How I got Invited to Exclusive Events as a Blogger

If you have been an avid reader of this Blog and a part of our journey since inception, you would have known that we have had the opportunity to attend and cover several Exclusive Events.

In case you are wondering what an “Exclusive Event” Is,

“It is an event that is invite only where the guests are hand-picked by the organisers and host where these individuals are deemed important or relevant in a particular society”.

These events often have great food, entertainment and you get to meet top industry leaders so they are usually highly sought after. If you are wondering how you can get invited to an exclusive event, keep reading as I share a few tips on How I got Invited to Exclusive Events as a Blogger.

How I got Invited to Exclusive Events as a Blogger

Have a Body of Work

Clearly, you won’t get invited to events if you have nothing to show why you should get invited in the first place. I am a Blogger and have this website to show my “body of work” and the relevance of my presence for said gathering. Remember, these events are usually expensive to put together and getting invited must make sense to the host since it will be considered an Investment.

Quality over Quantity

I’ve always maintained the mantra “always do your best no matter if it’s free or paid”.

This means, wherever I go and whatever I do, I give the same energy since the term Haute means “high-quality” and I ensure I’m living up to the standard I’ve set for the Brand. I follow the pages of the brands I’m interested in and am aware of whenever there are events which are usually free and attend with a Photographer and sometimes Videographer. I ensure to give the brand a few (not all) high quality photos and videos. By doing this, I’ve established that I offer high quality work and I’m professional since I didn’t just show up for the sake of showing up, but I delivered something in return. By doing this for a number of brands, It has landed me on the guest list (and P.R lists) of brands and wherever there is an event and they need coverage, they know they can pay me to deliver quality service.

Letter of Intent or Accreditation

There are a lot of major events that I want to attend, but I know the only way I can get access is through “Links”, who knows me OR, I can go the Media route and request Media Accreditation. This is a more traditional (old) route but I find it works well especially if you are looking to establish yourself as a brand. This pretty much means you write a letter to the event organizers telling them who you are, the type of coverage you will be providing whether it’s images or video, you give a turnaround time and how many members of your team will be attending. This is a dying art especially for Bloggers, but it works. Look out for a blog post on “The Elements of the Letter of Accreditation”.

Through Links

I am a proud Jamaican and one important thing about making it here in any discipline is dependent on “who you know”. After years of Blogging, I’ve created somewhat of a professional friendship with a few industry shakers and ever so often if any of the above methods fail, I like to call in a favour. I know a few people in Public Relations (P.R ) and I will sometimes ask them to put me on the guest list of events I’m not able to get into on my own accord. This also works in the reverse where a P.R person will ask me to attend an event for a brand in exchange for a feature on the Blog for pay or gifting purposes. I am selective in the types of events in this regard, but if it matches the core values of the brand I will definitely say yes.

Just Do Great Work

I cannot tell you how many times I just get invited to events without using any of the methods above. 60% of the invites I’ve received came from people who found the blog on Google and have commended how professional things look and how aesthetically pleasing the Blog looks and invite me to events. There are no shortcuts in this business if you truly want to be successful so I highly recommend doing exceptional work whether it’s free or paid.

For example, I’ve always wanted to attend Caribbean Fashion Week here in Jamaica which is a more “business or professional” weeklong event but could never get invited. I checked my email one day and saw a request from an International Designer who would be debuting her Jewelry at the event who found the Blog via Google and invited me as her guest and paid me to attend and covered the event, plus gave me FREE Jewelry. I never asked for any of this, but I felt appreciated as I knew the work I was putting in and I was happy with the return.

If you are an Influencer, Blogger or Content Creator trying to make it in this Industry and trying to get into Exclusive events, I hope you will find value in the tips I’ve shared.

For more industry on the Business of Fashion and Blogging please email me at hautepeople@yahoo.com. I now offer coaching services.

I hope I have helped at least one person today to realise their full potential.

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