At OpenView, our pitch to influencers goes something like this: OpenView is a Boston-based venture capital firm that produces a lot of content for entrepreneurs. We know that you’re a respected expert in [insert expertise] and would love to collaborate with you on an article about [insert topic]. We think our audience would really enjoy hearing from you about it. In addition to posting the article to our sites, which garner more than 100,000 unique visitors a month, we will publicize it through our social networks and include it in our newsletter that goes out to more than 20 portfolio companies nationwide and over 25,000 entrepreneurs around the world. As you can see, it’s a great opportunity to get exposure to a sizable and relevant audience. Our pitch centers on the opportunity for exposure that the influencer will get. Yours might have a different selling point, such as a free trial of your product or service, access to a particular niche market, or the opportunity for co-sponsorships. 5. Make it easy to work with you True influencers are busy people without a lot of time. You may have more success if you simplify things for them. For example, if you are looking for an influencer to contribute a blog post to your site, write out the main points that you think it should cover, so that all that person has to do is fill in the blanks rather than come up with an idea. In some cases, you may even want to schedule a quick call and draft a write-up for the influencer to simply edit and personalize. While this approach doesn’t save you time or resources, it will help you to engage higher-profile influencers who otherwise may be out of your reach. 6. Thank the influencer and ask them to share the content As soon as you post any piece of content that an influencer has contributed to, be sure to notify the person. It is a great opportunity to not only thank them for working with you, but also to gently suggest that they share the content with their audience. In addition, always follow up with influencers with positive feedback if their content performs particularly well, or if comments come in that they should respond to. It Takes a Content Factory! | 73