#132: Win-Win: Gaining Visibility Through Partnerships
The visibility stage of relationship marketing will be one of your most effective, lucrative and impactful efforts that you can do for your business.
So why is it that so many business owners tend to obsess over fans, followers and likes on social media and worry more about the reach of their most recent Instagram real then nurturing key relationships?
The reason is that most people just aren't pursuing relationship marketing in the right way.
They give up quickly and move on to the next marketing trend.
The result? Many businesses are fantastic and make their customers happy. But those same companies tend to be the best kept secret around because they struggled to gain visibility or they think that visibility is only made possible through significant public relations investments.
So, tune into this episode, the third in my Win Win podcast series, to hear about gaining visibility through partnerships.
For a limited time, if you preorder the book, you will receive a relationship marketing toolkit free of cost (valued at $1,200). Head to createyourwinwin.com and click on the preorder button. Then, go back to the website, put in your order number and look for your free training in your inbox.
Listen to the Show:
Laura 00:00
Have you heard? I wrote a book, it's coming out on December 6. And this podcast is part of a series that I have recorded in anticipation of the book release. The book is called Win Win. And it's all about how to grow your business leveraging the power of relationships. And if you would like to preorder the book, I have a special gift for you. And is a relationship marketing toolkit that is completely free when you preorder Win Win. In order to be able to enjoy this free gift go to createyourwinwin.com that's createyourwinwin.com go ahead and click on the preorder button. And then go back to the website put in your order number and we will be providing you this training. And we will provide you with immediate access a $1,200 value just for pre ordering the book.
Laura 00:52
Welcome to the Next Level Leap podcast. I'm your host Laura Meyer top growth strategist to some of the country's fastest growing brands, and mentor to consultants. My signature leap methodology has changed the way 1000s of companies look at growth strategy, and this podcast shares best practices and inspirational interviews to help you make that next level leap in your business. Stick around and join me as I share the journey of how we as founders can multiply our income impact and influence by landing on the other side of our next big leap. Let's go!
Laura 01:33
Visibility stage of relationship marketing will be one of your most effective, lucrative and impactful efforts that you can do in your business. So why is it that so many business owners tend to obsess over fans, followers and likes on social media and worry more about the reach of their most recent Instagram real then nurturing key relationships? The reason is, is that most people just aren't pursuing relationship marketing in the right way. So they give up quickly and move on to the next marketing trend. The result? Many businesses are fantastic and making their customers happy. But those same companies tend to be the best kept secret around. Why? Because they struggled to gain visibility. Or they think that visibility is only made possible through significant public relations investments. And I love a good PR strategy. And I've invested heavily in PR over the years and there is a time and place for public relations. But it's possible to utilize uncomplicated tools and resources to increase your visibility without as much of an investment. And as your credibility and visibility grows, this multiplier effect kicks in and you'll start to see an increase in qualified leads flowing into your company.
Laura 02:56
If any of you have watched the last dance on Netflix, I just recently viewed it. And I couldn't believe how good that series was. And during the series I learned a little bit about the endorsement deal between Nike and Michael Jordan. Back in 1984, many of us were kids if you are born yet. And there was a rookie by the name of Michael Jordan who was about to
start his first season of the NBA. He was looking for an athlete endorsement deal and he was very excited to sign with Adidas, Adidas and Converse with the two big names and basketball. And then all of a sudden along came Nike, a really small brand predominantly known at the time for long distance running shoes with very little street cred outside of recreational joggers, and certainly not with NBA basketball players or individual endorsement deals who had represented golfers and tennis players and that agent was shopping around. So along came Nike. And while everybody recognized the immense talent and the opportunity to work with Michael, only Nike was ready to put all their chips on the table and offered him a deal far more lucrative than the bigger sports apparel companies like Adidas. Michael actually refused to even get on the plane to go and see Nike. He didn't want to do a deal with them. But his mother insisted she said, Michael, you're gonna get on that plane and you're gonna go see what the nice people at Nike have to say. What a good mama so Michael brought his entire family ready to refuse the deal. And when Nike presented the offer, his agent told him that he would be out of his mind to say n.
Laura 04:48
NBA rules meant that players could only wear white sneakers at the time. So leveraging the fact that Michael Jordan played for the Chicago Bulls as we all know, Nike designed the first Air Jordans and red, black and white, the NBA was not pleased and fined Michael Jordan $5,000 every time he wore the shoes, however, Nike was willing to pay the fines and have the shoes stand out from the crowd. Nike predicted $3 million of sales of the Air Jordans the first four years of the deal. I was thinking $3 million in four years, oh my gosh, my clients, my clients would want to do that in six months, many of my clients, but you know, they were a small company, and that's where they were at the time. And the result is that Nike sold $126 million in shoes in the first year alone, Nike became a mainstream shoe having previously been known as mainly like a track running shoe and slipped into the popular culture as the edgy must have sneaker and is now one of the most recognized brands on the planet as you know. And Michael Jordan went on to become one of the greatest basketball players of all time and off the field. He also made 1.3 billion with a B billion dollars from his deal with Nike alone. So this shows the power of partnerships and how to new entrants to an arena and their commitment to visibility can combine forces and make a massive impact.
