Finding My Tribe: Tips for Collaborating On Your Business Journey

It can feel lonely when I think about ways to market my writing and editing services. In the beginning, I sent out “cold emails” (emailing businesses I’ve never met) to introduce myself. A few people answered back but didn’t need my help at the time. Cold emailing, like any marketing method, is a numbers game, but it left me feeling chilly. It took me forever to figure out who to contact at each business and personalize my emails so they’d be taken seriously. It felt like I was wasting too much time sending emails into a cyberspace black hole.

So, I began in-person networking. It’s been a great way to get to know local business people, and they have helped me grow my business by employing me to do some work for them or referring me to businesses they know.

I’ve always been envious of the “power partner” relationships that grow out of networking. For example, a realtor, mortgage broker and estate attorney will team up and endlessly refer clients to each other. These professionals are on the same wavelength. They know each other’s skills, abilities and specialties and can send the right potential clients to each other.

I wanted that level of collaboration for myself. While my business was humming along the end of last year, I reached out to a graphic designer friend who was interested in creating a power partner group with me. When the pandemic disrupted how business was conducted and reshaped the needs of many, I decided it was time to get serious and form a specialized creative services team.

I want to share a few reasons why you should consider establishing your own power partner team.

The businesses represented in your power partner team should be related to what you do. In my case, a graphic designer knows quality writing is a key factor for a website. Since we are familiar with the expertise that goes into creative projects and what it’s like to obtain new clients, we have an understanding of how to support each other.

When I’m working on a client project, it often includes a design, web or video component. Being in constant contact with my power partners who are specialized in those areas makes it super easy for me to refer work to them. I’m confident that they will do a great job for my contacts.

There’s a high probability that I will have the opportunity to work on client projects with my power partners. Since our skills are often needed in tandem, it only makes sense that we offer our combined services to businesses making the process of finding creative experts easy.

Create a power partner team in your field. You’ll be there for each other on your shared journeys and never feel alone again.