The 10 Most Frustrating Parts Of Brand Collabs // Long Black Slip Dress + Shearling Jacket

My blog is dedicated to showing the good, the bad, and the ugly of the blogging industry, so here’s a list of the 10 most frustrating parts of working with brands.

1. Reading contracts.
   You have to be SO careful when reading your contracts because many brands like to slip in exclusivity agreements or other terms you may not be okay with.

2. Approvals.
   It is completely acceptable that a brand ask to see your work before you post, but I think sometimes it goes too far when they start changing your captions into impersonal sales pitches or requiring you to reshoot Stories because they prefer a different angle...

3. Deadlines.
   Deadlines are important for any business, but sometimes bloggers have to work with extremely fast turnarounds, including same-day.

4. Reshoots.
   I’ve been asked to reshoot multiple times throughout my blogging career, but there is nothing as frustrating as getting an amazing shot and then being asked to reshoot because the brand forgot to tell you an important detail like not to wear a specific color or to show the product in a certain way.

5. Net 60 payments.
   In general, bloggers get paid 60 days after they complete their work and send in their invoices.

6. After-the-fact requests.
   I’ve gotten emails months after completing a collaboration with requests like, “We added a new product to our line. Would you mind adding the link to your blog post?” Or, “We’re doing some market research on our brand, so would you mind sending us a paragraph on what you think our brand represents and three words describing our product selection?”

7. Awful campaign platforms.
   There are some brands that like to manage their collaborations using extremely slow, unintuitive platforms. I won’t name names, but there is one platform in particular that is TERRIBLE. The brand had to send me a 5 page instruction manual and a YouTube video just so I could figure out how to upload my photos for approval. They would then only communicate through the platform’s messaging service. After submitting my posts, they messaged me to change one word in my caption. Since the platform did not allow me to make edits, the brand required me to re-submit everything rather than just confirm via message that I would change the word when posting.

8. Specific posting dates.
   Bloggers are SO particular which photo is posted where on Instagram in order to keep their overall grid looking consistent, so there is nothing worse than being required to post on an exact date, unless it’s for a specific holiday or launch. I always appreciate when a brand gives me a span of a few days to post. It’s even more frustrating when a brand requires you to choose the posting date a month in advance, as if you have any clue which day will be good to post.  

9. Brands backing out.
   Circumstances change and sometimes a brand has to back out of what could have been an incredible and very lucrative collaboration.

10. Very strict guidelines.
    Part of why brands hire bloggers is to speak to their specific audiences. We know what types of photos and captions perform well, so when a brand comes in and starts telling us exactly what they want the photo to look like and exactly what the caption should say, it’s very frustrating.
    

Let me know which number you resonate most with in the comments below!

OUTFIT BREAKDOWN:
Long Black Slip Dress: Intimissimi (c/o)
Cream Shearling Jacket: Zara
Black Ankle Strap Heels: ASOS

Photography: My Mom

xx Esther