The Ultimate Collaboration Guide: 120 Partnerships & The Mindset That Made Them Possible with Angela Henderson

PodcastScaling

Apr 8

Episode 837: Show Notes

While many business coaches focus exclusively on strategy, today’s guest believes that true success transcends strategy and execution. For Angela Henderson, strong partnerships and collaborations are the keys to success. By joining forces with like-minded people, you can not only unlock new opportunities and expand your network but also achieve remarkable growth!

Angela is an international award-winning business consultant, coach, speaker, and podcaster who helps women worldwide make more money by mastering their mindset AND creating a personalized business strategy. In this episode, Angela shares how she built 120 partnerships in one year, the positive impact those relationships had on her business, and the seven steps you can take to overcome common mindset blocks and build mutually beneficial collaborations.

This conversation offers you so much more than just a guide to incredible collaborations and partnerships that move your business forward. Angela and I also get into some powerful (and actionable) mindset stuff that is going to rock your world!

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How Angela Became a Powerhouse Business Coach

Like many entrepreneurs, Angela’s journey started in a totally different field than the one she’s making her mark in today! As a mental health clinician and a new mother in 2010, Angela looked at her baby playing with plastic, battery-operated toys and thought, “There’s got to be a better way.” This led her to start Finlee & Me, Australia’s leading educational toy store at the time.

Through Finlee & Me, Angela came to understand the importance of diversifying her revenue. She went on to become one of Australia’s most well-known parenting influencers, not only unlocking a second revenue stream but also gaining insight into a secondary business. With so many people wanting to pick her brain and benefit from her expertise, Angela started growing a community that would ultimately launch her career as a consultant. Today, she works with women in Australia and beyond to help them master their mindset and create personalized strategies for the growth, scale, and startup stages of their dream businesses.

The Mindset That Made 120 Partnerships in a Year Possible

Angela has learned that there are only three strategies to gain visibility: organic, partnerships, and paid. Organic can be a little unpredictable. It will work, but it requires an indeterminate amount of time and effort. Partnerships are great, but people tend to overcomplicate them and you still have to invest a lot of time to build relationships. Paid is the quickest and easiest of the three, but it’s also (obviously) the most expensive, as you now have to exchange money to gain back your time.

With a loyal and established community in place, Angela was in a good position to build fruitful partnerships. She just had to figure out how to leverage those connections, which started with getting over her fear of asking for something in return for her expertise. With help from her mentor, Angela learned that asking for stuff doesn’t have to be sleazy. If anything, reaching out to your network, nurturing your relationships, and having genuine conversations about how you can support one another and collaborate benefits everyone!

Goals Aren’t Everything: How Business Can Be Playful and Fun

To start, you don’t even necessarily need to have a goal in mind. You just need to test the waters, get curious, and investigate every opportunity. As Angela says, we forget sometimes that business can be fun and playful. We don’t always have to know what the outcome will be! Every partnership is a new dance between two parties with endless potential.

Once Angela started engaging with her network, she realized that her goal could simply be reducing her ad spend on paid visibility strategies. Another goal that arose from speaking to people was growing her email list. Another goal became meeting as many cool humans as possible. Entrepreneurs are typically told that they need to set measurable goals to be successful, but Angela’s success demonstrates that if you lead with love, create value, touch people’s lives, prioritize relationships, be authentic, and stay open, you will always be profitable.

Why Not Every ‘No’ is a Bad Thing

There were several positive impacts that these 120 new partnerships had on Angela’s business, from increased revenue to a happier team and more. Some things didn’t work out too well, however, including 10 or more partnerships that didn’t come to fruition. While this was obviously discouraging, Angela reminds us that not every “no” is a bad thing.

