Connecting People by Connecting Brands

Whether you are building a brand, business, or practice, here are the five rules to success of connecting people by connecting brands.

1. Increase your reach through distribution deals

Unless you are paying for advertising through a social media push or traditional model, you are only going to reach the people that you know.  Where the list of people that you know is limited especially for non-celebrities and non-influencers, you will need help distributing your content.  Information is content and it needs to have assistance moving across the web and social media.  This is why engagement is so important, i.e., people liking, sharing, and commenting on your posts (content, information, etc.).

To reach more people, find a partner with a larger audience than you and utilize their distribution list to share content and to drive engagement.

2. Diversify your audience through existing and new partners

Again, you only know who you know, or in social media language, you only engage will who follows you.  If you want more types of people, industries, locations, opinions, backgrounds, etc., you need existing and new partners to increase you reach.  A distribution, event, limited, or full partner might do the trick.  Before making a decision, know your business, the industry, but also be honest, transparent, and cherish relationships.  This article via The Hollywood Reporter, although a different topic, has some great insight and points regarding partnership-relationships.

3. Consistency in distributing and sharing

A “flash in the pan” is defined as a thing or person whose sudden, but brief success is not repeated or repeatable.  Do not be that person or business.  During the California Gold Rush, being shiny and new was great, but fleeting and often fool’s gold.  Rather, be consistent and steady, but innovative.  The story is long for success and follows years of hard work.  This author consistently has to be reminded that patience is a virtue.  People will connect and follow you when they see consistency.

4. Realize what the customer needs and wants

Sometimes the price is too high.  Sometime people do not like what you are selling.  Sometimes you need to “pivot,” as the business folks say, to find where your customers are, what they want, when they want it, how it arrives, and why they need or want it.  Analytics, data, and customer information and trends can help with the aforementioned; Google Analytics and Nielsen are great resources and are generally free.  Be willing to change, but again realize that sustainable business is built over time, not created immediately.

5. Learn from your mistakes

Connecting brands to reach people can be a powerful tool.  However, like all relationships, there are growing pains.  Learn from your mistakes and grow with your partners and make sure your partners make sense as partners.  Then, negotiate a good deal by knowing where your leverage is strongest and weakest.