Let me start with a confession: I used to be one of those people who thought that they could do it all, alone. Not only did I think that I could do it all alone, but I also wanted to do it all alone.
 
I grew up in a family environment where time and time again I learned that people were unreliable and couldn’t be trusted. My father was in and out of my life, my adopted step-father was verbally and emotionally abusive and my mother was mentally and emotionally unstable. The starting point of my life was a very shaky one, when it came to trusting people.
 
But I did the work and learned that, in fact, people are wonderful and reliable and human, and sometimes they are here for you, and sometimes they are not, and whether they are or not has nothing to do with you, and everything to do with them. I uncovered all the pieces and rediscovered my wholeness.
 
You might be wondering what the hell this has to do with creating a freedom-fuelled business. Everything. Everything. Because everything is interconnected, and the way you approach one thing is the way you approach everything, and, as I have mentioned multiple-times before, starting a business is the most intense, life-transforming thing you can ever do. And it’s wonderful.
 
Which brings me back to my confession. I wanted to build and create my business all on my own, because life in the past had taught me that I was the only person I could rely on. And so I wanted to avoid having to give any responsibility of my precious work, to anyone else.
 
But something happens as you start to build, and grow, and live alongside your business. You start to recognise that it is not at all, in fact, yours. Rather, your business starts to form an entity entirely of its own. And that entity is here to serve the world, and wants to be heard, and shared, and seen.
 
With this, my fears around connected with people and asking for help melted away. This aspect of my business healed not only my personal past, but also opened up a whole, new bright future. My business isn’t about me and my story. It’s about all of us. And for all of us. The only way that it is going to reach its full potential is by building relationships and communicating its message with the world.
 
You will know, the moment that this hits you. You and your business will suddenly expand and blossom in ways that you had never even dreamed of. Because instead of controlling your business, you set it free to fulfil its biggest potential, and you are set free, to fulfil your highest potential in the world. Here is where the freedom-fuelled business steps up and comes to life.
 
Nurturing relationships and connecting with influencers to elevate your brand is simply a way of allowing you business to grow wings and share your message and your why, with the rest of the world, through people who already have audiences that are excited about your work and enthusiastically wanting to know more.
 
There is a divine beauty that occurs through the co-creation of allowing ourselves to weave into and through one another’s lives. Businesses work just the same. Especially heart-centred, soul-driven, freedom-fuelled ones. Like yours and mine. What we are creating is more than making money or solving problems. We are leaders and movement-makers who are changing lives.
 
We (all of us humans) are an interconnected community, and relationships are everything. If you’ve ever heard the saying It’s not what you know, it’s who you know, take this sage advice as truth. No matter how awesome your product and service and ideas are, if no-one knows about them, they cannot serve their full potential to our global community.
 
I could give you a run-down of exactly what I do to build relationships and connect with influencers, but instead, I am going to share with you 2 of my favourite mentors on the topic, who had guided me and shown me the way.
 

• Selena Soo very clearly details how to get the attention of your favourite expert.

• Alex Franzen, my all-time favourite online writer, writes about how to write to someone who you admire.

 
 
It comes down to being yourself, genuinely approaching people who you truly admire, with love, and something to offer them, to make their lives better, easier or happier. You’re job is to make the first step, and then add value to the other person’s life. It can be scary, like asking someone on a date, because they might say “no”. And it can be exhilarating because they might come back and say “I think you’re awesome too”. Which is where the magic begins.
 
 
Nurturing relationships and connecting with influencers has to play a significant role in your freedom-fuelled business. Because it through relationships that we grow, expand and share the wealth of knowledge, love and gifts that you are here to give to world. If this topic piques your interest, schedule in a 15 minute chat with me, for business and blog mentoring. You can learn more about that here.
 
You can access all the articles in this 8-part series, here:

1. Identifying your skills, and deciding what kind of business to start.
2. Understanding your great, big, guiding why. (By using your heart and intuition to make decisions.)
3. Overcoming fear, self-sabotage, and putting yourself out there.
4. Creating a platform, building an audience and using social media.
5. Finding balance and boundaries, to live out your freedom-fuelled life.
6. Changing your mindset around self-worth, value and money.
7. Honing and defining your niche and your message.
8. Nurturing relationships and connecting with influencers to elevate your brand.

 
Image from TheyAllHateUs.com