How to Co-Market with Other Businesses in Your Niche'

The Corona Virus no doubt messed up our economy. Small businesses were hurt the worst especially if they had a brick and mortar building that clients/customers were not allowed to enter. 

They found themselves doing what they needed to do to survive and stay afloat. 

One thing I saw a lot of and LOVED seeing, was businesses working together to help each other out. I saw bars and restaurants develop package deals such as drinks and a meal to feed four for curbside pickup. 

I saw a hair salon work with an organic self care retailer, creating their own package deals. I think it was a spa package. Hair care products and essential oil candles. And every week they would sell out!

Regardless of what the packages were, these small businesses came together to reinvent how they did business. They dealt with what was handed to them and made the best of it. 

When I did weddings, I used to make little welcome gift bags for my wedding couples, and give it to them right after we signed the contract. I contacted several vendors that were in that niche and asked if they wanted to co-market with me. They would give me free samples of their products, or exclusive coupons for a % off for being a client of mine. In exchange they would pass out my business card to their customers that were in the market for a wedding photographer.

An example of some of the vendors I used was:

* A lady that custom made wire hangers for formal wedding dress photos. She would make the wire hanger into the couples new last name. She gave me several wire rings that were customized with different words to hand out to my clients as examples of what she could do.

* I had a florists business cards

* DJ business cards

* I had a friend that was an adult toy party consultant (don't be judgey. They do focus on women's health as well) that gave me free samples of lotions and oils, you know for the honeymoon. 

My point is, there is a huge benefit to co-marketing with other business owners that serve your target market. They are reaching more potential clients for you that may not have heard of you yet. And vice verses. 

Here are some examples of vendors you can reach out to and ask if they would like to co-market with you.

Family/Children Photographer:

• Day cares

• Locally owned clothing stores

• Small doctor or dentist offices

• Coffee shops

• Small hobby stores

• Local family/children bloggers

Wedding Photographer:

• Florists

• DJs

• Wedding specific crafters

• Local travel agents

• Bakeries that specialize in weddings

• Wedding Planners

• Churches

Maternity/Newborn Photographer:

• Day cares

• OB Office

• Maternity specific crafters

• Maternity or newborn clothing stores

• Adult toy MLM distributors

Senior Photographer:

• Local and surround local schools

• Local senior specific vendors

• Local resale shops that target seniors (resale prom dress shops/resale shops like Plato's Closet)

Pet Photographer:

• Vet clinics

• Pet specific vendors

• Small pet shops

• Groomers

• Local Shelters

Boudoir Photographer:

• Local women's health bloggers

• Boudoir specific boutiques

Here are some ideas how you and the other business can get the word out about each other: 

• Share each other's offers on your social media pages

• Talk about each other in your blogs and /or email newsletters

• Run a contest

• VIP Customers 

• Refer a friend program

• Pick a charity for you both to donate to

• Birthday perks (keep track of clients birthdays and send them a special treat or offer)

• Social media take over (you and the other business take over each others social media accounts for the day

• Host a workshop

• Facebook live videos with each other (go live on each of your pages). You can also do a prerecorded video if you don't feel comfortable going live. 

Notice that I am saying local on most of those ideas. There are some vendors that you can find online to co-market with, however, you do want to stay as local as you can because your target market is local. 

Not sure what to say or how to approach a business owner to ask them if they would like to co-market with you? I got you. Take this sample email below and copy, paste it, edit it to fit your needs, and then hit send! 

Hi! My name is (your name) and I am a (enter your type of photography) photographer in the area. 

Business has slowed down quite a bit due to the Corona Virus so I was brainstorming some ways that I could get my name out there to find some new clients/customers.

(Right here, talk about something you absolutely love about their business, services, or products)

I was hoping that you and I could discuss co-marketing our businesses together! You and I are in the same niche and I think working together could really benefit us both!

Here are some ideas that I thought of that could help us both out (this is where you would list the ideas from the above list).

Let me know what you think and if you have any questions!

Talk to you soon!

Sincerely,

(Your Business Name)

Get business cards made at Basic Invite!

-Don't forget to take ANY AND ALL CoronaVirus restrictions into consideration

-DON'T overextend any offer you agree on with each other. Stick to your agreement and DON'T go beyond. If you start over extending, they will always expect it. 

-Make sure what you agree on is equal. 

 If you already do this, I would love for you to tell us who you are co-marketing with and how it’s going! Let us know in the comments!

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