What do a real estate agent, window treatment specialist, and a marketing consultant have in common? Probably nothing at a quick glance. Upon thinking about it for a while, you might come up with this: “the window treatment specialist puts window treatments in the home the real estate agent is selling and the marketing consultant is marketing the home the real estate agent is trying to sell”. That's possible, but what really happened went beyond the scope of what the three of us imagined.

On a great sunny day in North Carolina, the three of us were just relaxing and talking about business in general. The conversation then turned to ways that we could help each other. How could we cross promote our businesses? Was there some way we could partner together? After an hour of brainstorming, we had an enormous list of ideas and went through them one by one on how we could execute them, what would be needed, and how that would benefit all three of us.

The result: 2 new partners in crime that are dedicated to helping me grow my business just as much as I'm dedicated to helping them grow their business.

Lessons learned: Don't underestimate the power of collaboration. 3 brains promoting a project is simply better than one. It's triple the marketing with 1/3 of the cost.

You never know who in your network can help you get to the next step in your business. Who would've thought a real estate agent, window treatment specialist, and a marketing consultant can come together on a project?

All this would have never happened if it wasn't for networking. I met the real estate agent at a networking event last year and the window treatment specialist at a networking event in 2009. Constantly strive to build your network and keep in touch. With the latest technology, it's easier than ever before!

What are some instances that collaboration worked for you? What's your success story with cross promoting? Let us know in the comments below!

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