Business Growth Through Strategic Collaborations with Beverly Cornell

In this episode of the Spark & Ignite Your Marketing podcast, host Beverly Cornell, founder of BC & Associates Marketing, delves into the transformative power of strategic collaborations for service-based businesses. Beverly explains how partnering with like-minded organizations can help you grow your email list, expand your reach, and connect with your ideal clients. Whether you're a small business owner or a marketing professional, this episode will help you harness the power of collaboration to amplify your marketing efforts.

Here are three key takeaways from the discussion: 

1. Tapping into Existing Audiences: Collaborating with businesses that serve similar audiences allows you to reach potential clients who already trust your partner. It’s an efficient way to grow your email list and expand your brand’s reach.
2. Shared Credibility and Cost Savings: By working together, you gain credibility by association, which increases trust with new clients. Plus, sharing resources like marketing costs makes your efforts more cost-effective.
3. Real-World Application: Beverly shares the example of an art therapy organization partnering with a traditional therapy practice. By combining their expertise, they provided greater value to clients while attracting a broader audience, illustrating the power of partnerships.

Get the Brainstorm Your Perfect Collaboration Partner Worksheet.

P.S. Ready to spark your unique opportunities and ignite your marketing? Here are three ways to work with us.

1. 📞 Schedule a Complimentary 15-minute Call and let’s delve into your goals and answer any questions you may have.
2. 📘 Read Beverly’s book Marketing for Entrepreneurs a quick guide filled with actionable steps to help make your brand and business shine even brighter. 🎙️ Listen to Beverly’s Marketing Podcast where she interviews entrepreneurs to get inspired and gain new business and marketing insights.
3. 🎓 Learn more about marketing and Enroll in Our Marketing Courses designed to bring clarity to your business efforts. They’re easy-to-understand and self-paced, perfect for busy entrepreneurs like you.

Transcript

Beverly: 0:09

Welcome back to the Spark Ignite Your Marketing Podcast. I'm your host, Beverly Cornell, the founder and reputation and growth strategist at BC and Associates Marketing. And today we are diving into one of the most powerful strategies for growing your service based business, strategic collaborations and partnerships. If you're looking to expand your reach, build your email list, or connect with more of your ideal clients, this episode is for you. And to make things even more tangible, we're going to explore how an art therapy organization and a therapy practice might collaborate to serve their shared audience. This is just one example that may spark some ideas for you and your organization. So let's start by defining what I mean by strategic collaborations and partnerships. A strategic collaboration occurs when two or more businesses that serve a similar target audience, the same customer persona, the same type of client, and they join forces to create value for their clients and each other. These partnerships can take many forms such as co hosted webinars, joint content creation, bundled services, and even collaborative events. For example, imagine an art therapy organization. And the therapy practice collaborating on a series of workshops. Both businesses are extremely committed to mental health and wellness, but they approach it from some different angles by combining their expertise. They can offer a more holistic approach to healing, reaching a broader audience and providing deeper value for their clients. So why are these collaborations so powerful? First, they allow you to tap into an existing, engaged audience. Instead of starting from scratch, you're leveraging the trust and credibility that your partner has already built with their audience. This not only helps you get in front of more people, but also positions you as a trusted authority in your field by association. Let's talk about how strategic collaborations can specifically help you grow your audience and build your email list. Using our art therapy and therapy practice example, you can have increased visibility. When an art therapy organization partners with a therapy practice, both can introduce their services to new clients. The therapy practice might have clients interested in exploring art therapy as a supplementary tool for their healing, while the art therapy organization could attract clients interested in more traditional therapeutic approaches. This cross promotion increases visibility for both businesses. They can create shared credibility. Clients of the therapy practice already trust their therapist. So when that therapist recommends a partnered art therapy workshop, the clients are more likely to attend. Likewise, art therapy clients might be more inclined to seek out traditional therapy services if they come recommended through a trusted partnership. This shared credibility makes it easier for both parties to build trust with new clients. There are some list building opportunities. Collaborators often involve creating something of value together, like a free resource, a webinar, or workshop series. For our example, the art therapy organization and the therapy practice could co create a free online guide on integrating creative expression with traditional therapy, or a webinar on the benefits of art and mental health recovery. These offerings can be used to encourage signups, helping both businesses grow their email lists with warm, interested leads. Cost effective marketing. Partnering with another business can be a cost effective way to market your services by sharing resources like marketing costs or promotional efforts, you can maximize your reach without significantly increasing your expenses. For example, both the art therapy organization and the therapy practice could share the costs of promoting their joint workshops, benefiting from a larger marketing budget and greater exposure. I think what's really important about this is you can't just partner with anyone. You want to start by brainstorming businesses that serve a similar audience but offer complementary services. For instance, if you run a therapy practice, consider partnering with an art therapy organization, a yoga studio, or a mindfulness coach. Anyone whose services can enrich your client's experience. You want to assess alignment. Once you've identified potential partners, evaluate how well your businesses align. Do you share similar values and goals? Is your target audience the same? Are your services complimentary? It's crucial that the partnership feels natural and beneficial for both parties. For example, both the therapy practice and the art therapy organization should be committed to mental health and wellness, ensuring that their collaboration will resonate with their shared audience. You want to reach out with a clear proposal. When approaching potential partners, be clear about the value you're bringing to the table. For our therapy example, the therapy practice might suggest a collaborative series of workshops where clients can explore the benefits of both talk therapy and creative expression. Outline what you're offering, how the collaboration can benefit both of you, and be specific about your goals, whether that's growing your email list, Increasing your brand awareness or providing a new service, or it could be all of the above. You want to work together to plan the details of your collaboration. Decide on the format, whether it's co hosted workshop, a joint resource, or a special event. You have to set those clear expectations, deadlines, and responsibilities for each party. For example, the art therapy organization could handle the creative content while the therapy practice focuses on the therapeutic framework. You want to then promote and execute. Once the collaboration is planned, promote it to both of your audiences using email marketing, social media, and any other channels to get the word out. Execute the collaboration with the agreed upon plan and ensure that both parties are engaged throughout the entire process. And then you want to make sure you evaluate the results. After the collaboration, you want to take this time to evaluate the results. Did you achieve your goals? What worked well? What could be improved? For example, did the joint workshop attract a good mix of clients from both businesses? Did you see an increase in your email list or new clients as a result? Use these insights to refine your approach for future collaborations. To help you get started, I've created a free downloadable worksheet titled Brainstorm Your Perfect Collaboration Partner. This resource is specifically designed to guide you through the process of identifying and reaching out to those potential partners. Just like in our art therapy and therapy practice example, it includes prompts to help you think about your audience, the types of businesses that complement yours, and how you can create a win partnership. You can download it now. In the show notes or on our freebies page on our website, this worksheet will be your road map to create an intentional, powerful collaborations to help you grow your business. Remember, the power of strategic collaboration lies in your ability to amplify your efforts and reach more of your ideal clients by partnering with businesses that serve a similar audience, like an art therapy organization and a therapy practice, you can build your list, increase your visibility, and ultimately grow your service based business. That's all for today's episode of the Spark Ignite Your Marketing Podcast. I hope you found these insights valuable And that you're excited to start brainstorming potential collaboration partners. Don't forget to download the free worksheet to help you get started. As always, if you have any questions or want to share your experiences with collaborations, feel free to reach out to me on social media or through my website. Stay tuned for more tips and strategies to ignite your marketing. But until next time, keep sparking and igniting.