Laura 06:26
So while most of us do not have the star power of Michael Jordan or the infrastructure of Nike, the lesson is the same. Win Win partnerships can take on many different forms. They can be developed with audience partners, you can feature one another's platforms to generate new leads. They can be created with partners who offer direct referrals to your business, simply because they trust you and they want the best for their client. They can also be developed with joint venture partners or affiliates. And in this scenario, partners take a percentage of sales in exchange for a referral. Creating Win Win partnerships begins with marketplace credibility. It's
what I shared with you in the last podcast episode, and then built up by using strategies that I recommend and reinforced by visibility simply through collaborating that can help you create this steady stream of leads in your business.
Laura 07:23
Ideal collaborators often found in business that serve the same audience as you but solve different problems. So for example, in my program, fractional freedom, which is my consulting certification program, I trained students how to become fractional chief marketing officers or growth consultants so that their clients can benefit from high level marketing strategy without making a C suite executive hire. The offer in itself is a massive win when. Other fractional C suite providers like fractional chief operating officers fractional chief financial officers, fractional Chief Human Resources officers are great collaborators for a fractional chief marketing officer, because the clients are not only in a similar stage of business, but they've also bought into the business model of using fractional C suite hires. Another example might be a relationship and marriage support program that could work well with a travel agency. Both serve the same audience, which is couples prioritizing the relationships but they solve different problems for those couples. Couples go to a relationship therapist for help with their marriages or a travel agent helps Romantic Vacations that give them time and space to work on their relationships. It's a real compliment for one another. A copywriting company could be really well served by partnering with a graphic design firm to communicate effectively on sales pages. Copy needs great graphic design, and often buyers run comprehensive marketing campaigns or direct response marketing efforts in which they simultaneous li hire a copywriter and graphic designer. So these two occupations serve the same audience but help with different problems. By partnering together and increasing one another's visibility, you can actually take advantage of as little known secret to how visibility works to grow businesses. It's a powerful psychological phenomenon called the mere exposure effect.
Laura 09:29
The principle of the mere exposure effect is that people tend to prefer things they're familiar with. Why? Because repeated exposure increases trust the more somebody sees your brand and social media platforms, podcasts or speaking events, the more they develop a preference for you and your business. The mere exposure effect allows us to succeed in business by simply just showing up how great is that? So to illustrate if you have children in the house or even preschoolers in the house, like I do, the first time you hear one of those crazy songs on YouTube, you think, Oh, that's not something I actually really want to be listening to. By the 10th time you listen to it, you're tapping your foot and singing along because the more you hear it, the more you like it. So in this case, you might be familiar with the catchy tune of that YouTube song and it's more than slightly repelling the first time you hear it. But the 20th time through, you're bopping along with your child and you're both smiling like goofballs, or at least
that's what happens to me. So peer to peer collaborations like podcast exchanges or features on each other's email lists expedite this phenomenon called the mere exposure effect.
Laura 10:40
Of course the increase your visibility new audiences just in itself. But in addition, as that like know and trust factor builds, or if you are paired with the host of a podcast that their listeners like know and trust, that like no interest becomes borrowed, and their audience is much more likely to trust you. So for example, I recently guested on to clients podcast that opened the door for their audiences to learn about me, and it led to other podcast appearances. And that continued familiarity brought me speaking opportunities within different programs and generated several referrals from a well-known influencer. This happens when you create habits that increase your exposure and visibility. And these habits pay out like compounded interest as your credibility builds. So even if you're listening and you have a minimal platform or audience and with dedication and consistency, you can utilize the power of the mere exposure effect to increase your visibility and credibility in the marketplace. by just showing up more often and partnering with pure organizations, regardless of any economic uncertainty changes in the algorithm cancellation of your ad account. These relationships have staying power and will help you build the foundation for qualified lead generation and future business growth.
Laura 12:04
If you have loved this episode, and the advice I'm sharing about how to gain visibility through partnerships, I think you'll really like my book, Win Win. And if you're listening right now, at the time this podcast went live, you're likely going to be able to take advantage of my Relationship Marketing Toolkit, which is a free bonus when you preorder my book. So share this episode, let other people know about it and head over to create your winwin.com where you can preorder the book and get all the bonuses. Let me know also, if you heard this and what you like about it, what you're curious about any questions that you have, I'd love to hear from you. And I'll see you soon on the fourth and final episode dedicated to my book launch win win.
Laura 12:45
Make sure to visit our website yournextlevelleap.com where you can subscribe to the show in Apple podcasts, Stitcher or RSS, so you never miss a show. And while you're at it, if you found value in what you heard today, we would love a rating on Apple podcast. Or if you simply tell a friend about the show that would help us out too. Thank you so much for listening!
The Scale with Joy podcast dives into the mindset and strategies of scaling your company to the million dollar mark and beyond. Each week, we follow the journeys of innovators, disruptors, experts and leaders - sharing behind the scenes stories of their most challenging moments and greatest lessons learned-all while building their multi-million dollar empires.