Why You Should Collaborate
for Business
And how you can get started
I love collaborating.
I’ve gotten the biggest gains in my business by working with other people and getting in front of their audiences.
That’s a big reason why, when I decided to ramp up my marketing, I chose collaborating over other marketing tactics.
But there are other reasons I love collaborating, too.
Six reasons I love collaborating
- I’m curious. I love finding out what other people are up to, what their journey has been and where they are headed.
- I’m energized & inspired by interactions with fellow collaborators.
- Solopreneur-ship can be lonely. Many of my activities are solitary, but I’m also energized by being with other people.
- I enjoy learning new things. Collaborations come in many different forms and with each one I learn something.
- It’s easy to get started. I didn’t have to buy new equipment or rearrange my office to collaborate. I didn’t even have to have a big list or large social following.
- I need a balance of big picture and extrovert activities and detailed, introvert ones.
What is collaboration?
Collaborating is more than joining up with someone to create something. In the online world, a collaboration adds a third party – the audience – who needs to get something out of the collaboration too. In the best scenario, your collaboration would result in not only in a ‘win’ for you and your fellow collaborator, but also for your audiences; that is, a ‘win-win-win”.
It’s essentially a short term trading of favors without a lot of formality.
Why would I want to collaborate?
In the online space, we mainly seek to collaborate for one of these primary objectives:
- Grow your audience
- Build authority
- Identify buyers
And in addition, working online can be isolating and lonely as your friends and family may not understand what you are doing. Collaborating puts you with people who ‘get you’. And I find working with others to be fun.
You can still collaborate even if you think you have nothing to offer.
When you are just starting out, you may wonder why anyone would want to collaborate with you. After all, you have no list, no large social following, no money to spend and not a lot of time since there are about 500 other things you think you should be doing.
Take a deep breath and relax. Let’s take things one at a time.
First even starting out, you can do guest posts or swap other kinds of content with friends and peers. Depending on your objectives, you can also swap participation on social media and groups. And sharing each other’s freebie is fast and easy.
OK I’m convinced. How do I get started collaborating?
First – join my new Facebook group to connect with others who want to collaborate.
Then identify a friend (or several friends) who will promote your opt in gift to their list. Agree to reciprocate and promote their opt-in gift to your list in 3 months or when your list reaches a certain number.
And just like that! You are collaborating!
If you’d like to discover how you can collaborate even if you are just starting out, get my guide, Collaborate: Go Farther Faster. It includes 26 ways you can work with others and is my gift to you when you join my free Facebook community Connect & Collaborate.
So if you’re thinking about collaborating for your business, come join a group dedicated to that and more. Click here to join.