Hello, Writer! I hope you had a great week and considered how you might begin leveraging experimentation in your marketing! This week, we’re going to look at one final tool that can aid your marketing efforts. That tool is partnership.
You see, writer, it’s very difficult to go through our writing journey alone. Most isolated writers are people we’ve never heard about, because their books never made out of their hearts and into readers hands. And while many phases of the writing journey lend themselves to working with others, the marketing path is specially suited to partnership.
Whether you’re asking friend for reviews, gathering a launch team, or joining forces with fellow authors to promote each other’s work, partnership can help to synergize your efforts and multiply your results in unexpected ways.
Partnership in History
When Lewis and Clark prepared to explore the Louisiana Purchase, they realized the limitations of their experience with the land and the local tribes that lived there and sought out a partner who could guide them. When they met Toussaint Charbonneau and his wife Sacajawea, Lewis and Clark knew they’d found the partners they needed.
With Sacajawea’s knowledge and wisdom, Lewis and Clark successfully navigated from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean and back, creating maps of the uncharted territory and establishing many friendly relationships with the Indian tribes that lived there. As a result, not only was the western half of America opened for exploration, but when Sacajawea died an untimely death, Clark became her children’s guardian.
Partnership in the Bible
Paul is another great example of partnership. After being commissioned for his first missionary journey with Barnabas, Paul never embarked on a ministry trip alone. On each excursion, Paul often brought at least one and sometimes several others with him for both practical and ministerial help as they established churches in un-evangelized lands. When Paul was later imprisoned, many of his missionary companions had become partners he was able to entrust with discipling the fledgling churches in his absence.
Partnership in Life
I learned to engage in partnership at a point in life when my work and ministry seemed to hit a wall. I prayed and prayed, and even fasted, but nothing seemed to help get me past the invisible hump. Finally I asked the Lord what to do and felt Him impress upon me this thought. If I wasn’t going to avail myself of the relationships He’d brought into my life, what more could I expect Him to do?
After that, I began to earnestly partner with some key friends He’d placed in my life in regular ongoing prayer support, regularly sharing my heart and needs, lifting up theirs, and opening myself to their counsel. And here’s the thing…
Often God directly spoke or provided for me through their encouragement in ways personal Bible study or prayer never could have. Their input brought their unique experience, perspective, and walk with the Lord into my journey. And the amazing thing was that they received the same from me, too, gaining strength and insight at key times of need.
Partnership in Your Life
You see, writer, partnership is really about recognizing and accepting our limitations and realizing that the missing pieces for your growth are often found in the context of community. And here’s the thing. When we allow God to integrate us into His Body, it blesses you and those you partner with. Let me show you…
- Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. – Ecclesiastes 4:9
- Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. – Proverbs 11:25
- Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore. – Psalm 133:1-3
- …from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. – Ephesians 4:16
You see, when we seek to partner with those God placed in our lives, it allows Him to reinforce, strengthen, and multiply our efforts in unexpected ways…
Where to Start with Partnership
So are you ready to consider partnership in your marketing efforts? Here are some things to consider…
- Pray. Start any partnership endeavor by asking God to help you recognize those He may be placing in our life to partner with. They may be fellow authors, avid readers or fans, or friend or acquaintance with a blog, podcast, or other platform that aligns with your God-given message. Seeing who you already know and who the Lord might be prompting you to reach out to who would benefit from partnership of some kind.
- Recognize. Know what you and your message are bringing to the partnership and how it can help others. See what others platforms and message are. See how your message may align with theirs or bring helpful information to their audience. If you’re working with readers, see what ways they are most excited to engage with you.
- Connect. Begin proactively engaging with those the Lord is calling you to partner with. It may look like giving advanced readers copies to readers eager to review your work. It may look like promoting the work of fellow authors or communicators with a similar audience or message. You see, as you begin pouring into others to promote their work, you will get more used to partnership and be better able to articulate your own partnership opportunities. Because here’s the thing…
Partnership is actually about growing relationships. It’s about investing in the growth of others as God leads and trusting that He will bless and grow that investment in unexpected ways.
Just like Lewis and Clark’s partnership established a strong foundation for America’s growth and for Sacajawea’s family. Just like Paul’s partnerships not only established churches but trained young ministers fit to disciple those congregations long after Paul was gone. Just like my partnership with my friends not only helped me move forward in my work but strengthened and expanded the work my friend’s lives, too.
So I encourage you today, writer, to consider what a partnership may look like in your marketing journey, and how you can better invest in and begin sowing into the lives and work of others. As we link arms with others, you never know how God will multiply His grace through all of you!
#partnership #marketing #synergy #relationships #EveryWritingWriting
