The importance of teamwork is drilled into us as kids. But as we grow older and become more independent in life and work, we lose sight of the values of working together. But is there benefit in it for us now? We invited podcaster and authority amplifier, Melanie Benson to talk about it all. Here’s a summary of our chat.
Guest: Melanie Benson
Topic: Optimizing your collaboration currency
Format: Eight questions directed at the guest. Everyone’s welcome to share.
It’s the idea that when you collaborate and create something with your competitors and peers, you’ll all get the benefit of it, rather than just one person.
A1. #CollaborationCurrency is the principle that when we co-create opportunity with our peers and competition, we amplify profit and impact exponentially. #TwitterSmarter
— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
The best thing about collaboration is that it eliminates the winner-loser scenario. When everyone’s working together to create something, everyone gets an equal opportunity to make their mark—everyone wins.
A1.1. When collaboration is present, there is ZERO competition, because everyone is winning. Creating opportunity together is a form of currency in itself. #TwitterSmarter
— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
As our guest pointed out, it’s important to remember that collaboration should come from the heart and not from the mind. It’s not a strategic move you make so you can get a bigger share of the profit. Rather, it’s a genuine desire to work with others and to help each other.
A1.2. Collaboration Currency is a mindset 1st, and a strategy 2nd. We start with the decision to give value and visibility freely, and it activates the Law of Reciprocity. #TwitterSmarter
— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
Every business will benefit from collaborating with each other. How that success looks like will depend on each industry and niche, though.
A2. All businesses can benefit. It's a win-win-win (win for you, for them and for your community.) Just might look different in each industry/niche. #TwitterSmarter
— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
There are various ways to collaborate with your peers. If you run a podcast, for instance, invite them to be a guest on your show. From there, you can build a relationship with that person and look for more collaboration opportunities.
A2. All businesses can benefit. It's a win-win-win (win for you, for them and for your community.) Just might look different in each industry/niche. #TwitterSmarter
— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
If you have an active social media community or group, share your peers’ content.
A2.2 If you have an email community or FB Group, collaboration can be very fruitful for everyone, share collaboration's great content. Highlight offers (and use affiliate tracking if referral commissions are involved.) #TwitterSmarter
— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
Give freely without expecting anything in return. Your audience will appreciate the value you bring by sharing others’ content. Though a small gesture, it’ll also help you make those initial conversations with your peers and build lasting connections.
A2.3 If you are active on #SocialMedia and have established your #influence, share other people’s content. Examples to follow! Give first, and watch the engagement SOAR. It feels good to receive freely. #TwitterSmarter
— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
If you and the other person have the same or a similar audience, you can collaborate to create an offering that caters to both types of audiences. In this case, you’ll be serving your community without jeopardizing each other.
A2.3 Co-create a new offering who serves your target audience but has complimentary superpowers/strengths. #TwitterSmarter
— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
To collaborate and create something worthwhile, you need to find something that’ll benefit both parties.
A3. Collaboration is finding a win-win approach, which means you might need to get creative and do something outside of your normal practices. But…here are some of my favorites! #TwitterSmarter
— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
As we mentioned earlier, participating in each other’s podcasts and email newsletters are great ways to start. You can also email your audience about what the other person offers while they do the same for you—this way, while one person gets leads, the other person gets referral commission. Success all around!
A3.2 Email each other’s list about a freebie, book or offer. Triple Win: Audience gets a valuable resource, partner gets leads/sales, you get referral commissions! #TwitterSmarter
— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
Social media activities are another good way to collaborate with new people. If you own a community, introduce people, involve them, and help them reach a wider audience.
A3.3 Form an online community to give support, community & #socialmedia love (like we did with #launchandfounders here on @Twitter!)
#TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/qCnamffSjV— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
Just as is the case with podcasts, you can also invite your peers to be guests on your Twitter chats, Twitter Spaces conversations, Facebook or LinkedIn lives, and other engagement-driven activities.
A3.4 Hosting a #TwitterChat, #TwitterSpace. #FacebookLive where you spotlight others is a great way to activate #CollaborationCurrency. #TwitterSmarter
— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
Our guest shared three more ways to collaborate with peers, using her own examples.
