91 - 3 Ways to Create Organic Growth in Your Online Business (Without Needing to Go Viral)

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE HERE:

Today we are talking all about Organic Growth and how to collaborate with other business owners and other platforms and create win-win partnerships to scale!

Collaborations will be a big focus of this podcast over the next several weeks because we have a VERY exciting workshop coming up that is going to be all about collaborations, how to use them in your business to scale faster, to get in front of hundreds if not thousands of new potential clients each month!

The Power of Collaboration

Collaborating is such a powerful tool to generate organic growth in your business - mutually beneficial partnerships allow both parties to grow. It is so much easier to grow together than to do it alone. Benefits:

  • Faster growth

  • Get in front of more people/audiences

  • Build amazing friendships & connections that can lead you so many places

We talk about the power of collaboration in Episode 87 - Should You Collaborate with Your Competition?

Check out our Workshop to learn even more about the power of collaboration!

Three Ways to Generate Organic Growth

  1. Create Your Own Community/Platform

    We talk about this in-depth in Episode 77 - Creating Content. This is a platform that you own where you can create content and also feature other people who are in a similar industry. This could be a blog or video blog, and you can use distribute your content platforms like:

    • Podcast

    • Youtube Channel 

    • Social Media, ie Instagram, etc

    You can use those channels to drive traffic back to your website, Using SEO on your platform to help create long-term growth in your business.

    In addition to that, when you feature other businesses or experts, you gain extra exposure when they share it with their own communities!

  2. Guesting on Other People’s Platforms

    There is power in a good pitch! You can pitch to be a guest on another business’s: 

    • Podcast 

    • Youtube Channel

    • Event Panel

    Or you can pitch to be featured on someone’s:

    • Social Media Platform, 

    • Email Newsletter 

    • the list goes on as far as the opportunities that are available to you!

    Being featured as a guest is a great opportunity for exposure to audiences that are full of your ideal clients! You want to hone in on what makes you stand out and the incredible value you can offer to create a pitch that sets you apart. Danielle loves strategizing with clients to get them in front of new audiences that maybe have never heard of them before, but truly need their product or service! Check out what it looks like to work one-on-one with Danielle. 

  3. Creating a Referral or Affiliate program 

    Referrals are an underrated way to get more exposure for your business and brand. Just think, if you have other people that you know have your exact target audience in their network, wouldn’t you want to access that network? You can learn more about how affiliates broaden exposure and help generate passive income in Episode 69 of the pod.

    This could also be used in tandem with Guesting on other people's platforms! If you are pitching a to be featured, there may be an organic opportunity to pitch an affiliate program for them to promote your products/services. This takes WORK, so make sure you do the research to make it happen!

The Snowball Effect

Pro Tip: You can use valuable collaborations as leverage in new pitches!

Landing your first big platform is the most difficult and takes the most work, but once you have it under your belt, you can use it to showcase your brand and business in new pitches. With a good strategy, as you lay the groundwork in putting yourself out there, the pendulum swings, and the pitches come to you! 

These three channels work really well together in an overarching strategy. These methods are meant to be evergreen practices, built by long-term strategies that sustain your business in the long run. 

If you would like to dive in deeper into some of these strategies and topics, check out our Free Workshop!

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TRANSCIPT

[00:00:00] Danielle Wiebe: Hello. And welcome back to the podcast. I am really excited about this topic today. We are gonna be talking about three ways to create organic growth in your online business without having to go viral. So I'm excited about these three things because they fall all under the umbrella of collaborations, which is going to actually be a huge focus for the next several weeks because we have a very exciting workshop coming up that is going to be all about collaboration and how to use collaboration in your business to scale faster and to get in front of hundreds, if not thousands of potential new clients, every single month.

