Craig Swanson is a “professional partner” who specializes in helping business owners scale through the powerful tool of community collaboration. In this episode, Craig explains the value of co-creating with your audience, why simpler is better when it comes to scaling, and the importance of embracing experimentation!
About Craig Swanson:
Craig Swanson is an entrepreneur, business coach, and co-founder of CreativeLive, an online learning platform for creatives. Today, he runs a small investment and incubator company with a fund that invests in and partners with a select few online creators per year to build niche platforms. He provides creators, educators, and influencers with the missing piece of their business that will propel them to the next level and help build $1 million dollar businesses one step at a time.
Why use community collaboration for business growth?
For Craig, magic happens when you co-create with your target audience. Collaboration with the community can help businesses flourish in many ways.
It fosters innovation by uniting various viewpoints and experiences, igniting creativity, and empowering companies to create targeted solutions. Also, working with a community broadens a business’s network and gives it access to beneficial resources including finance, expertise, information, and support. This larger network encourages collaboration and creates pathways for new opportunities.
Furthermore, community collaboration increases customer engagement and loyalty by including the community in business decision-making. Customers are more likely to connect with a brand when they feel heard and respected. In addition, businesses can improve their strategy and respond to legitimate market demands by gaining vital market insights and validation.
Finally, actively participating in community collaboration shows social responsibility, improves brand reputation, and helps firms to make a good social influence.
Episode highlights:
- When it comes to scaling, simpler is better. Don’t spread yourself too thin by adding on services; rather choose one thing to specialize in and focus on improving that. (11:34)
- Entrepreneurs often create things that are bigger than themselves. Despite what it may feel like, you are not actually your business, and your business is not you. Don’t become too entwined in it. (14:24)
- Listen to what your market wants, don’t just assume you know. Magic happens when you co-create with your target audience. (26:01)
- Don’t become too attached to your ideas. Experiment often; you can’t create the perfect product without testing and iterating. There’s nothing wrong with starting out with a “messy” product! (33:35)
- Building a scalable business requires a very different approach to building a small business. Don’t rely on your first 1000 customers as your revenue source when you are scaling a business. Keep them happy and learn from their behaviors, but don’t worry about making money off them because they will make up such a small percentage of your eventual numbers. (44:48)
Craig’s best advice for entrepreneurs:
“I see so many people squander the future that they want to have because they’re afraid to take a step into failure, but often failure is actually the first step to start building something.” (55:59)
