a server) can be tremendously helpful for all parties, and builds up major street cred for any other opportunities you wouldn't have had access to otherwise.
 
Just act professional.

I have worked with people a million times larger than us it is simply a confidence thing and politeness, if you offer them something worth while in return and are polite you can very much get a lot of partnerships and deals. Respect and professionalism will take you a long way.
 
DigiBox said:
Just act professional.

I have worked with people a million times larger than us it is simply a confidence thing and politeness, if you offer them something worth while in return and are polite you can very much get a lot of partnerships and deals. Respect and professionalism will take you a long way.
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This is basically the route I wanted to go with. First impressions are always important. Can you give me an example of a proposal you'd forward to a company you were interested in?

I'm a tech based channel, and I want to talk to a few different companies. Eventually I'd hope to establish some sort of connection to (Canon,Panasonic,Nikon) or anything smartphone related. If you were to make a mock draft proposal, what would you include?
 
throwaway-s said:
This is basically the route I wanted to go with. First impressions are always important. Can you give me an example of a proposal you'd forward to a company you were interested in?

I'm a tech based channel, and I want to talk to a few different companies. Eventually I'd hope to establish some sort of connection to (Canon,Panasonic,Nikon) or anything smartphone related. If you were to make a mock draft proposal, what would you include?
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'Dear whomever it may concern.

My name is *NAME HERE* And i am a small content creator focusing on technology and assisting users with the latest pieces of tech and the technical support issues that can arise.

With this being in mind i would like to review *PRODUCT NAME* If that would be possible in return i can offer a stellar review with promotion to *PRODUCT*

*PERSONALISATION HERE*

Thank you for taking the time to read.

hope to hear from you soon.

~*NAME*'

That's an example you can use.
 
throwaway-s said:
This is basically the route I wanted to go with. First impressions are always important. Can you give me an example of a proposal you'd forward to a company you were interested in?

I'm a tech based channel, and I want to talk to a few different companies. Eventually I'd hope to establish some sort of connection to (Canon,Panasonic,Nikon) or anything smartphone related. If you were to make a mock draft proposal, what would you include?
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I don't think anyone's going to give you a copy-paste of what to write.

Put yourself in the shoes of a tech company. What would YOU want to get out of it? What questions would you have for the potential partner?

Answer - they basically want exposure to as many of their target customers as possible for the least amount of money. So you need to tell them how your videos & channels would do that. Bottom line is you need to show them you're getting a lot of views
 
Even with a polite and professional approach you may not get what you are looking for, although there is no harm in trying.
If you can't get the attention of a large company like Panasonic then I would recommend that you start with much smaller companies, maybe local to where you live if possible. By reviewing smaller and less expensive/well known products you can develop and improve your style, build a fan base, and put yourself in a position that the "big boys" will sit up and pay attention the next time you approach them.

Best of luck!
 
DigiBox said:
With this being in mind i would like to review *PRODUCT NAME* If that would be possible in return i can offer a stellar review with promotion to *PRODUCT*
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You should NEVER offer a 'stellar' review in return for a product, you basically lose all credibility by offering to be positive in return for something. An honest, or in-depth review would be a far better offer than 'stellar' otherwise it just looks like you're saying "Hey, give me free stuff and I'll give you a great review."

What happens if the item turns out to be garbage? You're then duty bound to say the opposite and that does no one any favours, least of all consumers who might be tempted to spend their money on the product of the back of your recommendation.

Another thing that hasn't been touched on in this thread is PR (Public Relations) companies that often take the job of finding the best outlets for publicity - it's not always the manufacturer or distributor that handles the PR requests.

If you can find out who handles PR for a particular company whose products you want to review, the first stage would be to ask to be put on their mailing list for press releases. Provide coverage off the back of those for a while without asking for anything else, each time sending the coverage links back to the PR. Develop a relationship with them. At some point they may flat out offer you a product to review, or if something comes up that takes your fancy - after you've developed a relationship - you can ask about the possibility of a review unit with much more confidence.

I've had a literal ton of free stuf over the years that's been reviewied through my site; DVDs, Blu-rays, t-shirts, posters, event tickets, press passes, preview screenings etc. and it's all come from staying professional and developing relationships with the people and companies that handle publicity.

Good luck!
 
Offer something in return and do your best to possibly project a sale number target with the sponsor and if gone well keep doing business.
 
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