Asking for Samples
A little over a month ago I saw an instagram post from a friend. It was a photograph of him eating a bag of Maxine's Heavenly cookies. I commented on said friend's post, telling him I was planning on making a vegan pumpkin cheesecake. Well, it turns out he had tagged this company in his post and the next day I got a message from Maxine's Heavenly asking if I would be interested in making my cheesecake with their cookies.
I said yes of course and they sent me a box containing four free bags of their very delicious vegan, gluten free cookies in exchange for posting photos of the cheesecake on my Instagram.
Last week I was accepted into the affiliate program (yay!) of a vegan company that makes and sells supplements. I had never used their products, and didn't feel right about trying to marketing them to people when I had never used them myself.
Then I remembered the exchange with Maxine's Heavenly and thought, why not reach out to this company and ask for samples of their products? So, I sent them an email and explained why I wanted, no, needed samples and they responded shortly after saying they would be happy to send me some!
The moral of the story here is don't be afraid to ask for samples. The worst that can happen is they'll say no. The best? They will send you samples, you'll have first-hand knowledge of the product, and write an amazing article or product review for your website!
Of course, I wouldn't try to ask for samples of high end watches, etc, but if it's reasonable, go for it! You are making them money, so I doubt they will turn you down.
Good luck!!
Recent Comments
9
That is a great post. That is a great idea to ask for a sample and like you said the worse they can do is say no.
That way you can give an honest review about the product and if anyone asks you-you can tell them about the product.
Mary
As my father used to say, "that's using your noggin". Opportunity knocks often, you just have to answer the door. You are going to do very well here at WA.
Mark
What a really great idea and good on you for being proactive- This is how Entrepreneurs are made :)
Go well
Vicki
Hi Missy, This is a great post. You never know who you'll run into along the way, that you both can provide a helping hand to one another.
That's awesome! Good point, too. It might seem a bit outside the comfort zone for some, but as you mentioned, you're also helping them out. That makes it a win-win kind of deal.
Samples are a new way of advertising. And very effective too.
Thank you for sharing valuable insights!
Good luck
awesome job! Sometimes it takes stepping out of that comfort zone and taking action to to get results!
onward n upward
captdennis
Now you must make sure to disclose that they gave you free products to test as well as that you have affiliate links in your post to be FTC compliant. Just make sure you do that.
The other thing to remember here is that these are niche products. Those companies are working hard to get any attention, so free product works well for them. Larger, more established companies may have a different response to that request.
Glad it's working out so well for you!