Today, I am introducing a new concept that I am calling comarketing.

The idea behind comarketing is to impact small businesses in much the same way that coworking spaces stimulate collaboration within a shared environment.

Comarketing: A New Concept in Marketing

While the world has had the practice of co-marketing (with a hyphen) for a while, comarketing (one word) is different.

The old definition of co-marketing is a marketing practice where two companies collaborate on promotional efforts for a co-branded offer. In a co-marketing partnership, both companies promote a piece of content or product, and share the results of that promotion, according to HubSpot.

My new definition of comarketing is:

An evolutionary practice in which businesses help each other by sharing best practices and experiences, developing collaborative partnerships and learning modern marketing strategies in a community setting

What I Think About Marketing Today

I’ve spent my entire career in marketing at some level or another—from PR to advertising to web design to digital marketing. And I have to admit a few things at this point.

One, marketing has definitely gotten more complicated on the surface. It feels like there are infinite ways to market.

That said, I know a lot about a lot when it comes to marketing…but I don’t claim to be a guru. Others sometimes call me that, which is nice. What I am is a perpetual learner.

My Goals Behind Comarketing

I hope the idea of comarketing embodies the principle of “united we stand”—where there’s strength in a community that bands together to learn from and teach each other.

I think the best learning comes from discovering something yourself, then showing others…and being willing to admit you don’t know everything and open to asking lots of questions.

Second, with growing complexity comes confusion and uncertainty…neither of which is fun. I want to strip away a lot of the chaff and find the wheat again. Marketing shouldn’t feel like rocket science. It’s not.

Third, I believe in pendulum swings—and I especially see a need for more ‘high touch’ activities to counter all the ‘high tech’ noise we all encounter.

Be Part of the First Comarketing Space

I am also launching the first Comarketing Space, a virtual community for businesses to share ideas, promote each other and learn about marketing strategies, tactics and tools.

I’m excited about making a place where marketing feels fun again and not agonizingly complicated, seemingly impossible to keep up with and reduced to algorithms and data points. I believe the best marketing is and always will be word-of-mouth. I hope comarketing will become shorthand for truly collaborative marketing—with cooperation winning over competition.

How to Join Comarketing Space

The first 50 members of Comarketing Space can join free—for life. After that, the initial cost for new members will be $50/month or $500/year.

There’s just one catch if you want to join for free: you have to promise to actively engage in the community. That part will be easy. You can do so by:

• Sharing the best marketing tools, trends and techniques you run across
• Asking and answering questions
• Suggesting topics for upcoming “Discourses” (i.e., fast-paced learning discussions—instead of tedious online courses nobody wants—blech!)
• Volunteering to lead Discourses
• Helping other community members promote their products and services to your tribe
• Offering to help me as a community host/admin
• Connecting offline with others in the community (I would love to create some comarketing meetups and events IRL!)
• Spreading the word about Comarketing Space when it goes live

If you are interested, please contact me and I’ll forward the details on how to join Comarketing Space.