[00:00:39] This is something that I kind of weave into the podcast basically, whenever I can talking about working with other people, talking about collaborations, talking about community, all of these things. But what I realized is that I haven't really created as much of a framework as I had wanted to around this idea of collaborations. And when I think back to all of [00:01:00] the success that I have personally had in business, it honestly all comes back to this.

[00:01:04] It all comes back to collaborating with other people, working with other people in order to create mutually beneficial partnerships that allow both parties to grow. And it is so much easier to grow together and work with other people rather than trying to do it all on your own.

[00:01:23] You are able to grow faster. You're able to get in front of more people, you are able to build really amazing friendships and connections, and you just never know where those connections can lead. And I know for me, connections and collaborations have been the one thing that really has helped me to scale my business to the place that it's at now. And I would definitely not have the same results if I were to just do everything on my own.

[00:01:50] So that being said, if you are curious about using collaborations in your own business to scale faster and to work with other [00:02:00] people. How do you structure that? How do you go about that? How do you pitch it? How do you do all those things? Then come join us for our workshop. You can go to businessbabescollective.com/workshop. We're gonna be hosting it on September 28th. So put that on your calendar, mark it off. It's gonna be at 12:00 PM PST. So mark that in your calendar, make sure you're there live because it's gonna be so much fun.

[00:02:23] We're gonna have so much strategy. And then also time for Q & A at the end, as. So let's go ahead now and dive into the episode today.

[00:02:33] Welcome to the business babes collective podcast. I'm your host, Danielle Wiebe. In this podcast, you'll learn tangible business tips and strategies on how to grow successfully and sustainably. We'll also interview seasoned entrepreneurs, so you can listen in on their stories and see behind the scenes of what it took to grow and scale their businesses. Let's dive in, as we discussed the wild, exciting, crazy, challenging, rollercoaster ride of [00:03:00] entrepreneurship.

[00:03:03] All right. So three ways to create organic growth in your online business. We are diving right into it today. So number one is creating your own community slash platform. So what I mean by this is something creating something that you own, where you can create content and also feature other people who are in a similar industry who are experts in things that you are maybe complimentary to what you sell, right?

[00:03:29] So for example, if you're in the health and wellness industry, who are some people who are experts in health and wellness? Uh, maybe fitness or business or whatever industry you are personally in, sports fashion, whatever your industry is, you really need to figure out, okay, who are people who have my ideal audience within their audience and vice versa? And how can I create a platform where I can showcase what they have to offer and they can in turn, promote my [00:04:00] platform?

[00:04:00] So that could look like a blog, a podcast, a YouTube channel, or a video blog, whatever that might be. And you could promote other people on your platform. Now, this can also be used on social media. However, I want you to think of something that is gonna be really great to actually drive people back to your platform, back to your website, ideally. So this is an amazing way to drive traffic and use SEO that can really create that long term growth for your business.

[00:04:36] In addition to that, you are able to, like I said, feature other businesses or other experts. And they will also in turn, want to share it with their own community because they are being featured on your platform, right? And so this is really a win-win and this is where the collaboration takes place is it's a win for them, cuz they're getting featured.

[00:04:58] It's a win for you [00:05:00] because you are able to co-create that piece of content. So this podcast, for example, has given me the opportunity to build a platform, which, you know, I create content that is just solo episodes and that gets shown and seen and found within the podcast world. We also repurpose it to a blog on our website for the show notes. And so that also drives traffic to our website.

[00:05:25] In addition to that, I get to co-create content with guests that I have on the podcast. And often guests that come on this podcast will share these episodes to their networks as well. So it's a win-win for both of us. So this is a really cool way that I am creating community and building in that long term strategy to our business.

[00:05:48] So think of how you could potentially do that for your specific business and think about your skillset. So if you are a really good writer, awesome. Then a blog might be the best thing for you. If you love to [00:06:00] talk like me, maybe a podcast. If you love videos or maybe you have a product based business that does really well when it comes to like filming your, your videos of your product, then maybe YouTube, right? So think of a way that you can create your own community, your own platform and how you can co-create with other people.

