Creators need to continuously crank out unique content to support their brand. Normally a solo activity, the constant churn can get lonely! But it doesn’t have to be that way. Instead of operating in a vacuum, you can create content more communally, more in partnership with others.
When you do, you’ll feel better connected to your community and your creative passion will be rekindled. There are numerous benefits to content collaboration. Let’s explore some of them here.
Content Collaboration Benefits
Boost Morale
Running your own show is HARD. And sometimes, it just beats you down. I think we’ve all been there. We put our all into it and the needle just. won’t. move. It’s frustrating, demoralizing, and just plain stinks. Collaboration can tear right through this funk.
For me, nothing recharges my batteries faster and more intensely than spending time with someone else who “gets it.” Sure, they’ve had their low moments, too. But overall, they’re just as passionate as I am. And enthusiasm is contagious. It’s tough to think that the entrepreneurial life is the pits when you have someone reminding you why you’re living it in the first place.
My best advice? Make a list of folks who can help you maintain momentum or rekindle your spark. Work with them frequently. And keeping growing that list.
New Ideas
As creators, we’re constantly learning something to improve our craft. But we typically follow a pretty direct path, deepening our knowledge instead of broadening it. Developing true expertise is important and helps us to niche down effectively. However, it’s not a good idea to completely ignore the periphery.
Having at least a basic grasp on what’s happening outside of your main focus can help you innovate. You’ll make connections between your realm and other aspects of business. This could result in your next breakthrough. Additionally, staying in tune with the overall market will help you spot trends and will allow you to pivot at the right time.
Collaborating with others exposes you to what they know. Even if your niches are similar, they’ll have different systems, use different tools, and offer a different perspective. Sharing insight with each other strengthens you both!
Cross Promote
You’ve heard the saying two heads are better than one, right? Well, in this case, two marketing efforts are better than one! When you collaborate, you have the opportunity to expand your reach — and help someone else do the same. You share platforms and endorsements with the goal of touching more lives and making more sales. It’s a pretty sweet deal!
Reduce Pressure
Creating content takes a lot of time and a lot of mental energy. While you generally love what you do, some days, you’re just not feeling it. Maybe life is really overwhelming. Or perhaps your creativity is blocked and the words refuse to flow.
Whatever the reason is, the pressure can build. I know this feeling. Through a combination of being busy and feeling stuck, I missed last Wednesday (when I typically post). I tried to tell myself that it’s OK, I’m only human. But while I believe this (and you should, too!), in the back of my head was the nagging voice: you need to get this content out. Your business depends on you documenting and promoting your thoughts.
The pressure is real, folks! But collaborating with others can relieve this stress because you’re sharing the load. Plus, getting involved in someone else’s project may remove your creativity blockage and get you pumped up again.
Content Collaboration Methods
Guest Posts
Writing a guest post allows you to share your perspective on someone else’s website, expanding your reach. On the flipside, when someone creates a post for your site, you’ll enjoy having more content for less effort than it would take for you to write it yourself. In either case, typically, the author gets a backlink out of the deal, which helps their site’s search engine ranking.
While guest posts are great for cross promotion and taking the pressure off, they’re usually a little light on morale boosting and promoting new ideas. That’s because the interaction is generally limited to a brief email thread. However, this collaboration is more schedule friendly as posts can be completed independently as time allows.
Podcasts
Being a guest on a podcast is an amazing collaboration opportunity to recharge your batteries, exchange ideas, cross promote, and take the pressure off. Because the content is actually a recorded conversation, it will have a back and forth dialogue that goes far deeper than a blog post. It’s literally two (or more!) minds meeting about a given topic.
Recording the podcast should be invigorating, inspiring, and full of takeaways for both the target audience and the participants. The actual recording becomes a shareable piece of content that can be posted for marketing purposes or to relieve the stress of having to create something new.
Webinars
I’m actually in the initial planning stages of my first joint webinar (first webinar in general, too). If I’m incorrect about any of the following, I’ll update this post. However, here are my thoughts so far.
Hosting a joint webinar shares some similarities to a podcast. Once the webinar is recorded, it can be used as marketing material or supplementary content as needed. However, much of the collaboration happens behind the scenes — determining both strategy and logistics. While recording, the primary focus is cross promotion. Yes, you’re informing an audience — but webinars have a more distinct sales element to them – especially toward the end.
I’m really looking forward to this experience! No matter the result (which I hope is profit for us both), I bet it will be a real morale boost and an amazing opportunity to compare notes.
Final Thoughts
Business can be competitive. But honestly, I think the people who truly get ahead are those that can network and collaborate. That’s why I regularly lift my head up from my work and reach out to others. So far, the results have been great and I’m excited to see what partnerships I can forge in the future!
This post only discusses a few content collaboration benefits and methods. So tell me: What did I miss? Please also feel free to share your collaboration experiences!