THE MORNING

We had to wake up super early; baring in mind, I had just returned from a very tiresome journey from Italy, I was surviving off 4 hours sleep (hence the lethargic look in these images). Fortunately, Aidan's mum treated us all to getting the experience filmed. If you've been here before, you will know that I also have two Youtube channels. I was so desperate to get the footage for my vlog (which you can watch here - the whole jump is captured!) and share the entire day with all of my avid readers/viewers! Arriving an hour before the jump, we prepared ourselves by having a small bite to eat, a drink and chatting to the family. My entire family came to watch, alongside some of my boyfriend's, so we literally had an entire audience supporting us! A few forms signed later...we headed into the briefing room and were informed on the best position to hold as you jump followed by the best technique to land safely. There wasn't too much information to take in, which was great as at this point nerves started building up... 

THE JUMP

All the gear was popped on, including this extremely flattering condom-esque hat, and we made our way to the plane. It took about 10 minutes to reach the pilot's requirements and the crazy height of 13,000 feet. The weather wasn't completely on our side, as it was very cloudy and the wind speeds were high; however, it didn't affect the experience too much. I was told that I'd be leaving the plane last because I was sat at the back - I initially panicked but as soon as I saw my boyfriend, his brother and mum jump, it all happened to quickly to continue worrying. As I was looking out the plane window, I was genuinely enjoying the sights and my nerves were nowhere near as bad as they were on land. Before I knew it, I was hanging off a guy on the edge of the plane with my very own camera guy attached, like Spiderman, to the side of the aircraft! It was such a mental, overwhelming, adrenalin-bursting, quick experience that I will never EVER forget...We free fell for about 40-50 seconds. The wind blowing into my mouth gave the awful illusion of not being able to breathe but of course, this was over soon enough and I was floating to the ground. I also had a bit of a mare with my goggles - they kept sliding into my eyes so I struggled to see what was going on during the free fall due to the powers of the wind and gravity. 

The Venue, The Food & The Cocktails

The Masterclass

Benefit had our backs by making sure we were fully equipped with an adorable pink Bene-notepad to jot down blogging tips. Laura informed us of her background, her journey and all her favourite tips on writing a successful blog post or Instagram caption. It was really enlightening to hear someone's perspective on blogging who has worked in other aspects of the media too, especially someone who has had many a success. I loved spending time with other bloggers and having a little chat on our table too. The girls who we were sitting with were super lovely and friendly! I felt comfortable sharing my work with them and, of course, we swapped Instagram handles. During the workshop, we wrote an anecdotal piece about 'a brow story' that we'd personally experienced. It was interesting to hear Laura's views and how she progresses from her raw writing to the finishing piece. I found every part of the day fascinating and I cannot wait to see the Bene gals soon. I've also managed to get my hands on the new blush (Gold Rush) - do you want a blog review on it?!

Do you want me to review the new Bene blush? What is your favourite Benefit Cosmetics product?

Lots of love

EMAILS & REACHING OUT

My number one tip before contacting, or thinking to contact a brand, is to set up your own professional email. I decided to make myself a blogging email, specifically for blogging work and brand connections. This not only helped organise my personal emails from my business ones, but makes you look more experience and your blog look more serious than a hobby. Still on the emailing front, DO NOT send a generalised email to a company if you are pitching an idea. One of the worst thing in the blogging industry, for me, is when a brand emails myself and spells my name wrong (usually calling me Scarlet due to lack of research), fails to mention any of my blog work and quite explicitly is only searching to work for their brand exposure with nothing in return for me. Therefore, I'd highly recommend personalising you emails if you are the first one to make a move! Maybe you could mention a specific product that you've loved for years and continually repurchase, or point out an item from their site explaining why you'd love to review this and why it would benefit them. Make sure you have pointed out why working with you can benefit their brand and possibly do some research to show your passion/interest of the company in a more intimate way. Your emails should always include your passion, the benefits, politeness and most importantly, your successes! This can be quite difficult if you've just started out but if you've managed to network with great brands before - wonderful - whack it in the email. Obviously ensure your email still flows but if you are pitching an idea to a makeup brand about wanting to review their new eyeshadow palette, then perhaps you could send a blog post link to a previous time where you worked with another prestigious company. Flaunt your successes!

MEDIA KITS, STATS & COMMUNICATION

Statistics and media kits are useful when it comes to pitching ideas. Unfortunately, the majority of brands will have an expectation or want to know your following, either on a particular platform or over all your social platforms. Media kits are perfect to share your engagement statistics, services offered, previously worked with brands and a range of aspects linking to your blog. These are also great to send to a brand, attached to your email; thus, if they don't particularly want you to post a review, they may suggest an alternative service that may leave you with a better result. For instance, if the brand can see you have 10,000 Instagram followers and they are currently working to push their Instagram engagement/followers, then they may suggest a different campaign to the one you suggested. Your media kit provides a chance to share your current, and previous work, and sell your capabilities to the brand. 

Finally, if you've managed to be successful and secured the collaboration. My ultimate tip would be to regularly communicate. Keep in contact with the brand throughout the collaboration, NOT just when the review is live. Whenever I work with a brand, I will always email to notify when a product arrives, when the post will go live on my blog and the link to post afterwards. It is super important to maintain a high level of communication - not only with the brand remember you in the future, it is polite and informs them of the entire process.