As my Blogging Brilliance course finished two weeks ago everyone gets to stay in my Blogging Brilliance community for as long as they like.
Life gets busy, work takes over and they lose momentum but can pick up wherever they left off.
One of the points I teach is collaboration, this is key to expanding your reach and getting your business more visible.
As small creative businesses, we constantly seek innovative ways to get eyes on our businesses and engage our audience.
Different Ways to Collaborate with other Creative Businesses
I always advise any creative business just starting up to do a few styled shoots. Not just for images but to collaborate with other businesses that align with theirs.
This is where the magic of collaborating starts.
Not only are you networking and building your business buddy tribe you are going to be seen on their radar through social media, blog posts and many marketing platforms.
Images play a crucial role in capturing readers' attention and conveying information effectively.
By collaborating with businesses and incorporating their images, we can enhance the visual appeal of our blog posts and social media.
Whether it's showcasing a product, illustrating a concept, or featuring a specific location, high-quality images can breathe life into our content and make it more engaging.
Blog posts and SEO Collaboration
Many businesses start with no images or are stuck with just images of their own work.
Wedding photographers, planners, florists, stationery designers, cake makers, etc.
They don't know what on earth to blog about next as feel it has to be all about their business and not some great product they have found.
Yet so many other businesses are ready to collaborate with you sending you images in return for a credit on your blog post.
Within my Blogging Brilliance cohort are businesses who have changed direction as they gained more clarity. Blogging and journaling really helps with this as they are looking at their businesses through their clients eyes.
Emma at Thea Lily Loves,based in Ipswich, had already nailed her style but as her business journey has grown she niched down further to only offer styled shoots and workshops. So if you feel stuck look for a professional stylist to help you.
The more outbound links you can add into a post the better your SEO will be. The more fairy dust magic links you can spread across the internet the better your visibility will be.
When we collaborate with a business, we demonstrate our partnership and support for their brand, while also showcasing our expertise in a particular niche.
By providing links to the featured businesses, we offer readers the opportunity to explore more about the products or services being discussed, strengthening our credibility as a reliable source of information.
Partnerships
We often see larger companies partnering up with another company to promote their latest product or using influencers.
They want that business's audience eyes on their business.
It could be a restaurant partnering up for a well known drink brand for a night.
A hair product partnering up with a famous model.
We see it all the time and yet rarely do I see this happening within the smaller creative industries.
So let's' make you think outside the Box when it comes to Collaborations
Collaboration creates a win-win situation by allowing bloggers to tap into the existing audience and networks of the businesses they feature.
When we share images and link to these businesses, we expose our content to a wider audience and potentially attract new readers to our blog and business.
Additionally, this collaboration can pave the way for building valuable relationships with brands, opening doors for future partnerships, sponsored content, or even guest blogging opportunities.
Think of podcasts who bring guests on and interview them, it isn't all about you, it is the people you interact with. Invite them to be interviewed and write about it.
Introducing the Blogging Brilliance Collaborative!
Having been running Blogging Brilliance now for a while it has become apparent to me I have the perfect platform to host a Blogging Brilliance Collaborative.
I was asked this by one business on my course, she makes wedding albums and wants to start doing ranges but needs images of different style weddings to make her blog more exciting. Talk about a seed sown!
Since I announced this idea I have been inundated with businesses happy to share images or content in return for credits and back links.
Therefore I have started an excel document which is shared in my main Business of Weddings Lounge Facebook group where you can add your business, email address, Instagram and tell us the sorts of images or podcast style interviews you can provide to other businesses.
If anyone is looking for your style of content they can get in touch with you.
This could be anything from different styles of weddings, Indian, festival, beach. Wedding stationery, jewellery, wedding trends, bridal dresses, flowers. Interviews with planners or venues you work with, time to think outside your marketing box!
It will be a personal interaction and the rules will be you must credit the images or content to the appropriate suppliers both on blogs, interviews and social media.
If you don't you will be removed from the list and your SEO won't improve!
To join in the fun you can join The Business of Weddings Lounge for free, go to files and add your details.
I am excited to see this and who joins in and starts collaborating!