Use collaborations to expand reach, Earnings

Entrepreneurs tend to concentrate on their particular businesses and how to build them from within. Although this focus is a significant element in developing a business, do not overlook the benefits of collaborations with other companies.

With collaborations, you can get in front of new prospects, show your existing customers that you work well with others, and present your clients to new and trendy brands.

So how, exactly, do you discover the perfect collaboration? An integral aspect is identifying an organization which isn’t a direct competitor, but has a similar sort of customer.

1 way to discover a fantastic collaboration is through your present customers. Research them and ask which other companies they follow. You may also simply connect with your clients on social networking and see the other companies they follow.

For Beardbrand, we seek companies with a similar mindset — that value quality, design, and customer support. We don’t wish to associate with a company that’s all about cheap goods, big quantity, or bigoted advertising.

We sell men’s grooming products. When searching for a fantastic collaboration, we ask,”What business is your Beardbrand of pockets, of totes, of sneakers, and so on? And how do we connect with these companies?”

When considering potential collaborations, do not limit yourself. You are able to partner up with businesses that are smaller and larger than yours. They do not have to be the exact same size as your own company.

Every alliance, and the value you get from it, is different. Ideally you need a partnership that will increase sales. But sometimes it is about building a new and showing your customers that you associate with other trendy, like-minded brands.

Smaller firms can bring a soul to bigger organizations. Larger businesses tend to lose their spirit when they grow. Partnering with emerging brands is a fantastic way to show their clients they haven’t dropped it and they still care about what they create.

Getting started

So, as soon as you’ve identified a possible organization to collaborate with, how can you make it happen?

Conduct your due diligence and understand the business’s business. Is it mostly wholesale, online sales, media, or something different? Understanding the business will help build a collaboration that works. Maybe it is a goods-with-purchase ecommerce play (you drop the provider’s sample products in all your orders for, say, a week). Or, with a large brand, it might be advertising space or being featured on its own blog.

Then get in touch. For me, email is ideal for first introductions and setting up things. Generally with bigger businesses, reach out to the advertising or public relations department. With smaller businesses, try the creator or owner.

Personalize your pitch so that your email will get noticed in their inbox. Push as hard as you need for the cooperation, but proceed in the event you’re not getting any traction or opinions.

If you are new to all this, start with smaller, less daunting collaborations.

Preparing the collaboration will probably take longer than you anticipate based on the scope of the project. A goods-with-purchase cooperation is typically faster than, say, creating an entirely new product with a business, which could take up to a year. Be patient. Do not be too pushy, and respect the way the company operates.

Also, decide the value of collaborations to your company. For Beardbrand, collaborations aren’t a main marketing strategy.

If you desired collaborations to be in the heart of your company, adopt a systematic procedure to identifying prospective partners and honing your pitches. Otherwise, take your time and allow the inspiration come to you. Keep your eyes and mind open. See what is out there. When you run into a company with a cool merchandise or vibe, it might be an opportunity.

I listened with Aaron Marino, a lifestyle and image consultant for men, on his YouTube”Alpha M.” channel. There are contributors to his station who also subscribe to ours. When they saw us on a movie together, their response was something like,”I see the two these guys. Their stations are just two of my favorites” And those people are now more connected to Aaron and me since we collaborated for this endeavor.

Other recent collaborations we have done include Recycled Firefighter, making wallets and bags out of old fire hoses, and Clarisonic, a cleaning apparatus for guys with beards.