Here’s an easy way to double your income: Put yourself in front of twice as many people who are interested in what you have to offer. Of course that is easier said than done. Getting traffic and exposure is one of the hardest things to accomplish as the internet grows and expands. Sure, you could throw a lot of money at the problem and accomplish it with well placed ads, but that’s not a viable option for most of small business owners.
One of my favorite low-cost marketing strategies is to find other small businesses who work in the same niche as I do and form collaborative partnerships.
A great way to get in front of a new audience interested in what you have to say is to find someone else who’s doing something similar to what you’re doing. In other words, find other small businesses in your niche, or closely related niches and start to collaborate. For example, let's say that you are a massage therapist and have your own spa. You may want to partner up with someone who does health coaching. Your customers are interested in their health and take advantage of the healing benefits of massage. Her clients are also interested in improving their health and are interested in new or different strategies for achieving wellness. Cross-promote each others events and offers, tap into each others mailing list. Co-host an event. Do you see how this could work?
Start by opening conversations with the other small businesses who work with the same target audience that you do to brainstorm ideas about how you can work together. A great place to start is to offer to share something of theirs with your readers first. If the business sells a product, ask if you can interview them, or see if they have a special coupon you can share with your readers. By making the first offer of collaboration, you are putting yourself out as someone who wants to collaborate and is willing to give of your time and resources.
Next, ask if they would be interested in sharing you with their own audience. This is always your end goal! While it is nice to promote other businesses and shows that you are a good community partner, you are also trying to grow your own business and should receive as much as you get. Depending on your business model, there are several different ways to accomplish this. If you have a paid product, or offer an introductory service of some kind, sharing your information with their audience should be a no-brainer. You can also offer to create unique content for the other person’s audience. If they aren't willing to reciprocate by sharing your business with their audience, don't be afraid to move on and research other possible strategic partners.
No matter what you decide to do, make it as easy as possible and do whatever you have to do to get your fellow small business owner to email his or her list for you. Using our example from earlier... a health coach could provide a downloadable article or ebook with simple tips for improving your health; the massage therapist could offer a coupon or special service upgrade for the health coach audience. Mentions on social media and blog posts are great, but your ultimate goal should always be to get them to email for you. When they do, your next goal is to get these people on your own list and to turn them into paying customers.
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Laura Olson-Oxley is an entrepreneur, coach, speaker, marketing and business consultant, and sales professional. She has over 25 years experience working with small businesses in a variety of industries, focusing on strategic business growth through effective marketing and advertising. Also a strategist, numbers nut, project manager, and life-long learner, Laura looks at the big picture to analyze and recommend the most effective tools to take businesses to the Next Level.
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