[00:06:20] Okay. So number two is guesting on other people's platforms. So, number one, we talked about creating your own platform. Number two, we're talking about guesting on other people's platforms.

[00:06:30] So I love this one so much because I, and I have talked about this actually on other episodes, but if you can successfully pitch yourself to be a guest on someone else's blog or podcast or YouTube, or be featured on someone's social media platform, email newsletter, or even be a guest on a panel for an event. The list goes on as far as the opportunities that are available for you to collaborate with others and guests on their platforms and get in front of hundreds, if not [00:07:00] thousands of potential ideal clients for your business.

[00:07:03] Now this really does require a strategy because you know, you are going to have to, first of all, know what platforms are out there, what other businesses, or what other blogs or podcasts or whatever that are aligned with your specific industry that would make sense for you to be a guest on.

[00:07:22] And then you have to have a strategy of actually coming up with what is the pitch gonna look? Where do I pitch? Do I send them an email? Do I connect with them on LinkedIn or Instagram? Whatever that is. And I absolutely love working with clients on this to come up with a strategy. This is by far one of my favorite things to do. I don't know why, but I love spreadsheets. And so, you know, getting out a spreadsheet and figuring it out, encouraging people to make a list of all the people that they want to collaborate with, or that they would want to be featured on their platforms, whatever that looks like.

[00:07:54] And then coming up with a really great strategy of how are they gonna do that? How are they going to pitch in [00:08:00] a way that it's really effective and how are they going to actually get that person's attention and stand out? Because, especially if you're wanting to get on a big blog or big podcast or, um, YouTube or Instagram, whatever that is. They get hundreds of pitches every day, right? So how are you specifically going to stand out? How are you going to bring the best value possible so that you have the best chance of actually getting featured?

[00:08:26] So again, we are going to actually be covering some of these things inside of the workshop that we're doing on September 28th. So if you wanna join us for that, go to businessbabescollective.com/workshop and definitely sign up.

[00:08:39] Okay. The third thing, the third and final way to grow organically in your online business is to create a referral or affiliate program. So I think referrals are totally unrelated when it comes to business. And if we are wanting to get more exposure for our businesses and have other people that can [00:09:00] potentially promote our products or promote our services, Without us having to do anything really, and to get more exposure for your brand. If you can create a really great affiliate opportunity for your ideal communities, then they can promote an exchange for a commission or exchange for bonuses.

[00:09:22] There's so many different ways to set up a really good referral program or an affiliate program. So this could actually be used in tandem with the guesting that we talked about just before this. So number two, with guessing on the other people's platforms, you could potentially create a really great referral or affiliate program.

[00:09:42] And then when you pitch to be on other people's podcasts or blogs, you can also present this opportunity of them being an affiliate for your product or your service. It doesn't have to be that way. You don't have to put them in tandem. It really depends on your business. And it really depends on your specific long term strategy of what you [00:10:00] are creating because creating a referral program, creating an affiliate program, it, it does take work.

[00:10:05] It takes work to set up. It takes work to really figure out all the details. And it also takes work to track it on the back end. Now I know there's softwares that can make this really easy and so there are some options out there. So it's definitely worth doing the research on that. However, if you just wanna get started, if you're like, okay, I love these ideas. I'm super excited about getting in front of other people. I'm really excited about creating my own platform, whatever that is. I would start with the first two, and then if you're having some momentum there, then it's like, okay, great, let's add a referral or affiliate program.

[00:10:41] Now, if you are at a place where you're like, I actually don't want to guest blog, or I actually don't want to guest podcast. I just want other people to promote my stuff. okay. So I know there's a lot of people out there, if, you know, if you just have a really great product and you're like, I just want to create a really [00:11:00] amazing referral or affiliate program with where other people can promote my products and services for a commission, then you can actually just go all out on the referral and affiliate program as well.

