Building Revenue Through Connection and Collaboration

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post called Business Development in Today’s Economy about the 4 Cs. Connection, Collaboration, Clients and Criteria.

For this article I’m revisiting Connection and Collaboration, because they are so closely intertwined.

Connection, as discussed earlier, is about reaching out not only to clients, but to partners, colleagues, co-workers and industry experts as well. Connection applies to growing your network in a number of ways, to build out a rounded experience. From every conversation I have, I learn something new. It never fails. I also make sure to offer something up as well — to be generous. Connection is about how you are talking to potential clients. Where are you connecting with them? Is it a trade show? A networking event? A webinar? On LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter?

I have an incredible example about Connection taking place online. I was watching a panel being streamed live from the Digital Hollywood Media Summit (video streaming produced by Naked Media.org) and was chatting with people in the digital space from a variety of backgrounds. We were all commenting from the peanut gallery, and then questions were being posed at the same time to the panel. Then after the panel, they grabbed what we  online decided was the star of the panel, Artie Bulgrin, head of ESPN Research, for an online only interview. We then got to pose questions for him to answer. It was a totally wild and unique experience! I not only learned from the people I was chatting with, got to interact with the panel, but I also shared with a journalist from Business Week and other digital researchers and strategists from all over the U.S. We’re now following each other on Twitter. See how quickly you can create community?

On Collaboration…well, what could be the possibility of the relationships that were created in the chat? Could we collaborate on research projects, start our own community based on a POV from the chat or build business together? You should think about businesses you could reach out to in your industry, or in complementary industries that could be useful. Think about what’s missing from your business, or a blind spot for you. What do you need to know about? The point is, you should never stop reaching out. Make sure you bring something valuable to the table. Always. But more importantly, Listen.

These days, with the economy as it is, we can’t go it alone. I’m a strong believer in that. I’m connecting and collaborating more than I have ever done in my life. I’m a part of an agency “consortium” where I’m the Digital & Social Media Expert. I’m in another group where I’m the Mass Media Expert. I’m in another group as the Women-owned Small Business representative. The opportunities are endless. And, the beauty of this is that these collaborations can take place online and offline too. If you connect with someone online, take it off-line and vice versa. Book in a call or meet up for a coffee. We all benefit from the human touch and from working together.