Focusing on Success: Partnerships vs. Flying Solo

A past reception in Hermosa Beach

by Skip Cohen

It's Marketing Monday, and I've still got a few topics left to help you focus on making 2026 one of your very best years in business. Regardless of what the government tells us, costs have increased for almost everything it takes to run your business and live your life. One solution to the challenge and, at the same time, to expand your reach comes through partnerships. You don't have to fly solo on everything it takes to run your business. There are so many opportunities to work together with other companies.

This isn't a new topic at SCU, but one I've written a lot about over the years. It's still the "slow season," giving you the perfect opportunity to build new relationships and strengthen old ones. Great partnerships can dramatically strengthen many aspects of your business.

Here are nine different opportunities/partnerships to consider:
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• Direct mail: A postcard with two other partners reduces your cost by 1/3 compared to flying solo. It expands your reach and awareness by combining the databases of all three partners. Plus, each partner becomes an ambassador for the other two entities involved. It starts with finding partners who share a common target audience. Next, combine your databases, then share the cost for design and production. Last but not least, share the mailing/postage cost. And if you're stuck on a way to get started, call Marathon - they've got a team of designers who have done dozens of mailings like this.
• Soft-sell cross-promoting products and services: All of you who are wedding photographers should be working together with a florist, for example. You should have a link to their site on your website, and they should have one to yours. Portrait photographers could do the same and include a restaurant known for things like a Mother's Day brunch, especially as we get closer to the holiday.
• Hard-sell promotions: It's cross-promoting, but this time with discounts on each other's products and services. If you don't want to do a discount, add something of value, like an extra mini-album for Grandma, an oversized print, or canvas wrap - something with perceived value.
• Contest sponsorship: Work with other vendors in the community to create unique events that raise awareness and support a relevant cause. There's a terrific older post in the SCU archives, thanks to Bruce Berg. It highlights the partnership among three studios during the "slow season" and, as Bruce shared, has been responsible for additional income when things would normally be deadly quiet!
• Start a newsletter: They're so easy nowadays, but somebody has to take the lead. Create a newsletter with gift ideas that tie in photography, flowers, gift certificates to a local restaurant, frames, and other gifts. You've got to plant the seeds for the ideas to create sales.
• Other photographers: I know it's taboo to suggest you work together with another artist when there's barely enough business to keep you going, but together, you can play off of each other's strengths and weaknesses. For example, if you're a wedding photographer and don't do maternity, babies, or pets, find yourself a partner whose skill set fills in the holes you have in yours. Then, design a campaign that promotes one-stop shopping.
• Major equipment purchases: Money is tight, but maybe you want to get into large format printing, or there's an exotic lens you know will make your work different - buy what you need together with another artist. This isn't like the stigma of buying a boat with a friend; it'll save you money.
• Share studio space: Tony Corbell is a perfect example - his studio space includes two other artists. They don't compete with each other, and they split the cost three ways. Granted, one of the artists is his wife, Mandy, but this is about each business paying its fair share. Together, they've got a terrific location and facility that benefits everybody.​
• Share Gallery Space: My good buddy Kevin Gilligan shares space with twenty other artists in Hermosa Beach, CA. The South Bay Artist Collective gives each member the benefit of added creativity, shared expenses, increased exposure, motivation, and networking. Flying solo, none of the participants could afford the space or the promotion of their events on their own. And when there's a gallery event/reception, all the collective's members benefit.

For those of you who are rolling your eyes and thinking there's nobody to partner with because your specialty is so limited, here's a list to work from. I'm sure I've missed plenty, since these are all in the portrait/social categories.
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• Boudoir Photographers: Lingerie boutique, spa, makeup artist, salons.
• Pet Photographers: Pet food rep, animal shelters, pet boutiques, veterinarians, and doggy daycare facilities
• Children's Photographers: Toy stores, summer camps, playgrounds, kids, clothing boutiques, restaurants, pediatricians, or dentists.
• Family Photographers: Family restaurants, decorators, parks, and special events
• Wedding Photographers: Florists, wedding planners, bakeries, salons, bridal shops, limo companies, musicians, tux shops, travel agents, and venues

Stop thinking you've got to do everything by yourself. Business has changed dramatically, but alongside the frustrations, there are unique opportunities for creative leadership. You don't need to jumpstart your business alone - think about the strategic alliances in your community to rebuild together!

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