Today we are going to take a little look into what partnerships are, what one could look like for you, and how you could be leveraging your partnerships to grow your biz!

 But first, I’ll let you in on a little secret you may not know if you aren’t one of our Collective sisters… Ready? 

Rebel Office’s founder, Sarah Williams, and Meg K. Wheeler have come together to create some to-die-for tutorials, tools, and templates specifically designed to help entrepreneurs like us grow, connect and receive the most from our business relationships. 

There is everything you need to generate and maintain a partnership or 20 in here, guys! 

 Anywho, let’s dive on in! 

 

What even is a business partnership? 

 Right? When I first heard the term, I was like, “Uh… You mean like… A marriage… For your business?” Yup. That clueless.

If you’re thinking the same thing though, that’s totally okay! We’re going to get you feeling like a partnership pro by the end of this article! 

 A partnership in a business is actually pretty similar to a personal partnership.

Both business and personal partnerships involve: 

• Pooling money toward a common purpose
• Sharing skills and resources, and
• Sharing financial ups and downs.

Basically, it’s a legal relationship formed by the agreement between two or more persons who agree to conduct a matter of business together. This could be an entire business, a particular service, or something as simple as running a promotion together. 

 Joining forces with other businesses or brands not only increases your potential audience reach but it also:

• introduces you to new people
• pushes you outside of your comfort zone, and
• can create new opportunities beyond the current partnership.

 

 

What could a business partnership look like for me?

 A Social Media Giveaway

You’re probably not new to these. Most people have at least participated in one if they haven’t hosted one themselves. Collaborating with 1-5 other businesses and brands to create a compelling package that encourages participants to follow everyone involved is a great way to boost followers, increase reach and engagement. Not only that, but it also helps others learn about your products and services by seeing what you’ve contributed to the giveaway!

How to do this: Try posting in a Facebook group seeing if anyone (in a specific industry, offering particular products, etc. – make sure it’s aligned!) is interested in collaborating on a giveaway. Or – if you have some people in mind – reach out directly!

 

Joint Webinars /Training

No matter what kind of marketing you do, what your message is, or where you spread it, all of it comes back to you establishing yourself as the pro, the go-to on a specific topic/service, or for a particular product. Collaborating with another brand or expert to host a joint training (in person or online) can expose you to another audience and establish yourself as a pro in front of a new group of people.

How to do this: reach out to someone that you follow, and that would compliment your message (i.e., has a different but aligned perspective on a topic) and pitch it!

 

Supporting a Non-Profit / Charity

At RO, we all about doing good, especially when we have the power as business owners to incorporate giving back and doing right by merely running an intentional business. A great way to create awareness not only for a good cause but also for your brand is to partner with a non-profit or charity. This could be a local group or a larger one, and partnerships could look very different depending on your business. You should totally check out Sarah’s article on how to use your business model to do good, which will be a great read if this is something you’re thinking of doing.

How to do this: First, decide what you want it to look like, whether it’s a portion of your profits going to them, your employees volunteering with them, or running a campaign to support a specific cause. Prepare your proposal to the organization, and remember to make it about how your business can help THEM.

 

How can I make sure I’m partnering up with the right brand?

 It is super important to make sure you do your research as you do with anything new that you want to invite into your business. 

 You want to make sure that, if you’re wanting to use this partnership to build your business, that the brand you’re going to be working with has an established community. If you’re new in business, you might feel more comfortable reaching out to other people who are new in business, which is totally understandable.

 I advise you to ask yourself a few simple questions before reaching out to a brand you might be thinking of partnering with: 

• How is this partnership going to help me grow my business?
• Will I actually be reaching my typa people? 
• How will this partnership positively serve my audience?
• Do our values align?

Don’t be afraid to be totally blunt with yourself when it comes to these kinds of things. Listen to that gut feeling of yours. 

 At the end of the day, any time you try something new in your business, reach out to other entrepreneurs and are focused on creating more awareness and exposure for your brand, you’re doing the right thing.

Don’t be afraid to leverage other people’s audiences, strengths, and skills. Go ahead and make those connections, boo.