Partnering Up
Hey, we’ve all heard of marrying up, right? It’s when someone marries another who is out of their class, you know, above them. When one marries up, that particular individual gets elevated in status. They are handed all sorts of opportunities that he or she wouldn’t have been able to accomplish on their own, right? Plus, others look at them with a little envy, too, huh?
Well, guess what? We self-publishing indie authors can tap into the same synergistic magic by partnering up. Okay. This is how it works. We find someone a little higher up the mountain than us in our niche, and we partner with them. We borrow some of their credibility. We meet some of their network. And we learn from them. Through this dynamic of partnering up, just like marrying up, we can be elevated in status and have opportunities that we might not have been able to accomplish on our own.
Here’s a big tip. Try to find someone who is only a little bit ahead of you to learn to partner up with. Most likely, the big-boys and big-girls of our niches aren’t going to pay any attention to us. And if we do have some sort of unique in with them, chances are they’re going to be talking way over our heads. This kind of confusing talk will probably overwhelm us, make us feel stupid, and make us want to quit. The things the big influencers talk about just seem too far away for us to be believable. We figure there is no way we could do those things, so we quit.
Look at it this way, if we were jayvee soccer players, would we try to jump in with the professional soccer players and try to play at their level. No. First, they wouldn’t let us. Next, we aren’t good enough. We’d get hammered on that level and feel like an eternal loser. We wouldn’t last at that level. We’d all quit.
Now, something more realistic for us jayvee soccer players is to kick the ball around with some of the varsity players. These players are a little more experienced than us and a bit better. By playing with the varsity players, who are just one level up, we improve our skills. We’ll have some chance of success. And most of all believe that we can reach that level and play successfully there too. Once we’re varsity players, then we can begin to think about playing in college, but not the pros yet.
In our field of authorpreneurship, when we’re out at a face to face public event, maybe we don’t approach the keynote speaker yet. They’re probably going to be very busy talking to the other big influencers in the room anyway. Perhaps we should contact someone who is a little less busy, but who also wants to feel important. So, maybe we should approach one of the expert panelists, or pretty much anyone else in the crowd who is a bit more seasoned than us. Trust me, there is stuff we can learn from everyone there, as well as many, many great connections to make.
So, what are some ways that we can get on other’s radar? Well, we can comment on their social media post. We can get on their mailing list and respond to their emails to get on their radar. We can introduce them to others. We could do an Amazon book review for them. Heck, we could even do a video Amazon book review for them. That should get us on their radar, right?
There is no shortage of ways to get in touch with future partners. Only our imagination limits us. I know a woman, Heather, who sends a life-size cardboard poster of herself to people’s office to get their attention. And she’s an attractive woman, so this really gets their attention.
Heck, you could even do something as simple as just picking up the phone, and cold call them. You could cold email them, as well. I’ve done that before, and sometimes it works well. So once again, only our imaginations and will are keeping us from being on the radar of future partners we could partner up with.
Another great way to partner up with someone who is a little more up the mountain than us is to join an association. There are all sorts of people there who are like-minded and would love to work with you in some capacity. And while you’re there, you might as well volunteer to become an officer. This move is guaranteed to help you rub elbows with people higher up the ladder than you in your niche. This is fertile ground to partnering up with that varsity player in your industry.
Another great way to find people to partner up with is to create your own blog, or podcast, webinar, summit, or even TV Show and then ask mini-celebrities to be a guest on your show. This is a great way to meet shakers and movers. The secret here is that you’re doing something for them first before you ask for something back in partnering up with them. This is an extremely potent way to gain ground in this game of partnering up.
Build your brand and this two-way road of partnering up with benefit you in both directions. As you reach out to people about partnering up, they will look you up on the web. If they like what they see with your brand and professionalism, they’ll probably be more likely to say yes to bringing you into their world and helping you with a hand up. Some of them may even reach out to you first because of your media presence.
On the other side of the road, people who are not quite to where you are now will reach out to you as super fans of yours. These people are awesome. They will help build more buzz about you. Plus, it’s pretty cool to feel like you’re popular. Everybody loves being the popular boy or girl in school, right? Well, that feeling carries over to adulthood too. So, go ahead and check out a few of these prospects, and if you feel comfortable with them, then return the favor that has already been handed to you by giving these people a hand up. Partner up with them. You’ll seem gracious. And it may actually help you more than you know.
*Watch this FREE video lesson on this chapter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxNBuA1RopE&list=PL_-39bUXJitwL8cHUpiZ5mO0-JJuaPOVl&index=27
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