*Enjoy this rewind episode while we step into creation-mode - Stay tuned for new programming :) *
Growing your business can feel lonely at times. You carry the weight on your shoulders of all the responsibilities that business ownership entails. What if you could lessen that burden by collaborating with other people in your field or even a little bit outside of it?
I dive into this on today's solo chat on the podcast. I hope it gives you some insight into some new ways of making your business so much more enjoyable in 2024
*Enjoy this rewind episode while we step into creation-mode - Stay tuned for new programming :) *
Growing your business can feel lonely at times. You carry the weight on your shoulders of all the responsibilities that business ownership entails. What if you could lessen that burden by collaborating with other people in your field or even a little bit outside of it?
I dive into this on today's solo chat on the podcast. I hope it gives you some insight into some new ways of making your business so much more enjoyable in 2024
Growing your business can feel lonely at times. You carry the weight on your shoulders of all the responsibilities that business ownership entails. What if you could lessen that burden by collaborating with other people in your field or even a little bit outside of it? I dive into it on today's episode. I hope it gives you some insight into some new ways of making your business so much more enjoyable in 2024. Much more enjoyable in 2024.
Speaker 1:
Hi, welcome to the Connect with Sheila Botelho podcast. I'm an entrepreneur, self-care strategist and creator of the Seasons self-care app. I'm committed to helping you reconnect to your purpose, elevate your wellbeing and build your version of a happy, successful life. Welcome to the latest episode of this podcast, where we're going to be diving into the vital world of effective collaboration practices that are really important in helping you grow your brand in 2024. In this episode, I'm going to be sharing some insightful strategies and just questions to ask to invite you into the world of collaboration so you can see its game-changing things happen in your business. It becomes very competitive in the world of business and there are always different ways of approaching things to help you stand out, and one of those ways is by really tapping into collaboration opportunities. I've noticed over the years, it has become a highlight and so much more of a practice with people in elevating their own brands and connecting with other people. Frankly, it makes life a lot more interesting, a lot more exciting, and it takes the pressure off you of having to always have all the answers. You get to lean into other people's stories and the ways that they're doing things and garner some beautiful inspiration from the way they've gotten to where they've gotten in their own business. So, whether you are a startup founder, whether you love doing marketing, or if you're just interested in the different dynamics of successful team building, or if you're just interested in the different dynamics of successful team building, I really wanted to dive into some questions and a few little stories that can help you look at how collaboration can really help you impact your business in a positive way.
Speaker 1:
I have really found that collaborating with people is a second nature thing because it goes right along with my insatiable curiosity and wanting to ask questions about how people got to where they are in their life, like what decisions did they make and where did they start out that led them to now where they are in their life, in their business, even in their relationships. Like I feel like it's all transferable information and the things that we can use to help us grow our businesses are also those things that we can really tap into in our personal relationships, because really, business and serving clients it's all relationships People helping people, people wanting to see others transform, people wanting to give some sort of value for value. It's actually really really exciting when you look at that exchange. It takes away a lot of the anxiety that some people feel when they're just looking at numbers, when they're just looking at revenue, top line and bottom line, all those kinds of things. This is about people and helping people get what they want and experience what it is that they're after.
Speaker 1:
So some of the questions I want to ask you are really beautiful ways for you to reconnect to what you are doing and the purpose for which you were put here, for there was a reason why you started your business. There was a reason why you dove into the work that you do. So the first question I want to ask you and think about this one have a little ponder. What is the transformation that you decided you wanted to deliver in your business? What is the thing that you're helping people get to get more of expand. What is that thing? Is it one thing, is it many things? Sometimes we start with one idea and then we see it expanding. So I want you to go right back to the beginning, or right back to when you think about the people you're serving. What is the thing that you're helping them to achieve? What is the thing that you're helping them to achieve? Because, when you have that in mind, it allows you to get clearer on new ways of reaching them, of expanding your services with them, even, and taking them perhaps to a new level with you, or even with someone else that you feel may bring some value to their life, even with someone else that you feel may bring some value to their life.
Speaker 1:
So another question that you can consider is what clients or customers are you most wanting to connect with so you may have an idea for a business? You may be just starting out, or maybe you've been serving in a specific niche for a while and you just feel like, oh, this is a really great product or service. It's wonderful. So a very important question to ask if you haven't already, and maybe we just want to keep returning to, to remind you and to keep you on track is what clients or customers are you most wanting to connect with? Are they women who love the outdoors and love to move their bodies? Is it young men and women who are creative and they want to expand their creativity, they want to find ways to tap into it, to create something bigger than they have ever created? Are they people who, perhaps, are trying to overcome challenges in some area in their life? You can ask really deep, poignant questions to get to the bottom of this for yourself, so that you can see how does this align with the thing that you're wanting to share, right? And so the next question to ask and this is where collaboration comes in is who can help you reach more of these people?
