By: Eden Hensley Photo by: Brooke Dennis for Alt Summit
Last week we talked about collaborations from the perspective of a brand. Now we will approach collaborations from the blogger’s perspective. The right collaborations can establish you as an expert, increase the size of your audience, result in income, reduce your workload, and more. However, rarely do collaborations come to you; you need to go in search of them.
Before you begin reaching out to other bloggers or brands, think about the type of collaboration you want. If you do not know what you want, you will have a hard time finding it and may also have difficulty allocating the time to work on a collaboration that turns out to be a poor fit.
Consider the why behind a particular collaboration from your perspective and from the perspective of the other bloggers and brands. The why is the value you and your partners want out of the collaboration. How effectively you identify and communicate their why will determine whether or not they say yes. The value you see from a collaboration does not have to be the same as the value your partners see. Each party should see benefits.
Be honest with yourself about whether you have the time with your current commitments to tackle a collaboration. While collaborations can reduce your workload once they have started, there is a lot of legwork and communication that needs to happen before you land them.
Finally, collaborations do not always start when it is convenient for you. They take time to set up and nurture. You may find yourself with more collaborations than you can handle. Avoid overcommitting. Rather than let yourself get overwhelmed if the timing is bad, propose an alternative schedule if possible or politely say no.
Want more tips on ensuring your collaborations will be successful? Here are a few more:
- Maddy Hague of Confetti Pop runs through a four step process where she develops the big idea, scouts the competition, collects inspiration, and then produces a project deck.
- Shelby Hill of Wayfair shares three tips for getting a brand’s business: be professional, ask the right questions, and think of a brand partner as a customer.
- Sara Urquhart of Alt Summit believes great communication is the key to success: clear deadlines, setting expectations, discussing challenges throughout, and following up on completion.