[00:11:11] So really take these tips and you can either start with one and then go to the next, they really work if they're all kind of together in one strategy, that's what works the absolute best. So for example, for myself, we obviously have the community, which is the platform. That we have through the podcast, through the blog.

[00:11:30] I also have a strategy on guesting on other people's platforms, mostly other podcasters. And then we also actually do have a referral and affiliate program. However, this is not something that we're totally focused on right now. We actually did a lot of affiliate launches back in 2020, and then the first part of 2021, but we kind of put a hold on it.

[00:11:53] I actually put a hold on it when Rosie was born, because it does take a lot of time and effort to keep it up. So [00:12:00] that's what I will say is that these first two are really things that are evergreen, right? If you are creating your own community, your own platform, that is something that you're going to be consistently working on for the long term growth of your business.

[00:12:15] And then guesting on other people's platforms, that is always gonna be relevant. And the cool thing about this is that if it's on something like a podcast or a blog, Those things live on for much longer than a simple Instagram post, right? So we all know that when we post Instagram, it might get some traction maybe for a day, maybe a couple days.

[00:12:35] Maybe, if we actually go viral maybe a couple weeks, but often with things like Instagram and TikTok and all of these things, you are having to be putting out content every single day. Whereas with these other strategies, they are definitely more long term strategies and they're more organic ways to grow your business long term because of the SEO, like, like I talked [00:13:00] about and having other people promote you and getting in front of other people's audiences is always going to be an amazing opportunity.

[00:13:09] And the really cool thing, which we're actually gonna be talking about more so in the workshop is once you are able to get featured on another blog, a podcast, whatever that might be on other people's platforms, you can actually use that as proof and as this person promoted me or this, I was guessing on this podcast or this blog, and you could actually utilize that in order to get more opportunities, right? And they can see an example of the value that you brought to that other people, person's community. And so they will also be more likely to want to feature you on their platform.

[00:13:43] So really it's this snowball effect. And what I always say to my clients and to people that I'm working with is the first, landing that first big platform where you are a guest on, that is gonna be the most difficult. And then from there it's gonna get easier [00:14:00] and easier and easier and easier, and it's gonna be this snowball effect.

[00:14:03] And soon it's really gonna work in your favor. And all of a sudden the pendulum will swing the other way and you'll start getting asked to speak at different opportunities, you will get pitched to be a guest on podcasts. You will be asked to collaborate with someone and get featured in front of their community, right?

[00:14:22] And these things will just happen naturally because you have put in the groundwork of putting yourself out there. And so that's what I wanna encourage you on today is create that groundwork and, you know, have a strategy and a plan of how you're gonna do this, how you're gonna reach out to people.

[00:14:40] Again, come join us for the workshop on September 28th. And if you really want someone to hold your hand with this and figure out a strategy one-on-one with you, I would absolutely love to do that with you. So you can also go to businessbabescollective.com/coaching and apply to coach one-on-one with me and I would love to come up with a [00:15:00] collaboration strategy for you.

[00:15:01] All right. That's all I have for you today. I hope this episode was encouraging to you. And I hope you realize that you do not have to have a big platform to get started. You can grow so much faster if you are just willing to get outside of your comfort zone.

[00:15:15] I promise you that you do not have to be further along in order to pitch certain people that you maybe you're thinking like, oh, once I get to that, That point in my business, then I will pitch this person to work with. Or then I will reach out to this person that I really wanna connect with and collaborate with.

[00:15:32] No, you can start right now. And that's what we're gonna be talking about a lot this month. So I'm excited. I hope you're excited and I will see you in our next episode.

[00:15:45] If you love this episode, make sure you screenshot, post, and tag us on Instagram @businessbabesco. Want to know when the next episode goes live? Subscribe on your podcast app, and while you're there, leave us a review. Until next time, [00:16:00] keep dreaming big, setting goals and taking action.

Danielle Wiebe