How to find collaborators that reward you with lots of growth

On Trustfnd, you keep all control over your business, and that includes the decision whom to collaborate with. Here are five things to consider.

You complement each other, you don't compete with each other

Your collaborators need to have enough in common with you to make sense in a bundle, but not so much that you're competitors.

You all do investigative work? Great. Explanatory work on different topics? Also great. Same beat, different platforms or angles? Awesome.

The journalists to avoid are people who do exactly the same for exactly the same people.

It's a bundle, form it around audience needs

The best bundles feel like they were curated for a specific kind of follower.

Imagine their job, their obsessions, their worldview. If you can picture that person, you're on the right track. Most good-faith collaborations get there naturally.

Don't fixate on follower counts

A smaller publication with fierce audience loyalty, editorial credibility, or a tightly defined niche can be just as powerful a partner as one with more followers but less credibility.

The one thing worth checking: price point. If your publication costs £5 a month and your collaborator charges £50, you may be playing in totally different markets.

You know your audience best, what would they like?

With a bundle you're curating something to discover for your audience, while trying to introduce yourself to other creators' audiences.

Try to answer this question: whose audience would love your publication? And whose publication would your audience love?

That's really all you need to know to try it. Chances are you're right on the money.

Be promiscuous, there are many audiences to discover

The analytics page will tell you what's working. Which collaborators are sending you sign-ups? Which bundles seem fun and surprising? Which collaborators are benefitting from collaborating with you?

You'll learn more from posting about one bundle one time than from weeks of deliberating.

So partner often, partner with variety, and go after audiences over and over again. You can always adjust, but only once you've started.

Where to look

Start in the Collaborators tab. And we're always here to strategize with you: hello@trustfnd.com, or even easier, book a call.