Synergized Mentoring and Collaboration

I was planning on continuing my Clear Systems and Processes series and writing about project management today.

But I felt compelled to write something else.

Of course, I will go back to my Clear Systems and Processes series, but right now, I am on a synergized high and have to share.

We know this quote “No [person] is an island” to be true, so why then as business owners do we often go it alone?

Sure, we ask our questions on editor discussion forums and listservs.

But I’m talking about going a step beyond that to full-on collaborating.

We all have various strengths and weaknesses, so why not help each other in a synergized mentoring partnership or a synergized offering?

During September, I met every Tuesday with another editor for two hours.

She had been struggling with the admin side of the business and someone told her she should reach out to me since that was my jam.

In conversing, I learned that she is amazing at growing an audience for her newsletter and marketing in general.

My strength = her weakness

Her strength = my weakness

And bam! Free mentoring for each other.

One hour of the meeting I would help her with her struggles. And one hour of the meeting, she would help me.

You all, she cried when I gave her some advice on how to organize her business. She had been struggling with it for a while. My organization eye came right in and gave her loads of advice and some hands-on help to make beauty from chaos. To streamline and get clear systems and processes.

So win for her!

I was ready to give up on marketing my courses and products. (I am lucky and get plenty of editing clients sent directly to me so don’t have to market for that or I’d be screwed.) I had been filled with hope three times before I’d met her, only to be let down every. single. time.

But she swooped in and gave me loads of advice!

And we have collaboration ideas to help get me in front of her and others’ audiences.

So win for me!

To be honest, I’m still scared I will be let down, as I am still in the planning stage for implementing her strategies. But I know I have someone who is invested in my success and will help if I stumble.

She may struggle to implement some of the advice I’ve given her. But she knows she has someone who is invested in her success and will help her if she should stumble.

Whether it is a free mentoring situation like ours or a paid mentor, one of the best ways you can grow your business is to work with a mentor. But not just any mentor! It needs to be one who is invested in your success and has strengths that you lack.

If you have something to offer back, you can maybe go the free route. If not, it’s worth the investment to pay for mentoring.

Since mine came about without my own doing, I don’t have a lot of tips on this. However, I did want to at least offer a few ideas.

You could always go to any editor forum or listserv and say, “I’m looking for someone to mentor swap with who is good at X. I am good at Y and would love to help you out in return.” Or “I would love to pay a mentor to help me with X. I’m looking for someone who [describe ideal qualities].”

Follow other editors on social media and take the time to get to know them. See what topics they write about and post about. Ask them questions. Answer their questions. After you’ve nurtured the relationship for a bit, reach out to them and ask about mentoring opportunities.

A great way to have another editor promote your services or products is by packaging your offerings together.

Are you a developmental editor only?
àPartner with a copyeditor in a similar genre and offer a combined DE and CE package.

If you’re a copyeditor only, then vice versa.

Do you have a course on the admin side of the business?
àPartner with someone who has a course on the art of editing and package them together.

Are you an editor but not a proofreader?
àPartner with a few proofreaders who you book on behalf of your clients. These proofreaders are now invested in sending referrals your way because they then get work from you.

Do you have a guide that will help indie authors?
àPartner with a self-publishing educational company or hybrid press to sell your guide for an affiliate fee.

Do you want to host a booth at a writing or editing conference but can’t afford to pay for all of it?
àPartner with someone else who offers adjacent but not the same services and pay for and run the booth together.

Of course, the editing community is full of nice people who recommend and refer each other without any kickback, and that should always be a thing.

The editing community on EAE helped me out a lot in my initial years. So I’m not discounting that at all.

Just offering advice to go a step further.

Side note: If you have a product, course, or webinar, consider joining my recently launched community: Editors Who Create. It’s a place to ask and answer questions but also a place to find some synergized offerings and mentoring partnerships. If you’re interested in joining, just head to my contact page and shoot me an email.

This is the shortest blog I’ve written (except for my bite-sized punctuation series). But I hope it was helpful. I just had to write about it, as I’m coming off a big high in a fruitful month of meeting with my synergized mentor.