The free hack small businesses use to grow online fast (+ Template so you can too)

Small Business CollabS: Who, What, When, Why, (and How!)

​Are you ready to grow your business online faster? 

Well then listen up! Because this week I am talking about the benefits of small business collaboration. This is a hack that you can use to increase your reach, build partnerships online, and grow your little biz into something amazing. 

Collabs are one of the most important tools in your small business toolkit. 

With small business collaborations, you can grow your business through the power of online networks! 

I’m going to take you through the what, when, who and (most importantly) how of small business collaborations. This might just be your next biggest growth step! 

WHat is a small business collaboration (and why are they amazing?) 

​One amazing way that small businesses can improve their digital reach is to collaborate. 

​When we start out, most of us have a pretty limited marketing budget. Facebook engagement takes more work than ever, Instagram is continuously changing. 

Collabs are a win-win relationship. It is when two or more businesses with similar audiences help each other and both get something out of it.

Let me illustrate with a couple of examples: 

• A physio working out of a medical centre where they can refer clients to each other 
• A wedding venue that uses flowers exclusively from their local florist  
• A photographer that uses a local fashion company and gives them stylized product photos in return  

Partnership was one of my top business goals for 2019. I built She Owns It on a foundation of women working together to lift each other up, and I love to do this in my own business model as well! Some ways I am doing this is to work with influencers, show my existing customers some serious love, and partnering with bigger companies who care about small businesses. 

Usually, online collabs are about increasing brand awareness. You could run a giveaway together in exchange for followers, or do a live interview with someone in a similar niche. You market for each other so you both save on costs. Hooray!

For online businesses, collaborating means that you get your products or services in front of a brand new audience to increase your sales and digital footprint. 

When should small businesses start collaborating?

So when should you start collaborating? When are you allowed to get in on this sweet business building, money-saving hack? 

Well, technically you can start whenever you like! However I have come up with a few questions to ask yourself first: 
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• Why do you want to collaborate? It is important that you come from a place of friendship, networking, and mutual benefit. It is not just about you and your business! 
• Do you have something to offer in return? Again, it has to be mutual. What value, knowledge or products can you give to the other person’s audience? 
• Have you been engaging your own audience? There is no point in collaborating with another business owner if your own audience isn’t engaged! If your followers don’t buy into your content, they will probably get confused and switch off when you try and present somebody else’s content. Connect with your own audience first. 
• Are you targeting people in a similar niche? Even if you love what someone else is doing, make sure that their audience has similar problems to yours. 

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How to set up small business collaborations

​The first thing you need to do is to find brands that align with your own. 

One of the best things you can do when you are growing your small business online is to make business friends. Not networks, FRIENDS. You need to surround yourself with people who “get it”. 

These are the personal connections you need to run successful collabs! 

You need other businesses that you love and believe in. This will create authentic engagement naturally because your audience (and their audience!) can see why you are working together. 

It is always a little awkward when you see businesses promoting someone else’s products that they don’t quite align with. Don’t be that business. 

​If you think you want to collaborate with someone, make sure you:

• Have similar audiences with similar interests 
• Like and trust the person! 
• Have a relationship already established. Don’t just pitch a collab with someone if you haven’t spent time engaging with them and their business
• Are friendly! Come from a place of mutual respect and excitement and you will get much more success out of your collaborations  

The second step is to spend some time getting to know them and their business.

​Spend some time engaging with their content, responding to Instagram stories, commenting on their Facebook posts, and getting excited about what they’re doing with their business. 

Next, pitch your idea.

Below is a super simple template you can use to pitch your collab idea.  This is for people you have been interacting with for a while, but maybe don't know on a personal level yet.

Just be yourself, and come from a place of wanting to serve your audience. It’s actually that simple! 

Collab pitch Template:  

​Hey [First Name], 

I’ve been following your content for a while and I absolutely love what you’re doing in your business! I especially loved what you said about [X]. I am reaching out because I have an idea for a collaboration that I wanted to run by you.

You serve [X audience] and I serve [X audience] and was thinking we could do [X thing to serve both of our audiences]. 

I would do [INSERT SERVICE: blog post, Facebook live, Insta stories, provide product for a giveaway, email blast, share niche specific knowledge], and together we could provide [X value] for all of our followers! I am thinking of running this on [X date] if that works with your schedule too. 

Let me know what you think! 

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The She Owns It community is absolutely FULL of women just like you who are a little bit unsure and are just trying to make things work. In the Member’s Club, women are meeting up on a regular basis to talk about life and business. 

If you want to be surrounded by women on the same journey as you, make sure you get on the wait list for the next time we open the doors to the Member's Club! In the mean time, you can start engaging with women and finding people to collaborate with in the free Facebook community- click here to join!