1. Compile a list of recommendations, suggestions, or ideas from your community members. This is a great opportunity for you to engage with them, and to help some of them widen their reach by mentioning them in your blog, podcast, newsletter, or your social feed.
A3.5 Collab Ex1. I asked my Twitter community for their best #TwitterTip for connections. Then I compiled in this article: https://t.co/lOymADuePn #TwitterSmarter
— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
2. Make a list of people who are leaders in their chosen fields. This way, you’ll bring together many people from all walks of life and you’ll have a good chance of making new connections and engaging with each other.
A3.6 Collab Ex2. During Pandemic, a fellow podcaster spotlighted 20 of us in Podcast Magazine: https://t.co/7g0c7RIXWc #TwitterSmarter
— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
3. Write about someone else in your blog. If your story is compelling enough, they’ll share it again and again over a long period of time, making sure you get consistent traffic and hits on your blog.
A3.7 Another idea: Spotlight intriguing, talented people in your #blogpost (of course they’ll probably share it over and over again.) World class performer does this well https://t.co/0TNROJ0MwI #TwitterSmarter
— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
To ‘borrow influence’ is to invite someone else to share their expertise with you and your audience for a period of time. This is an excellent way to step back and show your community that you are comfortable enough to share the spotlight. It’s a quiet way to establish your credibility.
A4. Catching up! “Borrowing Influence” means that the person who has influence, has built their own engaged community, invites someone else into the “expert” spot. #TwitterSmarter
— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
There’s no specific time. The sooner you start, the more benefits you can get.
A5 Today. As soon as you have established your #business, start looking for ways to co-create opportunities and collaborate. #TwitterSmarter
— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
Remember, collaborating with others to amplify your message should be an ongoing practice. It’ll work regardless of what business you run and how big you are. That said, if you’re just about to launch a new product or campaign, it’s a good time to launch a collaboration as well.
A5.1 #CollaborationCurrency is an on-going practice. But if you’ve got something new or a promo, now is the best time to activate it. #TwitterSmarter
— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
Look for businesses that are similar, but not exactly alike. This means that their audience is similar to your own—whether in terms of age, profession, interests, or activities—but they don’t have the same offerings.
A6. I find that businesses with synergy are best: both have same potential clients, but have different offerings. #TwitterSmarter
— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
Even if you don’t host a podcast, there might be other businesses like yours that do podcasts, blogs, and regular Twitter Spaces conversations. Pitch to them and find ways to work collaboratively.
A6.1 Also, your competition is a power-packed #collaborationcurrency opportunity. Podcasts are super easy way to tap in. Everyone with a podcast needs content — and you can provide if you know how to pitch them. #TwitterSmarter
— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
Collaborating with another brand puts you in front of new audiences. It elevates your presence, and as we said about borrowing influence, it shows that you’re confident in what you do.
A7. Goes back to the “borrowing influence” concept. Also, collaborations often elevate our brand energy which makes us more visible to new audiences. #TwitterSmarter
— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
Step one: Be visible and be there when your peers are looking. This means showing up consistently, sharing valuable content, and being actively engaged with your community.
A8. Start by being consistently visible with high quality content that illuminates your value (aka the specific expertise you have.) Great way to get invited first. #TwitterSmarter
— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
Once you’ve decided to collaborate with someone, don’t wait for them to approach you. Take that first step yourself—interview them for your blog or podcast, share their content on your feeds, and put them in the spotlight.
A8.1 GIVE first – interview them, spotlight them, share their content, connect them to other influencers. #TwitterSmarter
— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
Don’t stop there, though. Reach out to that person for a conversation. Talk about how you intend to collaborate with them and discuss what they’d like to do. Sometimes, just by being open and transparent, you’ll come up with a lot of great collaboration opportunities.
A8.2 Or just ask. Invite the person to an exploration conversation to see what might emerge. It might just surprise you what #collaborationcurrency gets ignited! #TwitterSmarter
— Melanie Benson 🎤 (@melcoach) July 14, 2022
Well folks, that’s all from me this week. Thanks for reading through and for more great insights from our chat with Melanie have a look at this Twitter Moment. If you think this summary is pretty good, you’ll love the real-time chat. Join us next Thursday at 1 pm ET for #TwitterSmarter. We also hang out on Twitter Spaces at 5 pm ET to continue our chat. Catch you there!