Anyone who works in marketing knows a thing or two about partnering. Successful corporations use it very effectively as a way to get more bang for their advertising buck by linking up with another well-established company. I've seen a perfect example lately with Scott's Great American Ball Park grass seed. Scott's and Great American (and the Reds) have teamed up to sell "actual varieties of seed that are used at Great American Ball Park." It's a win/win for all parties involved.
I realized today that we've been "partnering" on a smaller, local level without even realizing it. It started gradually when we first arrived at Findlay Market last year. Kroeger & Sons came to buy onions and peppers for their sausages. Next Dojo Gelato needed bananas for Bananas Foster gelato. Then Taste of Belgium bought mushrooms for crepes, and Areti's came for onions and tomatoes. These fine Findlay Market merchants often "tweeted" that their recipes contained our fresh produce. Not too long after that, Cafe de Wheels, the mobile burger company, began to be a regular customer. At one of the early special events for Cafe de Wheels, they were so kind as to advertise that the burgers featured veggies from Daisy Mae's Market. We were no longer dancing alone...we had partners!
Earlier this year we connected with Crock of Love. Nikki is a loyal customer who returns each week to buy ingredients for her personal chef/crockpot service. In addition, Crock of Love has recently set up shop at Neon's serving Happy Hour food including Daisy Mae's produce. What a great way to spread the Daisy Mae's brand and the Findlay Market theme!
The excitement continued to grow today as I was doing some planning with Cooking with Caitlin. This trio of fun-loving gals seems to be cooking everywhere these days and telling the world about it...They're on Twitter, Facebook, writing blogs, sending newsletters, on the radio, and coming soon again in June, they'll be on Fountain Square for Market on the Square. When Kelly said, "We're excited to have partnered with you," I realized that's exactly what we've been doing..partnering. We're building a community of businesses that work together because the joint return is better together rather than separately.
Best business lesson learned so far: Grab a partner and do-si-do!
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