Effective Ways To Form Beneficial Partnerships With Local Businesses

Forming business partnerships with other local companies allows your company to improve exposure and credibility. You can also learn new skills and gain customers. This year, choose to form beneficial partnerships in several ways and reap the rewards.

Cross Promotions

Approach a complementary business with suggestions for cross-promoting both of your companies. This arrangement works best when similar businesses partner to offer valuable products to your customers and help them to save money. Consider these two cross promotion examples. One, you operate a bakery and partner with a local bookstore. You add books to your window display, and bookstore customers receive a coupon for your bakery when they make a purchase. Second, you create videos on demand for businesses and meet the owner of a local graphic design company. You decide to share resources as you improve the products you both can offer customers.

Collaboration

Attract more business when you expand your services with collaboration. With this type of partnership, you gain a competitive advantage over larger rivals and can improve your revenue base. Collaboration occurs when an event planner and local florist approach venues with a wedding package deal or video designers and copywriters join forces to win advertising contracts.

Events

Meet customers in person to build relationships as you share information about your company. Even better, host fun and memorable community events with other companies. Your partnership allows you to plan a bigger event and reach more customers. Possible events include a fashion show in your venue with clothing collections from local designers, an open house at your warehouse with food provided by a local caterer or an appreciation picnic for customers of the businesses in your retail center.

Guest Blogging

A blog increases your company’s credibility and visibility, so partner with other companies and write guest blog posts. You can add links to your business or products and a bio about your company as long as the content provides value to the other company’s readers. For example, if you’re a photographer, write a post about how to take professional headshots with a resume writing company, and share the resume writing company’s content about how to write an elevator pitch with your readers.

Supply Chain

Access essential supplies, components and materials when you establish a strong and reliable supply chain. These relationships could reduce your overhead costs and boost your production capacity and inventory. Supply chain partnerships might involve purchasing beads for your handmade jewelry from a local glassblower or hiring a local bike mechanic to service the bicycles you use for your courier service.

Outsourcing

Instead of hiring internal staff for occasional jobs, partner with skilled and qualified professionals from other companies. You save money and improve your company’s efficiency. To successfully outsource, you could hire a developer to create your app, ask an accounting firm to handle payroll services or use a virtual assistant for administrative tasks.

Social Media

You engage with your customers regularly on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Use your social media accounts to partner with and promote other businesses, too. Post content from other businesses that your audience would appreciate, “like” other business pages and share community events. Together, you and other businesses can provide valuable content to your customers as you improve your exposure and build relationships. Here’s an example. On your dog grooming page, share promotions for pet-friendly restaurants, and the restaurants can share your tips about pet care.

Do you need more ideas for building beneficial partnerships? Consider altering these suggestions to meet your needs.

1. Participate in a community cleanup project with neighborhood companies.
2. Compete with other companies to raise money for a community charity.
3. Offer your space for meetings so local businesses don’t have to rent space.
4. Prepare gift baskets for business to raffle or give to clients.
5. Start a mentoring program to share your expertise.
6. Contribute to a scholarship fund.
7. Display goods sold by other companies.

Partnerships with other businesses provides numerous benefits to your company. Consider these strategies or find other ways to boost your business.

About The Author

PJ is the founder of Uscreen, a video monetization platform to help you sell any kind of videos online.