One of greatest way to grow your small business is through cross promotions. At times, the business lifestyle is very lonely and tough to handle. However, partnering with other small business owners is a great way to reach a new audience outside of the current demographic that knows you. Strategic partnerships through collaboration is also a great way to connect with other small business owners, as well as, to establish a community.
Ask Why
Why should you partner with other small businesses? It can definitely help your business win in the sales department, which is great, but ask yourself this…Are you solely doing this for you to reap the benefits or do you honestly want to build a community and partnership with other businesses? This is extremely important. As I have said numerous times before, you can’t be driven by money. If money is your focus, you will always be chasing a sale versus building something solid. If you want to build a community, that’s great.
Partner Picking
Find and list 10 people in different industries but that slightly overlap each other. The individual(s) you select, need to have a similar ideal audience to yours but they don’t have to have the same exact audience already. You want them to bring the new people to you, not people who already follow you both. If you don’t have someone in your ten, then think of 20 people who have an audience you want to tap into.
For example, if I was a baker who specialized in cupcakes, I would want to collaborate with an event coordinator. Clients need food and the coordinator needs food to provide for her clients. Find people who need your product or services.
Reaching Out
On Instagram, several people have mentioned that this part is the hardest. This should be the easy part, especially, if you already have a relationship with these people. As ALWAYS, before reaching out, spend time getting to know the person. Is this the right person for a partnership? Today alone, 20 emails got deleted with pitches. Those people didn’t do their research. They pitched me projects and collabs that didn’t align with my business. Make sure you fit with whoever you are pitching to, and if you do send an introduction email first. See if they are working on any projects. If there schedule is busy they are less likely to jump on board.
Types of Collaborations
There are so many collaborations you can do together. Here are some examples for you:
1. Exchange features on each others blog
2. Host a giveaway on the blog
3. Write an Ebook together
4. Host a workshop
5. Do a loop giveaway
6. Host a webinar
7. Do a focus group meet-up
There is a plethora of options for you to choose from, when collaborating with someone, in order to, benefit both of your businesses. Don’t limit yourself to the traditional things most people do. There are a multitude of things you can do to leverage both businesses involved.
Have you thought about doing a collaboration with cross promotions, to help you grow your business?
