20: Collaborating with Brands: Where to Start and What to Look Out For

Makers Gonna Sell: A Podcast for Creative Entrepreneurs with Cheryl Ham and Nicky Avery

When a big brand notices you for the first time, it’s hard not to think that you’ve finally made it in the makers business! Sometimes these collaborations can come organically with them contacting you, or maybe you’ve reached out to them and now you’re communicating… either way the clout from your collaboration is worth whatever you need to do to get it, right? Y’all, we’re here to break some bad news to you: not all brand relationships are necessarily good for your business. But don’t worry, it’s not all bad! You just need to go into any agreement to work together with both eyes open.

On this week’s podcast, we’re speaking with Sarah Korth, founder of SEK Handmade, about all the peaks and valleys of professional collaborations with brands. We talk about some of the hard lessons we’ve learned as entrepreneurs, as well as some of the hidden benefits you might not have thought of. We’re not afraid of exposure in this podcast collaboration, and we’re giving away some great freebie information!

Quotes:

“There's always the thing out there that you feel like, if I get that thing, then I've arrived. The illusion of that is that you never arrive, because once you get there, there are other places to go.” – Sarah

“The first thing you should think about when you work with some sort of company is: what do you want to get out of it? If you were under the assumption that working with a company is going to catapult you to the status and success that you are chasing, you’re in it for the wrong reasons.” – Sarah

“If you are saying the only thing that makes this collaboration worth it is the potential extra exposure I might get, then I would say it's not worth it. The way that I look at those things now after my experiences is I say, what are they going to pay me is the amount that they're going to pay me to make it worth doing. The truth is a lot of times the only guaranteed thing out of collaborations is the payment.” – Sarah

“I find that sometimes the smaller people I work with, the more beneficial the collaboration because we are in similar spots in our business. And when we promote each other back and forth, it's much more mutually beneficial.” – Sarah

Key Points and Takeaways:

- Understand what you want out of any potential collaboration

- Not all exposure is created equal

- Read the fine print! Know what you’re getting into

- Big collaborations can be lucrative, but don’t count out smaller collaborations

You can find Sarah at her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sekhandmade/ and on her website at http://www.sekhandmade.com

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