Producing your own webinars can do a lot to help grow your audience, expand your reach, and establish you as an expert in your field. But sometimes – especially if you’re just starting out – it can be just as effective to appear as an expert on other people’s webinars or a partnership webinar.
Here are a few tips for how to build partnerships that lead to collaboration.
Know Who Your Ideal Partners Are
Before we get into how to build these partnerships, we should talk about how to determine which partnerships to pursue.
Ideally, you should work with people who have a larger platform than you, addressing the audience you want to attract to your own webinars. Consider which influencers in your field have the right audience for you.
Generally, you may have more luck working with people who are slightly bigger than you rather than really famous thought leaders. Set your sights high, but also have a list of other influencers who are more accessible.
When Possible, Don’t Pitch Cold
The best place to start forming partnerships is by contacting colleagues you already know in real life through your professional contacts. They are much more likely to bring you in as an expert on their webinars than someone who isn’t familiar with your work.
If you don’t know anyone in Email real life yet, start making some connections online. Follow and become involved in communities around content producers you like and respect. Start conversations online on the social media platforms you both subscribe to. That way, your pitch won’t come out of the blue. LinkedIn is a great place to start these conversations.
Develop a Specific Pitch
In general, it’s less effective to say “hey, we should do a webinar together sometime!” Instead, offer a specific idea that highlights how your expertise complements your prospective partner’s. Making a vague offer is essentially leaving the hard work to the other person – the work of thinking of an idea that incorporates you both.
The people you are contacting are no doubt busy, so respect their time. Put together a specific pitch. Depending on the situation, this could be an idea for a webinar that would appeal to both of your audiences.
If you go with the second option, create a well-defined list of topics you could cover that you know would be of interest to their audience. Include your qualifications, experience, and background that sell you as an expert in these topics.
Appearing as an expert on another influencer’s webinars can help expand your audience and build your reputation – but especially in the beginning, you’ll need to sell yourself as an expert. Contact the right partners and craft pitches that speak to their audiences, and you should be able to build partnerships that help boost your profile.
