Unusual Liaisons

I have long been an advocate of finding unusual "marriages" in business that can be mutually beneficial. In my own former hardware store, we created a liaison with a local organic food delivery service and became a drop off location for them. Every 2 weeks, approx. 100 of their customers would come by our store to pick up their food shares. In trade for the space, our store could insert a coupon or sale flyer into each food share, thus getting some free marketing to the foodie customers. Since each company had a mantra of green living that was in alignment with the other's, both of us benefited. The customers loved it too. We all also became great friends in the bargain. Win/win!

You can find similar partnerships that can help your company. Perhaps you can host monthly events for local groups and piggyback onto their mailing list or social media to help promote your business. Or maybe you can partner with another similar business when you purchase products to either gain a larger discount from a vendor or perhaps save on freight. Another idea might be to host a Meetup group together with a non-competitive business and share in the expenses and promotion of the group. Often these types of partnerships cost little or nothing and can be tremendously beneficial.

I'd love to hear about any ideas or comments that you may have on this topic. Please email me directly at andrea@askandrea.com.

Good luck with your Unusual Liaisons!!!