A Beginner's Guide to Creative Collaboration

Creative work is not only meant to be done alone.

I understand why artists do it (e.g. creative ownership, branding, etc.), but it’s only one piece of the puzzle.

One thing I’d love to see more of from myself and other creators is collaboration.

Collaboration is the creation of an original piece of art from the efforts of two or more people. It’s combining skill sets to make something new where the whole is greater than the some of its parts.

Some of my favorite collaborations include podcast interviews between my creative role models and musical tracks that feature artists I love.

The benefits of collaboration are a no brainer for creators:

• Relationship building with like-minded people
• Exposure to new audiences
• Increased creativity
• Teaching someone else what you know and learning from what he/she knows
• Having good old fashioned fun

If you’re interested in exploring the power of collaboration, ask yourself the below questions to help you get started.

1. Who should I collaborate with?

One option is connecting 1-on-1 with people in your network who share the same skill set as you / are doing similar work. Ideally, they have a comparable level of skill, but people who are better at X than you are totally fair game too.  

If you’re actively paying attention to what your connections are sharing on social media, a short list of people should come to mind right away. The more context you have with those people, the easier it will be to approach them about collaboration.

You can also consider teaming up with people you don’t know as well but are part of your online audience. Trying sending an email newsletter or creating a social post that says what you’re interested in collaborating on and see if anyone responds. If that actually leads to a creative project that’s a positive experience, you’re going to have a new friend, not to mention a fan for life.

If you don’t know anyone in your personal network or online audience who’s actively practicing the same craft as you, you’ve got some work to do. Start looking for those people online and in real life in the places where they’re likely hanging out. You must put yourself out there.

2. What should we collaborate on?

The short answer is whatever you want. That’s the beauty of creativity. You can make something from nothing.

A more practical answer is that it depends on the ideas and skill sets between collaborators.

For example, you might already be keeping track of ideas for things you’d love to make. If that’s the case, pick the idea you love most and start there.

If you don’t have any ideas, that’s okay too. The reason for the collaboration might just be mutual respect for one another’s creative work. In that case, kick things off with a brainstorm.

Furthermore, you need to consider the skill sets of the person you choose to collaborate with. For instance, two writers are likely going to collaborate on a piece of writing, while a writer and videographer might team up for a digital short.

The bottom line is that you and your collaborator share a mutually agreed upon intention behind the project and care tremendously.

Who wants to collaborate?

Currently, I’m interested in writing blog posts about topics including creativity, personal branding, motivation, and self-improvement. I’m also interested in conducting podcast interviews with creators who are building a brand around themselves and their art.

If either of the above sounds interesting to you, let me know, and maybe we can work together!

This article originally appeared on "The Life of Riley" blog.

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