Good afternoon Collabor8ers!
Many of you are new to the app and are just getting familiar with the platform. Others have been on for a couple weeks now and may have already started working on collabs. Either way, we have compiled 7 tips for you to optimize your profile so that you are pleasing to the eye AND the brain.
- Profile Photos – When you first create an account, Collabor8 will automatically pull in your most recent Instagram photo and use it as your profile image. This is to avoid blank profiles and help beautify the EXPLORE page. We recommend that you add additional photos by clicking the “PHOTOS” button in the upper-left corner and selecting Instagram as the source. It will allow you to bring in as many photos from your Instagram feed as you want. After doing so, decide which image you want to be on the cover of your profile and hit the “PROFILE” button in the upper-right corner of your screen. If you want to see some great examples of profile photos, check out Gigi Pip (brand) or Salome Brimhall (Influencer) inside the app.
- Location and Bio – Many brands and influencers are trying to get word out to new geographical areas, so it is important that you specify where you are located, or where most of your followers are located. (NOTE: This will soon be a “smart” location that will allow you to select your geo location and then be able to search by area, radius, etc.). Your Bio gives you a unique opportunity to tell others about yourself and what may set you apart from others. In today’s world, we are dying to “connect” with others on a new level. This might be through a style of photography, a charitable cause, a life story, etc. Let others get to know you! After all, they need to trust who they are working with and a bio definitely helps. Check out Chelsey Hale (Influencer) or Halftee (Brand) to get an idea of a good bio. Short and sweet is OK!
- Link Social Media Accounts – Collabor8 populates a “Total Reach” that accounts for all of your social media followings. It is important to add each outlet you have because some brands are looking to grow a specific platform. For example, “Brand A” might have a huge Instagram following but they really want to get more exposure to their Periscope account. So they might pass on somebody with a big Instagram for someone with a smaller Periscope following, because they are new Periscope. You never know what will pique their interest! Jane.com has done a great job at completely filling out their social media.
As a side note, some of you have asked about the difference between VERIFIED and UNVERIFIED social accounts. VERIFIED means that we currently have an api connection that allows us to automatically tap into Instagram and Twitter (Facebook pages soon) and update the follower counts. The UNVERIFIED accounts do not currently have api connections so you must enter the number of followers that you have manually. However they do still contribute to your Total Reach. - Respond to Requests ASAP – When somebody sends you a request, think of it as an opportunity to reach a new pool of people and get new content for your account. If they are a good fit, accept quickly and spark up a conversation. There are no rules on who needs to begin the chat! Feel free to send a message right away and break the ice. They are likely just as eager to work with you as you are with them. On the other hand, if they are not a good fit at the moment, click the “x” on their request sooner rather than later so they can move on as well. COMMUNICATION IS KEY!
- Quick side note: If you get a “POSTPONED” message back from an account that you have requested, this could mean a few different things. For example, it could mean that they are currently booked for collabs, they have surpassed their collab budget for a given time frame, or they’d like to revisit the opportunity after 30-60 days. Do not feel like they have denied you. Timing is everything 🙂
- Keep up on collabs – On the detail screen (the blue circle with 3 lines) within each collaboration, there is a progress bar that shows how the collaboration is moving along. You can click the bar and it will open a flyout window that shows the progress in more detail. One of the BIGGEST concerns we have heard about is people who are not responded to chat messages in a timely manner. We understand that you are busy, but try your best to be as prompt as possible. See below for a graphic:
- Keep your app updated to the most current version!! – This is unique situation for you guys as beta testers because we publish updates quite often (every 1-2 weeks) and they typically have significant changes to them. Although you can’t always see the changes, we are squashing bugs, fixing crashes and making the app faster. If you don’t update your app, the platform will be slower for you AND possibly cause issues for those that you collaborate with. So please update your app as soon as you recieve the TestFlight email notification that there is a new version. You can also open your TestFlight app at any time to see if there is an update available. NOTE: To avoid bugs being carried over to the new version, try to delete the current app on your phone first and then update to the new version via TestFlight.
- Curate an AMAZING platform of Collabor8ers – We want to have the best brands and the best influencers on this app so we can all work together seamlessly. If there are brands or influencers that you have wanted to work with and are not currently on the app, please let us know and we will reach out them personally to invite them to the platform. We are at your service in this regard and want Collabor8 to be a 1-stop-shop for you and your business. We are actively inactivating accounts that are stagnant to make room for people who are truly wanting to be part of this family!
We are so pumped that so many of you are loving the app and we hope to only make it better for you. We have some rad updates in the works and we hope you are excited 🙂
Have a great weekend!
-Collabor8
