My first few collabs were kinda awkward. I remember one guy promised to “cross-promote” my channel, but after I posted my part, he disappeared completely. I laughed it off, but it stung a bit. Then another creator came along and we shared similar audiences, both doing commentary content and that one clicked so naturally. We shared scripts, discussed ideas late into the night, and both of our videos ended up doing crazy well. It didn’t even feel like “strategy.” It was just fun.
That’s when I realized something simple: good collaborations are built on trust, not metrics.
- If your energy matches, the audience will feel it.
- Don’t force collabs just because someone has more followers, it rarely works.
- Always talk things through before recording or posting. Little misunderstandings can ruin friendships.
I’ve done everything from video collabs to joint blog posts, and even podcast guest swaps. Some flopped, sure, but others boosted my traffic like crazy. The biggest growth spike I ever got was from a collab where we just shared each other’s audience stories, no fancy editing or ads. Just real talk.
And here’s another thing, you don’t underestimate micro-collabs. You don’t always have to film together or write a joint article. Sometimes it’s just mutual shoutouts, backlink trades, or helping each other in engagement groups. It’s about being seen together.
I’ve also started a habit of keeping a “collab log”, basically, I jot down who I’ve worked with, what we did, and what came out of it. It sounds nerdy, but it helps me track who’s reliable and who ghosted me after getting what they wanted.
Honestly, I’ve found that genuine collaborations feel less like marketing and more like friendship. When you care about each other’s success, everything grows faster.
Have you ever done a collab that turned into something long-term? Or maybe one that totally crashed and burned? What’s your rule when choosing who to partner with?