Speaker 1:
So, when you're considering these individuals, when you have a picture in your mind of who the type of person that you typically are serving, who they are, what their lifestyle is like, what interests them, you can start thinking about well, what are some other things that they like to do for pleasure, for entertainment perhaps? What are some other types of products that they like? What type of books do they read? What type of music maybe do they listen to? What do they do for fun? When you have those questions spinning around, it gets you an even clearer picture of the whole person, because you may have one specific product or service that you're offering, but it's really maybe only impacting one part of that person's life that you're serving.
Speaker 1:
So when you think about some of the other things that these individuals do, you can start to tap into well, who else are they listening to? What other voices? And so then you can start asking well, who can I connect with to get in front of their audience with my message? And it's kind of a fun way to approach it. It's a really creative way, because typically we rely on social media marketing, especially in these times, to get our message out there. But who else can help you get to the right people in a more efficient way and in a way that really feels aligned with the message you're speaking? Think about like do these people that you are connecting with do they like going to plays or to concerts? Do they like sporting events? Are there certain types of books that they like to read? Are there certain shows they like to watch? Is there a certain type of food that they enjoy, eating Restaurants they go to? I don't know. We're so multifaceted, right. So when you're asking these questions, then you can start doing a little bit of searching on your own, a little research on social media and seeing, well, what are some of the cool voices out there that are sharing interesting messages that perhaps would really resonate with your clients and then see if you can get an introduction. That's something to consider right Now. This is typically the place where I would go last. I kind of started with it here because ultimately, the place to begin is by tapping into your existing network.
Speaker 1:
People pivot in their work all the time and with all of the noise in your inbox it can be really easy to miss when someone's moved into a different position in their job, perhaps, or if they have started another business or if they have closed down a business and they're moving in a completely different area. So staying in touch becomes really important and it can be hard to do, because years ago it was said, the average person knows 2,000 people and I feel like, since social media has taken the world by storm over a decade, you definitely can increase that number just by people that you may have some kind of connection to, some kind of interaction like that one person removed, connection becomes even greater. Because if you're watching something that someone's posted online and you maybe like it because, oh, this is your friend, they've done this and then someone else sees that you've liked, that it's one of their friends in their network, it's just that connection becomes even closer and soon people realize wait, that name sounds familiar, where did I see that name? Oh right, they're friends of a friend, right? So we have beautiful ways of connecting when we do it well and it just happens kind of by osmosis in a way.
Speaker 1:
But when you tap into your existing network by truly staying in touch, by truly caring about how they're doing, what they're up to first, that's the place to begin. It's easier then to open up conversations to see how you can help each other out, because if you're like me, I mean, I just I love to hear what's new with people. I love to celebrate their successes because, let's face it, when we have an idea, getting it off the ground and getting it out there, it takes a lot of energy. So when things hit and when it goes well, like we got to celebrate, and so I'm all about celebrating my friends who are doing cool things, and you may have noticed that on this podcast, because I've had a number of them on here and so when you're doing that, you have a bit of a pulse on what they're doing.
Speaker 1:
You maybe make it a practice on a weekly basis to kind of check in with a handful of people each week. Then, as you are looking to connect with them, first asking them hey, how can I help? Who can I get you in front of? Is there anyone that you want your message to get to that perhaps I may be able to help with? Always offering is a beautiful, beautiful way to stay connected with your people. And then, of course, being open about those things that you're doing. And I really believe there is this altruistic feeling that we have where we just genuinely want to help out people that we care about or people that we enjoy, even if they're not like super close friends. We want everyone to do well right.
Speaker 1:
If you're listening to this podcast, if you are in this space of self-improvement and entrepreneurship and wanting to improve yourself, you probably care about other people who want to do the same right. So this is a really grassroots way to do it. That you know. It's kind of one of those things you do without any thought of return. It just feels really, really good, and when you do it and when you're asking, oh, what are they up to? The ideas start flowing and it's amazing what you can walk away with and possibly even start adapting in your own business.
Speaker 1:
But, of course, there is also the beautiful skill of asking questions and so asking, asking for referrals, asking for hey, who do you know who'd be interested in what you may be offering, or having a conversation, or who do you know who's launching something that would like to have some help getting it out into the world? These are great questions to ask and it's a wonderful way to collaborate. Always giving first is really that is the place to begin, and you'll be so surprised to see how many people want to reach out and return the favor Because, again, like I said, the better everyone does, the better everyone does. We want to see that happen, and so, opening up these conversations, the first thing is really that it opens up your creativity and getting new ideas and it gives you the opportunity to be the person who is helping others, and this is something that I've really desired to cultivate over the last decade plus. In fact, I feel like it's something that's really been a thread in my adult life of connecting people, hence the name of this podcast.
