Collabs are Good Business, Baby!

I've been collaborating with other small businesses for years and I have to say, I LOVE it!

Here's why....

1. Visibility

It introduces your business to people who may not ever have seen it without the collaboration.  My most recent collaboration with Rock Paper Sisters has introduced Coco and June to almost 10,000 new followers.  Woohoo! 

And, the same goes for Lindsay over at Rock Paper Sisters.  Her company has now been introduced to my audience.  Lucky for her, right?😉

2.  Camaraderie

It can get lonely as a solopreneur.  I, for one, crave good connections with other entrepreneurs.  It's so helpful to chat with other people who are in the same boat as you.  When you create a solid collaboration with another entrepreneur, relationships are developed.  Friendships, even.  What a gift to give yourself.

So, how does one set up a collaboration?  Well, like most things in business, don't overthink it.  Overthinking will stifle your action taking.  Here's a quick recap of how I develop collaborations with other business owners.

1.  Who?

Consider the business owners you know who might be interested.  Make sure you already have a relationship with them.  You don't have to be best friends, but at least have some sort of relationship.  Maybe you have commented on each other's posts.  Maybe you have purchased each other's products.  Maybe you've had DM conversations. 

2.  Be Smart.

Then ask yourself, does this collaboration make sense?  For example, the Rock Paper Sisters collab was created using my painting on Lindsay's stationary products.  That makes sense. 

What would not make sense would be me collaborating with another abstract artist with a similar style as mine.  Or to collaborate with a local construction company. 

In the first example, we have similar audiences, but the collab would not benefit either one of us, as our audiences would just be confused on whose art to buy.  The second example wouldn't work because our audiences are so very different that more than likely, neither audience would likely be interested in the other business's product.

3.  Ask. 

Seriously, all you need to do is reach out to the person and ask if they'd be interested.  Remember...make sure you already have a relationship in some capacity. 

Drop in their DMs, send them an email, FB message them.  It's really that simple. 

Here is what I sent to Lindsay after commenting on one of her stories..."PS- if you ever want to collab with my art on a product of yours, let me know.  Might be a fun one off project or who knows, we may end up in Target someday!" 

That's it.  Totally informal.  And the rest is history.

The number one hesitation I've heard from my fellow biz owners and clients is they'd really have to work up the nerve to ask.  I get it.  It can feel awkward, but let me just say this...so many of my amazing and profitable experiences have come from just doing it (thank you, Nike). 

But really, if we're going to run a big girl business here, we have to take chances.  We have to push through that fear.  You know as well as I do that what's on the other side of that fear is so worth it.  

You've got this, friend!