Working with brands is something I don't have a lot of experience with, but definitely something on my “I wanna learn about this” list.

One of the things I do when I'm ready to learn something new is find 2 or 3 experts on the topic and I start to read their blogs, sign up for their newsletters and start to get to know them. Once I find someone I like and trust, I start buying some of their products to learn more. I'm not at the buying point when it comes to working with brands, but one person I'm looking at is Jeni from TheBlogMaven.com

She just published an interesting blog post about  bloggers working with brands. She has some great tips to share. One that caught my eye is that big companies aren't the only game in town. Often it's easier to get a foot in the door with some smaller brands.

There’s a temptation to get all starry-eyed when you’re approached by a big-name brand like Kellogg’s or Procter & Gamble to promote their products. But there are tons of mid-sized companies – and even mom-and-pop operations! – that you can really make a difference for.

How about you? Is working with brands something you do? How's it working for you?