Before you start

Two things to bear in mind when using online networks:

1. Don’t just see social media as a way of broadcasting your message.  Although online networks provide a quick and easy way of getting your news out, remember another use is to enable conversations (hence the ‘social’ part of its label!).  Social media tools allow you to build relationships and connect with people you might not have had the opportunity to before – e.g. those outside of your usual network, in other industries or countries.
2. Don’t just view social networking as a way of increasing direct sales*.  In the same way you might go to a private view, swap a few business cards and perhaps find a way of working with your new contacts a few months later, it also takes time to build relationships online.  Simply see it as an web-based version of face-to-face networking.

* Social media can be used to engage your direct customers/clients, but here we’re talking about how you can use online tools to connect with other creatives and access new business opportunities.

Building your online profile

Think about what potential collaborators might find interesting about you and your work.  At a most basic level it’s an extension of your brand – the creative work that you produce, your specialist talents and previous experience.  But on a deeper level it’s also about establishing trust, and helping others to identify that they want to work with you.  It might even be that who you’re already connected to helps them to decide this (LinkedIn is great for this, and tools like The Collabregator map existing connections in London).

Highlighting your skills

Being open to collaboration also means being open to what you might actually bring to a project.   Although you might be a product designer, it doesn’t mean the only thing that you can contribute is product design.  There will be other skills that might be of use – e.g. your approach to creative briefs, your knowledge of a particular material, or your inside knowledge about an area of the industry. Think broadly about what makes you unique, identify it, then put it out there!  As well as the usual networks mentioned above that enable you to create online profiles, there are also sites specifically set-up for creative individuals to showcase their skills for potential projects.  One example is Skillbasket which aims to be an online marketplace to buy, sell or trade creative skills and services.

Finally…
Choose to get involved with collaborations that are going to contribute to your brand and practice – not detract from it.  Keep your online profile up-to-date by adding new collaborations and connections.     Don’t forget to keep an eye on what your online profile says – consider all the places potential collaborators might have access to information on you – do you Google yourself or your business regularly to find out?!

A large part of effective collaboration is developing and maintaining an online identity to attract potential collaborators – and you can also use the principles above to find people that you might want to work with.

What are the risks in collaborating?
The risks of collaborating for an individual creative practitioner /business include:
1. Damage to reputation – the quality of the outcome may be lower than independently-produced creative work
2. Creative ideas being ‘stolen’
3. Losing money, time or other resources
4. Efforts go unrecognised/undervalued/un-credited (thanks Bruno for this one!)

(remember these – they’re re-visited at the end of this post!)

Establishing trust
Trust can take a long time to develop, so what happens when you’re collaborating with someone you don’t know, or a collaborative project needs to be delivered quickly?  Is there a way of fast-tracking trust?

When working with someone for the first time, one way of minimising the above risks is to have a written agreement, which covers what happens if something goes wrong. Contracts exist to protect those involved, but they can sometimes be a contentious issue. Mairin Murray (@mairinmurray) said to me via twitter: “NDAs [non-disclosure agreements] jinx embryonic collaborations a bit like prenups – so we need alternatives”. Formats such as ‘manifestos’ tend to be morally-binding rather than legally-binding, but rely on the goodwill of others, potentially opening up the risk all over again.

Trust-worthiness
Some of the elements that make someone trustworthy are:
- Clarity of purpose – they state clearly what they want to get out of it
- Consistency – they do what they say they are going to do
- Reputation – they have a track record of delivering

Not only do we need to look for these qualities in others, we also need to make sure we have these ourselves so that we are also attractive potential collaborators.

Assessing the ‘risk’
When entering into a new collaboration, it’s important to keep all the above factors in mind to minimise the risk to your own creative practice.  But remember that the risks listed above can also easily be flipped around to make them opportunities!:
1. Reputation – the quality of the outcome may be even better than independently-produced creative work
2. Creative ideas could be developed further or more solutions generated
3. Costs and time can be reduced, and access provided to new resources
4. Being recognised as part of the collaboration can valuable for profile and business development

These ideas were developed during/after the ‘Achtung Baby: Trust – is it a good thing?’ session delivered by Islay Consulting at the Shine Unconference 2009.