Building alliances can be tricky. Building strategic alliances is time consuming in that to do it well, you need to be able to see the big picture. In a recent article written by Ken Lyons; 63 Free (or Almost Free) Ways to Market Your Business, each and every suggestion has its roots in building relationshipsKen’s advice isn’t repetitive. It’s just that the art of building strategic alliances is in and of itself the most effective, direct, and fool proof way of marketing your business.
When one is making a list of 63 Free (or Almost Free) Ways to Market Your Business, especially if that list is really good, every single suggestion is going to have the same brand of wisdom deeply embedded in it. Your business depends on relationships. That being said, expecting the typical business owner to set aside his crucial to-do list to devote the time and energy it takes to find and build alliances with other businesses is somewhat ridiculous. Yes, it’s absolutely necessary, but is there a fire to put out? No? Well then most business owners are going to turn their attention back to the fire they were putting out before we interrupted them. Most business owners would welcome some advice.
Here are just a few of Ken’s suggestions;
- Partner with related, established but non-competitive companies to co-sponsor webinars, white papers, etc.
- Help influential people in your space promote their own products on your blog and on social media (I guarantee that most will return the favor and help promote your stuff too).
- Build a tool or feature you know a thought leader will love and give it to them for free (make them a brand advocate).
- Run a big group interview – helps you build relationships and brand evangelists within your niche, gets links, social media engagement and you can potentially create a super authoritative document that ranks for a competitive topic.
When you are ready to explore what strategic alliances can do to help your marketing plan really soar, please contact us.