Running your own business can be tough, especially if you try to do it all on your own. The same applies to promoting your business, so in this issue, let’s look at how you can work with other people to get ahead and get more from your marketing.

When I first set up Appletree, back in 2000, there was just me in a lonely little office, with two cats and a dog for occasional copy. They were nice to have around, but not much use when it came to talking business or checking ideas and initiatives. After a couple of years, someone suggested that I should start meeting up with a fellow small business owner – someone I’d met a few times at networking meetings. Some people call this Masterminding and Gill and I (that’s us in the photo above) met up every month for a whole day, for many years, to work on each others businesses. We would share ideas and issues and come up with solutions between us. We discussed different ways to promote our businesses and made sure that we did what we said we’d do. Gill and I are still great friends, even though she lives in Canada. Without her support my business would not have survived the early years. I’m going to visit her later this month, for a really good catch up!

Learn to Tango

Masterminding is just one way to work with someone else to promote your business. Another tool that you can use very effectively is Joint Ventures (JVs). This is where you work with another person or business, for the mutual benefit of both sides. I’ve been doing this very successfully recently, to promote the email course that we launched last month. Let me explain.

One of my clients belongs to an association that regulates his industry. This association has over 400 members, all of them businesses of the size that we love working with at Appletree. Last year, my client introduced me to someone who works for the organisation and they asked if they could post the latest issue of Scribbles on their website. I agreed and offered, in return, to run a free webinar for their members. They jumped at the chance and last summer I delivered a one hour webinar, answering questions specific to their industry and their issues. We had a really good turnout and a number of the participants bought copies of my book, Magnetic Marketing.

Late last year, the association (who are, by the way, still promoting the recording of the webinar and saying lovely things about it!) asked if there was anything that they could do in return for the webinar I’d given to their members. With the launch of the email course scheduled for the end of January, we worked out a plan. I offered their members a discount on the course, if they signed up by the end of January. The association emails its members every two weeks and offered to promote the course in these emails. I wrote some promotional words for them and by the end of January we had received a healthy number of sign ups – including one from Denmark!

So the association gets free marketing advice to give to its members – which makes it look good in the eyes of its members. And we get to market our course to an audience of over 400 ideal clients. All it has cost for either side is a bit of time. Now we’re looking for other groups and associations that we can work with, in the same way, to benefit both sides.

Who can you tango with, to promote your business? Think about people or groups who can put you in front of more of your ideal clients. Make sure that you work out a deal that benefits both sides equally and you’ll find it easier to build up a strong, long term relationship with your dance partner.

How Can You Attract Your Ideal Clients?

You can still listen to our latest free webinar, all about how to make your business successful this year, by clicking here.

The webinar contains an offer for our new course – the Magnetic Marketing Course – which will help you identify and attract ideal clients to your business. No more having to chase after them, or wasting money on your marketing!

I’ve decided to extend the offer to the end of February 2017. It’s just £195 for the nine week course with a FULL money back guarantee if you’re not happy. If you sign up to the course by 28 February 2017 we’ll also send you a free copy of Magnetic Marketing, my first book. It’s full of useful case studies and tips on planning and implementing your marketing. The usual cost is £15.99 + postage, but we’ll send you a FREE copy if you join the course before the end of the month. Just click here to register and start attracting your ideal clients.