Back in the day, business was all about competition, prestige, and presence, but now, it’s all about collaboration and cooperation.
In the past, business owners kept a close eye on their competitors and invested their money in looking more profitable, prominent, and successful than similar businesses in the area. Even in donating large amounts of cash to the community or non-profits, it often came with the gain of earning sponsor rewards, instead of for the social good impact alone.
Being seen as a significant business in any given field depended largely on image and on peoples’ perception of you in the local community.
However, the internet has changed ALL of that!
These days, more than anything else, cooperation and collaboration are the keys to lasting success more than individual works, donations, and competing at every turn.
It’s now possible to cooperate and collaborate with people on the other side of the world. And thanks to Google Translate, even language is no longer a barrier!
Moving Past “It’s who you know”
I’m sure everyone reading this has heard the phrase “It’s about who you know” to succeed in business-life. Though there is an element of truth in the statement, cooperation and collaboration move past who you know to include what you know, and how together companies and individuals can help each other.
Look at how many automobile manufacturers are using the same components, engines, and running gear.
These are two examples of how collaboration can move mountains (aka products and services) on the internet faster than doing it alone. There is a ripple effect of sharing, endorsing, and promoting let’s more people in on what siloed companies could accomplish by themselves or with a singular “who you know.”
And it’s happening at every level. Why? Because with the internet more businesses and individuals are living in a “glass house” with eyes of consumers watching everything that happens inside. There needs to be mutual integrity and honor within companies that together they can help each other.
And it’s happening at every level. Why? Because with the internet more businesses and individuals are living in a “glass house” with eyes of consumers watching everything that happens inside. There needs to be mutual integrity and honor within companies that together they can help each other.
Juliandra Jackson
It’s no longer just about who you know, but as mentioned just moments ago, what you know and how together you can help each other.
The idea of Collaboration and Cooperation funnel into the larger idea of relationship building in the marketplace.
It’s more important than ever to seek out others who can support, promote, endorse, and recommend you. The better you get at it, the more often your phone will ring. And you in turn can help the businesses that support you!
Advertising vs Personal Recommendation
These days it’s very difficult to make business advertising work effectively AND within a reasonable budget. We are bombarded with advertising 24/7. Just getting anyone to read an ad is an accomplishment, let alone respond to it.
It’s been said that you only have 3 seconds to get someone’s attention in an advertisement these days, and after 7 seconds, if you’re not speaking their language, they’re gone.
Advertising is both a science and an art, for those who understand it. For the rest of us, it remains a mystery!
But personal recommendation never gets old, tired, or ineffective! Just look at how social media has boosted recommendations and endorsements for all kinds of business. General Electric uses it. So does the local tattoo artist.
Plus, most people have become jaded regarding advertising. They often look at it with a grain of salt, not quite believing anything that is said in the ad. Instead, they look to recommendations and reviews.
Personal experience – even the experience of strangers – is more believable and works better than advertising!
Connecting With Others
Switched-on, internet-aware entrepreneurs have adapted tried and tested strategies to work on the internet. They’ve made businesses hugely profitable using cutting edge technology. But at some level, sooner or later, being personable and building relationships still becomes important.
All entrepreneurs are personable at some level. That doesn’t necessarily mean they all have the outgoing personality of a Pedro Adeo. Many business owners are quite introverted, but when they connect, they connect very well with others.
The common trait is that they are all great listeners. They pay attention when someone is talking. They’re also good at reading people. These are all business skills that can be learned over time.
Seize Every Opportunity
Seize every opportunity that you can to engage with those who already know what you need to learn.
Everything that is reciprocal is good for everyone. Both paying it forward AND paying it back become very useful strategies and enhance relationship building in the marketplace, especially since there is no telling when someone you’ve helped will take off like a rocket in the internet space and may in turn be able to help you.
…There is no telling when someone you’ve helped will take off like a rocket in the internet space and may in turn be able to help you. Stay humble in this process of building your business through collaborating and cooperating.
Juliandra Jackson
Stay humble in this process of building your business through collaborating and cooperating. And have fun with it! And by all means: Do Not Burn Bridges!
Building, nurturing, and engaging with actual people who you can help and who will help you and your business is a whole lot of fun. If you seek out others with common interests, similar values, and perspectives in alignment with yours, you can also find friends for life.
No Limits
There are no limits to where you can go and what you can do with your personal contacts. Bear in mind that not everyone will be ready RIGHT NOW to work with you. But if you nurture the relationship in an effective way, when the time IS right, everything will fall into place.
Growing a business both nationally and internationally is dependent on both the quantity and quality of your contacts and how well you nurture them.
But what’s even more exciting is not just about who YOU know, it’s about who THEY know, and then who THEY know! With the advent of social media, it’s possible to create strong connections with people countries around the world if you put your mind to it.
ALL of these connections can be created, nurtured, and developed on a one-to-one basis: Friends recommending friends, colleagues recommending colleagues, enthusiasts recommending fellow enthusiasts and so on, from every conceivable walk of life, from every culture, in every age group, male, female.
Even if you’re working from home from your modest set-up on your kitchen table, you can have customers, business partners, promoters, and endorsers. You can collaborate and cooperate in powerful ways. And you can connect with all of them in the same day!
Bottom line is this. People skills and wanting to build relationships with those whom you do business is paramount for growing a successful business with Cooperation and Collaboration.
Do You Have What It Takes?
The good news is that EVERYONE already has an abundance of people skills. They may just need to be polished a little and put into practice in a way that works for you in the context of building your business.
To grow in these areas, read books on the subject such as Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People or hire a coach! Business coaches, public speaking coaches, or even a life-skills coaches could all help you grow! Coaches, like myself as a brand building coach, are there to help you excel faster with them than alone. But at the end of the day, simply putting your people skills and relationship building skills into practice will help you grow in collaboration and cooperation.
But at the end of the day, simply putting your people skills and relationship building skills into practice will help you grow in collaboration.
juliandra Jackson
Polishing occurs with practice. The more opportunities you seize to engage with others, the more you learn, the more you grow, and the more your capabilities expand. And so does your business. Make it part of who you ARE, not just what you do, and you and your business will thrive.