Speaker 1:
I love helping people reconnect to their purpose, truly connect to themselves, and then also having the ability to connect with them as well, hear their story, but then also like this beautiful pleasure I get from connecting people to each other, I just love it so much. It feels so good, you know, and so that's the collaborative force that you can tap into at any time. So staying in touch, tapping into your existing network and you really being forthright for them, with them, you know about what's going on in your life. You know we all want to be really honest and you never know. They may actually be looking for the very thing that you're offering somewhere else and they may like, oh, I had no idea that's what you're doing. That is so cool that you're showing up in my life this way at this time. Like I can't tell you the number of times really interesting connections have happened just at the right time, like I've just been open to it and yeah, so just always ask. You just never know. And let's think about it. How many people do you know who have launched something, say, they've written a book or they've opened a storefront and you've been so happy for them to do this and you're telling others about it, you shout it out on your social media feed, or you've bought something from them to support them. It happens all the time. So always ask what people are up to, how you can help and be open about what you're up to also. So that comes to referrals Referrals, I would say, would be the second tier.
Speaker 1:
So asking someone who you know for a referral or a connection to someone who may be a good fit for your business is something that really comes naturally. When you think about it, your brain is always making connections, whether you realize it or not. For instance, maybe you meet an artist and then you remember you have a friend who paints portraits, or another friend who does wedding photography, or a friend of a friend, right Like we're always like oh, I know someone who does that, I know someone who's from that city, I know someone who worked on that TV show Like this has been happening for me lately, which is kind of fun. We just can't help but make these connections. We really are wired for community and so that's how referrals can come in. So that's like the second point. And then, once you've connected with your personal connections and asked for referrals.
Speaker 1:
You can look to people, like I mentioned earlier, who are a bit wider, outside of your circle of influence, whether they're friends, of friends, of friends, or maybe they're in parallel universes to the work that you do, parallel universes to the work that you do. Maybe what they do would really complement your work in some way. So, for example, like if you're a physiotherapist, let's say, maybe you start following the work of a functional medicine coach or a pelvic floor specialist or a fitness coach. You could even expand further beyond that and connect with an author of memoirs about the aging process or about travel. Because think about when you're traveling and, as we're like maybe moving into the later years of our life, like we want to feel really good when we're adventuring around the globe and so staying supple with great mobility after sitting on airplanes, like that's something we want to do. So, yeah, that really connects to physiotherapy, that connects to functional medicine. You can make these connections any way you want.
Speaker 1:
And so when you look at different angles of other people's work and how it can connect with yours, making collaborations by following them, engaging in some of their posts, maybe sending them a direct message of hey, what are you excited about in your business right now? You can open a door and you just never know If they then reach back out, see the work that you're doing and realize, oh, I actually am looking for someone who does the work that you do, or I know somebody who is. This is modern day networking, and it's a really cool experience because you just you do it with an open hand and you don't even really know exactly how it's all going to land. But you can be beautifully surprised. Certainly we can be running our ad campaigns, we can be doing all these things in organic marketing so that we can, you know, boost our rates and open rates on email and all these types of things Like these are definitely things to do.
Speaker 1:
But really adding in this collaboration practice, it adds a humanity to marketing and to business that can make it much more enjoyable. As you keep growing, it becomes less about just metrics and more about relationships. So these types of examples I've given they are just ripe with collaboration possibilities. They open new and interesting conversations with key points and perspectives that you may otherwise never imagine, and all of these things bring value to your clients. They bring richer stories to light and they expand ways that you can serve them.
Speaker 1:
Sales and business. Like I mentioned, it's all a relationship. So when you collaborate with others to open up new conversations, you deepen that relationship and you widen your circle of influence for the betterment of those in your midst. It is a beautiful way to make an impact. Collaborating and networking is something that I really love to do in different spaces and it's something I've been doing over the my gosh. My whole life really my whole adult life I've been connecting and networking, and in the Seasons Collective we have opportunities for you to be able to do that as well to connect with other people doing different type of work and maybe reaching different clients, but some that may be really parallel to the business that you run yourself. So it's something for you to check out if you're interested in having not only the support of creating a life of really sustainable success because you're caring for your self-care. I firmly believe that the success of an organization begins with the health and well-being of the founder. So when you've got that nailed down and then you're connecting with other people who are focused on that as well, it can open up some beautiful possibilities, beautiful possibilities for networking and collaboration. So go check that out in the show notes for when I'm opening another cohort of the Seasons Collective and I really appreciate you listening to this episode.
Speaker 1:
If you feel that this was valuable, please share it on social media and tag me. I'd love to shout out the episode that you've listened to and it really means the world to me that you listen to these episodes regularly. So always I will always ask rate, review, share. It just gets the word out about the podcast to people who really are actually looking for these messages of encouragement. So I wish you all the best this week. I appreciate you. Have a beautiful rest of your day, big blessings.
