There’s a lot to be said for collaboration, partnership, and aligning yourself with like-minded individuals. We strive to live out that credo everyday, heck it’s even in our name: C3 = Connect, Collaborate, Community. We’ve found success in reaching out and building strategic partnerships, and want to help you do the same. Yes, competition is real. No, you don’t have to face it alone.

First step? Take a good hard look inward:

• What does your company excel at?*

• What’s your culture?

• Where are the gaps?

*Need an in-depth assessment of your business? Take our free 24-point Business Assessment Test

You can’t seek out or align yourself with strategic partners until you know what you want to be, where you want to go, and who you want to be associated with in any business relationship.

After an in-depth assessment, you should be able to pinpoint the kind of partnership that would work best for you. Consider one of the following strategic partnerships:

Marketing

Marketing Partnerships work best for small businesses. This includes referral agreements or partnering with a business in your niche that isn’t a direct competitor. For instance, are you a web content writer but you don’t create sites? Seek out a web developer to partner with.

Integration

Integration Partnerships work best when the services you’re providing utilize specific programs or software. Many companies offer reseller options or partnerships so you can offer discounted deals on required software as an incentive for new clients. Check out our integrated partnerships now!

Technology

These days, technology *is* the workplace. Partnering with an IT company, especially if you’re, say a web developer or a service provider (like us) living in your client’s cloud or remote desktop, is not only strategic, it’s downright necessary.

Financial

We know you should be working ON your business instead of just IN it, so partnering with a company to address bookkeeping and accounting is a no-brainer. Not only does it free up time, but your finances will be handled by a professional. Less stress, anyone?

Once you’ve done your planning and identified your needs, you should have an idea of the type of industry you should consider partnering with. Now you’re ready to press forward with a partnership.

Here’s the fun part: Show the world why your partnership matters! Create co-branded marketing materials, host events together, plug each other on social media, create a page on your site that highlights your partnership. Let the world know that you’ve found ways to benefit each other, but more importantly – make sure your clients know how this partnership benefits them. Your client base should feel like they’re always getting the better deal of this partnership, as they should! Let them know why they matter and why your two businesses partnered in the first place.

Thinking of initiating a partnership and need some advice? We can help! We’ve done it, and we continue to do so. Don’t put off today what will make a better tomorrow!