She believes that, if you are continually taking action and sticking to your values, you will attract the right people into your network. Ultimately, it might’ve been a blessing in disguise that those 10 partnerships didn’t pan out because no one wants to work with someone who doesn’t hold up their end of the bargain! Angela also emphasizes that just because it’s a “no” now doesn’t mean it will be a “no” forever. Sometimes, your proposal doesn’t fit into someone’s promotional calendar for the year or they might be in the process of changing up their business model. Consider revisiting your collaborations with these people at an agreed-upon time in the future.

Tips for Overcoming the Mindset Blocks That Can Stand in Your Way

If this sounds exciting to you but you’re not sure where to begin, Angela says that the first step is being in alignment. You might be thinking, “Is that really a step?” Yes, it’s a step! Whatever you’re feeling, tune into that and make sure that the decision you make honors your authentic self and the business you want to build. The next step is understanding your short and long-term goals. You also need to keep in mind that you’re not going to reap the fruit immediately after you plant the seeds. Patience is key!

Step three is writing down a list of literally everyone you know. This can include networking event contacts and even family members. Don’t discredit anyone! You never know who they know. You’ll probably already have a list of 50-100 people that you can contact. Then, when you do reach out, make it personal. Even if the bulk of your email is copy-pasted, include something specific about the person you’re talking to. Next, meet up or hop on a call, whatever works, and make sure to follow through afterward. Finally, follow up. You want to stay front-of-mind and continue to add value, even when you’re not talking business, so, go ahead. Send them a DM. Keep the relationship alive!

Different Types of Collaborations That Could Work for You

There are so many different ways to collaborate. It all depends on what feels most natural based on your business, your relationship with someone, and what will be mutually beneficial for everyone involved. Consider giveaways, social shares, email lists, being a guest on one another’s podcasts, or speaking at live events. The options are endless! You’ll learn what your preferences are and what works best for your business the more you engage with your network and the more collaborations you create. Keeping it simple and being intentional is key.

Reasons You Might be Holding Yourself (and Your Business) Back

The number one thing that prevents businesses from bringing in sales and making more money through partnerships is mindset. Our subconscious makes most of our decisions for us without us even realizing it. We typically hold ourselves (and therefore our businesses) back because we don’t feel safe, we feel like we don’t belong, or that we’re not enough. There are many different reasons for this, but ultimately, your outside world is a reflection of your inside world. How you feel inside shows up in your business interactions, whether you mean it to or not.

If you’re not following through, you’re not taking action, or you’ve hit a snag in scaling your business and your income, those are all signs that your nervous system is overwhelmed. Angela believes that there are seven major mindset blocks that entrepreneurs need to overcome: self-trust, self-love, worthiness, money stories, obsessive thinking, divine timing, and imposter syndrome. Of these seven mindset blocks, which one is holding you back? And what are you going to do about it? Angela reminds us that whatever we’re not changing, we are choosing. It takes deep, personal work to build the life and the business of your dreams!

Next Steps for YOUR Business

Here’s the thing. It’s one thing to read a blog about what you need to do in your business to finally make some shifts, but then actually doing it is another thing. Why not cut out all the second guessing? There’s no need to be overwhelmed, burnt out, or feeling stuck about your next steps. Join the Co-op and take advantage of our community, coaching, courses and business templates!

Quote This

Once you build that partnership muscle, there are endless opportunities.”

— Angela Henderson

Highlights

How Angela Became a Powerhouse Business Coach [0:01:51]
The Mindset That Made 120 Partnerships in a Year Possible [0:03:39]
Goals Aren’t Everything: How Business Can Be Playful and Fun [0:09:46]
Tips for Overcoming the Mindset Blocks That Can Stand in Your Way [0:20:22]
Types of Collaborations That Could Work for You [0:29:38]
Reasons You Might be Holding Yourself (and Your Business) Back [0:33:40]

OUR GUEST:

Angela Henderson

Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Business Group

The Angela Henderson Online Business Show Podcast

Angela is an international award winning business consultant/coach, speaker and podcaster who helps women around the world make more money by creating a personalized business strategy and mastering their mindset, so they can create a business & life they love and want to show up for every, single, day.