The Art of Collaboration

By Cheval John

Disclaimer: I am an Amazon Affiliate and I make a commission based on the recommendation of a book

Is it possible to work together without meeting each other in person?

In this day and age, the answer is yes.

Technology has made it easier for anyone to collaborate on projects from anywhere in the world.

They don’t have to fly to one location to work together like they did before the evolution of technology.

That is why most businesses are allowing their employees to work from home because they see the savings in not letting them working in one place.

It doesn’t hurt if they meet in person once or possibly twice a year to deepen the friendship with their colleagues.

Examples of companies or people who are using technology to their advantage to collaborate on projects without first meeting in person are Brian Fanzo and Rachel Miller, Basecamp and Erin Baebler/Lara Galloway.

1. Brian Fanzo and Rachel Miller

Brian Fanzo and Rachel Miller are considered one of the best people who knows how to interact with their community on social media.

Mr. Fanzo is the Chief Digital Strategist and Partner at Broadsuite Media Group while Ms. Miller is the Chief Social Listener for Pipeliner CRM.

They host a Twitter chat called, #sbizhour, previously known as #sshour.

#Sbizhour deals with how businesses can be better at interacting with their customers and building a community.

The chat has been around for a year and has gained a lot of attention in the world of Twitter because it trends on the social media platform most of the time.

What is really cool about the both of them is that they have never met in person yet.

“Rumor” is that they will finally meet in person this year.

2. Basecamp

Basecamp, formerly known as 37 Signals, is one of the most interesting software companies in the world.

They started out as a web design company when it was founded in 1999.

One of the ways they marketed themselves was by starting a blog called “Signal vs Noise” in 2000 and sharing their experience about running a business, their thoughts on the industry, etc.

You can argue that they started their blog at the right time because blogging was in it’s beta stages.

As documented in their book, “ReWork,” they could not find the right software to get their work done.

So they decided to create their own software called Basecamp.

Once they showed Basecamp to their clients, they told them that they needed this for their businesses.

In the world of entrepreneurship, you have to know when to pivot your company because of market changes.

If you stay with the old business model, then you will end up losing out and your company will suffer for it.

Jason Fried, one of the original founders, and David Heinemeier Hannson recognized the change and pivoted Basecamp to solely being a software company in 2004.

As of now, the company has 36 employees.

What sets them apart is that the majority of their employees are located in different parts of the world while the rest of them including the founders are based in Chicago.

They don’t have to worry about communicating with each other on projects because they use their own products.

That is one of the best ways to sell your product to customers because you are using it yourself.

And if you want to learn from them, get their book, ReWork.

I can guarantee that you will love it (I have read the book over 13 times).

3. Lara Galloway and Erin Baebler

Many are recognizing the importance of entrepreneurship.

It is more evident that women are seeing the importance of running their own business.

According to the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), there are more than 9.1 million companies owned by women.

My guess is that 1/3 of them are owned by “mompreneurs,” a women who is an entrepreneur and a mother

They see that running a business is the best path to securing their own destiny.

Mompreneurs might have difficulty in being both a business owner and a mother at the same time because they don’t want to feel like they are neglecting their duties in being a parent and vice-versa.

Lara Galloway and Erin Baebler understands the challenges of being a mompreneur.

As a result from their experience, they co-authored the book, “Moms Mean Business,” which achieved Amazon Best-Seller status.

What is really unique is that the both of them did not meet in person while they co-authored the book.

Ms. Galloway explained how they got the book written on my podcast, “What’s The Word?”

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The only time they met in person was when they launched the book.

So if a person believe that they can’t collaborate on a project with someone they have not met in person, I hope they will follow the examples listed above.

Because the internet have made the world a borderless society.

And it is highly possible to build great friendships and collaborate without first meeting in person.

About Cheval John

Cheval John is the Founder and CEO of Vallano Media, LLC, a marketing agency which helps small to mid-sized businesses use social media correctly to build a loyal following and in the process become more profitable. Cheval is also the host of "What's The Word?" a podcast about finding out what inspires people to choose their respective careers and how social media impacted their lives and business. He is the author of two books including the Amazon Best-Seller, "8 Lessons Every Podcaster Needs To Learn." He has spoken at Social Media Week Lima in Ohio and at Social Media Day Houston 2017 about topics around live streaming and podcasting. Cheval has been featured in media outlets including Ebony Magazine, Social Media Today and Forbes. He was named a Houston Top 25 Social Media Power Influencer (2016 and 2017) and a Twitter Top 50 Influencer by Onalytica in 2018.

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