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Growing your audience takes time.
Especially if you’re just starting out.
But there’s one list building tactic that takes very little time.
Imagine if you could gain 68 new Facebook fans and 23 email sign ups.
With just 15 minutes work.
Sound good? This happened for my consignment business just last week.
It all started when a fellow business owner reached out to me and proposed a partnership.
She asked if I wanted to take part in a Facebook contest. All I had to do was provide a prize. She would promote the contest and run it on her Facebook page.
I’d successfully worked with this business owner before. So I didn’t hesitate.
It took me less than a minute to say yes. A further 5 minutes to share her contest on my Facebook page. Then maybe 5 more minutes to post after the contest closed.
That’s less than 15 minutes work.
End result – 68 new Facebook fans and 23 new email subscribers.
Contest: New Facebook Followers
How You Can Form A Business Partnership
By now you’re probably wondering how can you grow your audience with a business partnership.
You could wait for someone to approach you. But this is risky.
You may be waiting a long time. And not all partnerships are worth your time.
One of my mantras is quality over quantity . You want to focus your efforts on attracting your ideal audience.
So I prefer to take matters into my own hands. Here’s my 4-step process to building a profitable business partnership.
This process assumes you want to do a giveaway or contest. But it can easily be adapted for other types of partnership.
Step #1: Select Potential Business Partner
First you want to seek out a potential partner. This step is essential. You want to work with someone who:
- Has a similar ideal audience to you.
- Is not a direct competitor.
- Has a highly engaged audience (check their blog comments, Facebook engagement, etc.)
Select someone you already have a relationship with. Maybe you’re part of the same online community. Or you regularly share each other’s content. Or maybe you met in person at a conference or event.
In the example of my local kids sale, I partnered with someone who ran a popular blog that reviews local playgrounds. We both had sites that appealed to local Moms with young children.
Step #2: Decide What To Give Away
Next decide on what you want to give away.
Your giveaway must be valuable and appeal to your ideal audience.
For maximum impact select something special. Some ideas are a copy of your latest book, a free coaching session or a gift certificate.
For my consignment sale I gave away 2 Pre-Sale Passes. These are highly valued by local Moms who want to shop the sale early.
Step #3: Email Potential Business Partner
I was lucky. I didn’t need to reach out to my business partner. But if you’re initiating the partnership, go ahead and email them.
Clearly state what they gain from the partnership. This includes:
- A free gift for their audience.
- High engagement on their blog or social media site.
- New website visitors and/ or social media followers. (Since you will also be promoting the giveaway).
Outline your proposal and say you’re open to other ideas.Here’s an email outline you can use:
“Hi [name],
I enjoyed meeting you at [ABC]. I loved your latest post on [topic] for [genuine reason] .
I’d like to help you and your community out. And thought you’d be interested in giving away [thing] on your blog. I know your community will love it. The giveaway would drive a ton of engagement and new followers to your site. I’d be heavily promoting it to my followers via email and social media.
I think it will be a lot of fun! I’m also open to any other partnership ideas.
Let me know if you might be interested and I’ll send over a more detailed proposal.”
Notice how this email is brief. It only asks if they might be interested. This makes it easy for your potential partner to say yes. You can send over a more detailed proposal after they show interest in your idea.
Step #4: Hold Giveaway and Grow Your Audience
Lastly hold your giveaway. And don’t forget to collect email sign ups. There’re a few ways you can do this.
One option is to make email sign up a condition for entry to the giveaway. However, I prefer not to do this.
Instead, I reached out to entrants after the contest. I invited them to subscribe to my email list (with a suitable incentive to do so).
23 out of 68 new Facebook fans went ahead and subscribed.
Contest: New Email Subscribers
Why Business Partnerships Work
Business partnerships work because they put you in front of a new, qualified audience. They showcase your business to your ideal customers. Giving you the chance to increase traffic and grow your audience.
Holding a giveaway or contest is not the only type of partnership.
You could hold a joint webinar or training session. Like this one hosted by Amy Porterfield and Melanie Duncan.
Guest posting is another form of partnership. Although it typically take more effort. I’d be surprised to see someone write a quality post in 15 minutes!