Benefit from working together so everyone can score a win
Working together, people can do great things. Social media collaboration optimizes everyone’s results and gives them the best return on investment.
“Are you a business owner ready to stop being a best kept secret?” asked Melanie Benson. “Become a must-have expert and make another six to seven figures a year.”
The host of the Amplify Your Success podcast, Benson has created her “Proven 7-Step Framework for Leveraging Other People’s Audiences.”
Along with digital marketing expert Madalyn SklarBenson shared insights on how to optimize collaboration tactics.
“Engage with other people,” Benson said. “Don’t just push the content. The more you engage, the more social media – especially the Twitter community – will engage back. This is how the #LaunchandFounders community was born during the pandemic.”
Sklar offered her tips on Twitter for beginners:
- Get creative with different types of tweets
- Focus more on delivering value
- Take advantage of Twitter lists
- Join the conversation on Twitter
Applying these individual principles makes working together easier.
“The collaborative model is the principle that when we co-create opportunities with our peers and competition, we amplify profit and impact exponentially,” Benson said.
“When cooperation is present, there is zero competition,” she said. “Everyone is winning. Creating opportunities together is a form of currency in itself.”
In her vision, the currency of collaboration is first a mindset and second a strategy.
“We start with the decision to give value and visibility freely,” Benson said. “This activates the Law of Reciprocity.”
This is what Sklar practices every day, online and offline.
“The collaboration model is about bringing together and leveraging the audiences of multiple businesses to generate success,” she said.
Size is irrelevant when determining who will do well from collaborating with competitors.
“All businesses can benefit,” Benson said. “It’s a win-win – win for you, win for them and win for your community. It just might look different in every industry or country.”
She gave instructions for specific social interactions:
- If you have a podcast and interview guests, collaboration is very easy. Invite the guest. Explore more options. Nurture the relationship.
- If you have an email community or Facebook group, collaboration can be very fruitful for everyone. Share great collaborative content. Highlight offers. Use affiliate tracking if referral commissions are involved.
- If you’re active on social media and have built your influence, share other people’s content. Give first and see the engagement fly up. It feels good to receive freely.
- Co-create a new offering that serves your target audience but has complementary superpowers and strengths.
“Many businesses can benefit from working with competitors,” Sklar said. “It just depends if you can find something that would be mutually beneficial.”
Includes several activities in collaboration with business colleagues.
“Collaboration is about finding a win-win approach,” Benson said. “This means you may need to get creative and do something outside of your normal practices.”
She shared some of her favorites:
- Be a guest on other people’s podcasts. This is a super permanent lead generation strategy now with 2 million active podcasts. This is my favorite of the others.
- Email each other’s list for a free book or offer. Triple Win: Your audience gets a valuable resource, your partner gets leads and sales, and you get referral commissions.
- Form an online community to give support, community and social media love like we did with #LaunchandFounders.
- Host a Twitter Chat or Twitter Space. Facebook Live where you highlight others is a great way to activate the currency of collaboration.
Benson asked her Twitter community for their best Twitter advice for connections, which she compiled into an article.
During the pandemic, a fellow podcaster featured 20 people including Benson in Podcast Magazine
“Intriguing and talented people to spotlight in your blog post,” Benson said. “Sure, they’ll probably share it over and over again.”
The World Class Performer features another Benson profile.
It depends on what activities businesses should pursue for cooperation.
“Activities can include creating a social media campaign, writing blog content, filming videos or live streaming on Twitter Spaces,” Sklar said.
Influence can be extended by personal connections.
“‘Borrowing influence’ means that influencers have built their own engaged community — by inviting someone else into the seat of the ‘expert,'” Benson said.
Doing this compounds the effect.
“By ‘borrowing’ you gain exposure, generate brand awareness and increase your credibility in your field,” Sklar said.
With the concept in hand, there is no reason to delay.
“Start today,” Benson said. “Once you’ve established your business, start looking for ways to co-create opportunities and collaborate.
“The collaborative approach is an ongoing practice,” she said. “If you have something new or a promotion, now is the best time to activate it.”
Those who take the first steps come out on top.
“Don’t be afraid to start,” Benson said. “Most business owners are so busy that they don’t have time to get started. You will be the hero.”
Sklar also advocates starting “wherever you want”.
“If you want to collaborate, go ahead and contact someone who you think would be a great person or business to work with,” she said.
Ideal co-workers share common traits.
“Businesses with synergy are the best,” Benson said. “Both have the same potential customers, but they have different offers.
“Your competition is a powerful opportunity for collaborative currency,” she said. “Podcasts are very easy to use. Everyone with a podcast needs content. You can provide it if you know how to present it.”
One of Benson’s favorite tactics is to keep things simple and build friendships.
“You want to work with businesses that have an audience you want to target,” Sklar said. “That way, you will be able to reach the right people. A great strategy is to put them on a Twitter list so you can follow their conversations closely.”
One of the advantages of cooperation is increased reliability.
“This goes back to the concept of ‘impact borrowing,'” Benson said. “Also, collaborations often raise the energy of our brand, which makes us more visible to new audiences.”
This keeps your business top of mind for those who have wants and needs that you can provide.
“Collaboration allows you to gain more exposure and gives you a chance to establish yourself as a thought leader to a much wider audience,” Sklar said. “Plus, it’s basically like the person you’re partnering with is vouching for you.”
Starting a collaboration is extremely simple.
“If you want to start a collaboration, just ask,” Sklar said. “Propose your idea and show them how it can be mutually beneficial. Don’t make it all about you.”
Make sure you play to your strengths.
“Start by consistently being visible with high-quality content that illuminates your value — or the specific expertise you have,” Benson said. “This is a great way to get invited first.
“Give it first,” she said. “Interview them, feature them, share their content and connect them with other influencers.”
The best result comes from simply asking.
“Invite the person into an exploratory conversation to see what might come up,” Benson said. “You might be surprised which coin of the collaboration lights up.
“Don’t cold tar,” she said. “Add value and explore. Remember, you are creating a long-term relationship. Get to know each other before you try to get married.”
About the Author
Jim Katzaman is a manager at Largo Financial Services and has worked in public affairs for the Air Force and the federal government. You can relate to it I tweetFacebook and LinkedIn.
