How to Collaborate With a "Competitor" (And Make Money While Doing It)

Two are often better than one.
While the old school of thinking is that to succeed, one must out-sell, out-perform, or out-do the competition, the new school takes a different approach.
Rather than succeeding by beating by the competition, join them.
The benefits of collaborating with the competition include: 1.
Developing mutual relationships.
When you join and work together to achieve mutual success in an endeavor, your professional image with the competitor improves significantly.
In essence, the competition will stop competing with you because you are working together toward joint success.
In other words, if you don't succeed, neither will they.
2.
You gain from their expertise.
Everyone has something unique to bring to the table, and your competition is no different.
While they certainly benefit from your knowledge and expertise, you also benefit from theirs.
It's a win-win situation.
3.
You gain access to their clientele.
When you work together toward a common goal, not only are your clients and customers exposed to your former competitor, but you and your business benefit from the increased exposure to your collaborator's client base.
So, it might be healthy to collaborate with your competition.
If you are entertaining the idea, here are four ways you can do it.
1.
Establish a relationship with them.
Extend a communication via their website, email, twitter or a simple phone call.
Set up meetings to discuss your proposal and tell them that you want to work together, instead of against each other.
2.
Distribute duties and responsibilities.
As in all things, each person brings different skills, talents, and expertise to the team.
Divide them according to the passions and skills of the parties.
For instance, let the person who is technically savvy handle the technical end of your pursuits, taking advantage of his or her area of expertise, while you do what you might be good at-like networking.
Divide and conquer to bring out the best each party has to offer.
4.
Create an info product, coaching program, or a seminar.
Jointly determine the best way to reach your target audience, then set out to make it a reality.
Divide the work, the time involved, and the profits or commissions.
5.
Market together.
Discuss opportunities to leverage your respective followers.
You can each offer a bonus or create a joint group on Facebook and Twitter.
Increase your exposure by joining forces, partnering with affiliates, and mass marketing together.
Everyone knows that two people create more noise than one, so reach out together and you'll increase your exposure, your client base, and your sales.
These are just four ways that you can collaborate with your competition and turn your efforts into a profitable endeavor for everyone.
Be creative depending on your industry and your audience, then set out to make your collaboration a mutually profitable one that benefits you, your former competition, and your customer base.