Benefits of collaborating & building your business with others…

“Why are you doing all of that for free?” 

This is what I was asked a couple of times when explaining that I was organising and hosting my third free online Summit to support small business owners alongside other entrepreneurs. 

Collaborating with others can be a great way to grow your own business, create meaningful relationships that can further support your clients and help you become part of a like-minded community to keep you motivated and accountable.  

Why do I decide to run summits?

There are endless ways to grow a business which is why I create tailored marketing strategies for my clients.

For marketing strategies to really work, I believe they need to suit the founders’ personality, industry the business is in, stage of business growth and speak directly to their ideal audience….

We all have personal and professional motivators, here are some of mine. What are yours?

For me, one of the big reasons is that I love working with other people (something I don’t always have while growing my business - at the moment I have a great team of freelancers who I work with on an ad hoc basis).

It also keeps me motivated, accountable, learning new things and it often creates new ideas and opportunities that I could never have planned for. 

Professionally, one of my goals is to increase my mailing list and I want to do so organically (not paying for ads) and authentically (giving people real value not empty sales tactics) and I find running Summits one fun way to do that. 

My long term business vision is about creating a brand that isn’t solely focused on me as the founder but a team of people working together to help a wider community. For this, I need good people. Running a summit helps me move towards my future vision while focusing on the short term goals today. 

Collaborating is a recipe of compromise

While you have your personal wants and needs, so do the people/businesses on the other side of the negotiation table. 

Don’t start a conversation about collaborating by thinking about what you want. Instead, spend time thinking about what the other party might get out of the relationship, what can you offer them, what do they stand to gain? 

Use this as a conversation starter, be open and honest about your expectations and be ready to hear their requests too. 

How can you find the right partners to collaborate with?

Here are some things to think about when planning to collaborate with other people, business, products… 

→ Who or what products share the same ideal clients as you? (You want to enhance your customers' experience through the collaboration.)

→ What problems do they solve for their customers? And is this in line with your brand mission, purpose and values? 

→ What are the personal and professional benefits of this collaboration for you?

→ What can you do to make it worthwhile for the other person/business?

→ How will you know a collaboration has been successful?

Thank you

Thank you to the wonderful 12 speakers for giving up their time and sharing their knowledge for free to support the community of entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Thanks also to the attendees who asked questions, attended the live talks and watched the replays, your energy and commitment to learn was awesome. 

Below is the list of the speakers and a link to some of their great work - book a discovery call, ask them questions, get them on your team! 

• Dunsmore, Photographer & Director of Picture Partnership - For brilliant service and ideas of bringing your business and personality to life through photos, get in touch
• Alia Khatib, LinkedIn & Marketing Consultant - You can download her free guide on getting started on linkedin here
•  Aleksandra Kohut, Business & Money Coach - You can download her freebie sharing "21 money leaks" in your business checklist https://finpert.ac-page.com/21moneyleaks 
• Alice Widger, SEO Specialist - Contact her today to discuss your SEO requirements and Milk It Digital  
• Christine Huntingford, Founder Perfect Layout Digital Marketing - Want your website to help you attract more customers? Then download her freebie: 'More Customers Please' here.
• Ian Braysher, Safeguarding Consultant - Find out how to keep your business alive by understanding the things you have to consider so that you do not fall foul of regulations and best practices. For a complementary review, worth approximately £200, use this link
• Jane Abbott, Marketing Consultant & Coach - Download the 'Marketing Priorities For Each Stage of Your Business' freebie here, this guide outlines straight forward marketing activities which will help you generate a consistent flow of new enquiries into your business on a regular basis.
• Joelle Byrne, Business Strategist - For help identifying how to sell to the customers surrounding your business that you didn't even know existed with this freebie click here  
• Katie Earl, Blog Writer for Coaches, Consultants, & Counsellors - For more tips about creating content for your business that will grow your audience and nurture readers have a read of her blog here  
• Kirsty France, Blog & Content Writer - To get Kirsty's in-depth series on starting your business blog straight to your inbox, click here to subscribe.
• Maria Gray, Yoga & Wellbeing expert - Yoga and wellbeing isn’t just about sitting in silence with perfect posture, or changing your lifestyle completely, but an ongoing journey, a discovery into the fun, joyous side of your life. To find out more or book with Maria, please visit her website 
• Stacey Macdonald, Brand Storytelling Expert - Everyone has a life story. The tricky bit is knowing how to use this and make it work for your business. To download her 'Secret Story Framework' freebie, click here 

If you want to find a fun way to grow your business that works for you and get results, get in touch