How can you co-create online with other pros?

When this question was asked recently in a mastermind; I loved the answer so I’ll share it here. Find the people you resonate most with. Check their audience sizes, check their content quality. Ensure their message complements but gives a different perspective. This includes a more opposing message. Opposites can complement. It encourages healthy debate. Follow them (and engage constructively) for a few months before you consider an approach. Remember every collaboration is a risk to both parties. Make sure they don’t “regularly deviate” to an undesirable path to you and your audience, stay true to their own values. Then work out how best to approach.

Diversity and Integrity which is currently a hot topic is not about gender, race, religion, ... It s about making sure you include or provide access diverse opinions and views at the table. Only then you ll create a co creation culture where well balanced decision can be taken.

It's important to understand your niche and thereby shortlist co-creators from those niches with whom your wavelength matches. May be you are a creator so twining up with a creator is important because you get to reach to the different set of people from same industry.

Once you have found a potential co-creator, conduct a trial or small-scale project with them before embarking on a more extensive collaboration. This trial period will provide insights into how well the team works together, whether the communication is effective, and if the overall dynamics are conducive to successful co-creation. It can also help identify and address any compatibility issues before committing to a more substantial project.

Co-creation can have a subtle effect on your relationship with the cocreator. It's important to set out boundaries and roles. Define it for both of them, one may look after the operational part, one may look after the business development part. That may help in keeping things sorted out

Treat your deal with a Co-creator like you would a contractor or joint venture partner. Ensure it’s well defined roles. Who’s “the lead” (the person who has the biggest audience isn’t necessarily the best to lead especially if they’re new to your audience) who’s responsible for filming content, dates stills are needed, who’s team are editing. If there’s money involved when is it due, any splits etc. if you treat every deal in this manner you may lose some potential collaboration opportunities. However, if and when things go wrong that one time, both parties are protected. It helps show both sides the other takes this seriously and it isn’t so much of a risk for either party.

Your tooling is key. Especially when teams use different tools by default. EG if you use Adobe to edit video but the team doing the editing for the collab uses Final Cut; this could cause challenges later. Establish tools to be used. Where clashes inevitably happen (eg messenger platform or file storage) what compromise can you use? Where possible use industry standards. Where huge variety of choices exist; most platforms have a “free” option, can you make sure you have accounts on most to make things easier when someone insists on “that platform you hate”. This works well in all business not just content collaboration. And if necessary sign up, even if you’ve no desire to be on (say) TikTok. You lose nothing, and only gain being there.

Communication is key to almost every situation and relationship. Co-creation is no different. You need to communicate from day one, when outlining what your project will look like, all the way through to its completion. Keeping each other updated will help to keep your work on track, and keep all parties motivated. I like to use a few different methods for communicating; try out different ones to see which work best for you. Imessage/Google chat are ideal for quick comments. You can easily add comments to Google Docs. For collaboration sessions, I like Zoom or Google Meet. Try out different tools to see what works best, for you as well as your partners. Everyone should be familiar and comfortable with the tools being used.

Communication is important for every relation and mostly when you are tying up with a stranger where you wish to co-create. Unless there's a clear communication of what, how, why, when, and where, the chance of issue persists

Alone you go fast, together you go further, make sure a solid communication stream is established. It s all about partnership and not about imposing your view's and thoughts to a group.

The tendency is often to pair with another creator who is similar to you. But, I think it is far more interesting to pair with someone who is a bit different. For sure, your core values need to align, but having a creative partner from a different background, industry, or culture can make your co-created content so much more rich, interesting, and informative. No one wants to exist in an echo-chamber, so having others join you who can bring a different perspective, expertise, or experience to the mix can make all the difference in setting your work apart and having it stand out.

A lot of my clients come from different backgrounds to me. Whether ethnically, financially, nationality, health etc. I genuinely believe this enriches my experience and allows me to provide a better service to my clients. Especially where I have 2 with similar backgrounds. Or if I know I’m not a good fit, a more diverse degree of contacts and/or coaches/therapists that I know do X means I can make a great introduction. Allowing me to keep more opportunities open both with that potential referral but also for collaboration in the future with the person I recommended them to. Reach out as far and wide; it benefits you as a person and in your work. Don’t be the person “who only has connections who are them” in the mirror.

Diversity and creativity are key and when you co-create with another pro you get to learn and stretch your own mindset in new ways. In business, we never want to get stale. Staying proactive and open to learning keeps you in the growth zone. Getting feedback is probably one of the most important assets I look for when collaborating with someone.

You can both send out emails to your list, create short videos, long-form videos or reach out to podcasters about being interviewed. In today's high-tech world, there are several ways to spread your message.

I would make sure that their level of commitment and availability matches your own. Make sure that everyone involved can dedicate the necessary time and effort to the project. A team that is fully invested in the collaboration will be more likely to deliver outstanding results and handle any challenges that may arise effectively. You don't want to get stuck doing all the work and then your co-creator expecting credit if that's not what you agreed on!