Hello business owner, NOT INFLUENCER. I say this because it seems like there is a LOT of information out there for influencers to work with brands, but what about the handmade business world working with each other? This can be a HUGE game-changer for your small business.

Are you boring working by yourself? Do you feel like you are running out of content? Do you feel like a broken record player with your small handmade business IG account captions? If so, then this blog post is for you! Scroll to the end to see some fun ideas for partnership ideas!

WHAT IS A BRAND PARTNERSHIP?

A brand partnership is a mutual agreement between two or more businesses or organizations. Through these partnerships, companies help one another to increase brand exposure, break into new markets, and add extra value to products/services.

A partnership can differ from collaboration in the sense that a partnership is ONGOING whereas collaboration is a 1-time event. You can start your collaboration and then if it goes really well and you liked working with the other brand, you can turn it into a partnership with constant content back and forth.

HOW CAN A PARTNERSHIP BE BENEFICIAL TO ME?

Add Value: When your brand develops a well-integrated partnership, it adds intrinsic value to the product or service that each of those companies offers natively. Now that there are two or more stakeholders involved, each bringing something unique to the table, consumers find extra value in the product or service.

Generate Buzz: When reputable brands partner, there's usually some buzz that surrounds the partnership. Consumers are excited about the product or service. It provides public relations opportunities or opens up new media exposure.

WHY ARE BRAND PARTNERSHIPS IMPORTANT?

A partnership could mean your business will have access to new products, reach a new market, block a competitor (through an exclusive contract), or increase customer loyalty. Strategic business partnerships allow small businesses the opportunity to grow their customer base and improve their business.

WHAT DOES A BRAND PARTNERSHIP LOOK LIKE FOR A HANDMADE BUSINESS?

It can look like a lot of things. Check out the list below on how a small collaboration can turn into a partnership:

• Start by slowly sharing each other’s creations on stories, engaging with their content regularly, and tagging others in posts.

• Then go with a mutual giveaway. Something both audiences would be interested in, and that gets both audiences excited to meet the “other” maker

• Go on an IG live together to have a lively conversation about something your audiences would both benefit from, enjoy, or be entertained by.

• Take over the others IG account stories for a day, and show off what a day in the makers world looks like, or something of this nature that is fun!

This is just the beginning of what a brand partnership can look like. It can evolve over time. Think of this partnership as someone who has your back and is committed to sharing something with the intent to serve through educational value or entertainment.

Are you wanting to learn more about how to conduct, write a contract, and start brand partnerships for your small business? Vertical Ledge is creating mini e-courses as part of our Small Business Hub (SMB) and will be launching the first round of mini-courses this spring.  

If you want to see our brand partnership application page, check it out here. This is for market organizers and retail pop up managers.

Till next time friends,

Sydney