Have you ever seen the movie Working Girl? First off, if you haven’t you should. It’s amazing! The movie is about a woman clawing her way to the top. Melanie Griffith’s character is a hard-working secretary with a head for business and a body for sin. In the movie, Melanie’s character does the majority of the work while Sigourney Weaver’s character takes all of the credit. This type of dynamic was (and in some cases still is) typical in the past. So much so, that I can remember my mother telling me that it was impossible for two women to exist in a work environment and NOT compete against one another.
No Longer The Thunder-dome
Luckily, things have changed for the better over the last few years. We no longer feel the need to constantly compete with everyone. Don’t get me wrong, we are still competing just not nearly as aggressively or frequently. Not to mention, the fact that what we are competing for is attention and it is more advantageous for us to combine our skills to achieve this goal. Collaboration has quickly become the new norm and for a good reason. We as a business have about four seconds to make an impression on our audience. That’s what it all boils down to, four seconds! At that time we have to peak enough curiosity or interest in us or our business for them to stay longer.
Be Social
With social media being one of the fastest ways to grow your business it can quickly become overwhelming to think about taking on all alone. There are TONS of different platforms and even more people vying for your audiences’ attention. It can become easy to get drowned out amongst the crowd. How do you expand your company’s reach organically to ensure your followers are more likely to engage and interact with your content? You guessed it, by collaborating with other experts in your field who have a similar vision or goal. In doing so, you add your audience to theirs and provide both audiences with fresh and new content.
Save Time
For those of you who have not been at this long, I am going to let you in on a secret, content is KING! This means you are going to spend the majority of your time creating content for your audience. Content looks different for everyone. Some people, for example, do a LOT of videos. A fitness expert would be a perfect example or even a beauty expert. No matter who your audience is ALL content must provide a benefit for your audience. As a mindset coach that also offers an additional educational course on how to become a global influencer I find myself creating content for more than one audience. At times it can feel overwhelming, which is why I LOVE collaborating.
Build Your Dream Team!
When you collaborate with other like-minded individuals you don’t have to create brand new content. Because you are bringing your existing content to a whole new audience. Which may be something your personal audience has already seen or heard. However, they have not heard the content that the expert you are collaborating with has to share! This means that everyone is being exposed to new content and expanding their reach even further. It is a win-win for everyone! The best part of collaborating is that when you find someone you really like working with you can collaborate on creating all-new content together. I would suggest collaborating with someone who has a similar vision but a different approach or focus. When you create teams this way you are ensuring that the team is covering more ground.
Make A Friend Or Two!
How do you let someone know you would like to collaborate with them? Great question, all you have to do is reach out via email or messenger and let them know. It is honestly so much easier than you may think. Most people are already aware of how beneficial collaborating can be for their business which is why there are so many different ways to do it. You may be asking yourself what other ways are out there so let me answer that real quick. Some of my favorite ways to collaborate are guest blogging, joining masterminds or workshops, being featured in a magazine, co-authoring a book, guest spot on a podcast, and more! No matter which route you choose to incorporate into your business they ALL need a media kit.
The New Resume
Media kits are a one-stop-shop for everything someone may need in order to promote you. Think of it as your business card, resume, and portfolio all in one. The following is a list of things you want to include in your media kit:
- Current Photos (Professional)
- A Long & Short Version of Your Bio
- A Freebie Offer Link
- Your Logo
- Testimonials
- Areas You Have Been Featured in
- Your Contact Information
Ready For Your Close Up?
Let’s talk about photos first. I cannot tell you how many times I have had to explain the importance of PROFESSIONAL photos to my clients. This does not mean that you need to have them done professionally. You would be amazed at what your phone can do. With that said, you do need someone else to take them for you. NO SELFIES! I advise my clients to update their photos every quarter. In fact, there has been such a demand for help in this arena that I am collaborating with some of my favorite media pros on retreats that help you own your inner media master. If you would like more information I would be happy to help out!
Testimonials Are King!
The next thing that I stress to my clients is the importance of testimonials! Testimonials are truly King! You want to have as many as you can get. I like to provide my prospecting clients and collaborating partners with mixed media. This means I do audio, video, and written testimonials. When you are collecting your testimonials you want to remember to include the person’s picture. It makes it feel more personal and authentic to the individual reading the testimonial. While it is nice to have as many options as possible for testimonials don’t go crazy when putting them on to or in your media kit. I would suggest no more than three on the kit itself and no more than ten in the file. This will provide them with a variety while still avoiding overwhelming the person pulling it all together.
Put In The Work Now!
Some of you may be thinking that you don’t need a media kit. You are wrong, trust me! Yes, it is a lot of work in the beginning. Mainly because you are pulling everything together. But it will save you so much time in the future. I use a google drive and have it all under a media kit folder. That way when I am asked to collaborate or to be featured in anything I can just share the folder and I know they have everything they need. Of course, I continually update the pictures and even the content. But that takes no time at all and I usually only update it once a quarter, because that’s when I am already doing new photos. Trust me the more exposure you get the more you will need this kit.
Are You Ready To Be An Influencer?
There are tons of ways to increase your exposure online and on the air. Don’t believe me? Be sure to subscribe to my next article that will break down even more ways to extend your reach. If you are a health and wellness expert looking for help to become the next major influencer in your field, I would love to hear from you. I offer an online course that can help you do just that. For more information, book a one-on-one consultation call with me. If you are the best at what you do and no one knows you exist, how many people can you help?
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