Christianjoint venture marketing
A joint venture is a proven method to increase your marketing and sales – with a much lower risk that doing it all yourself. Since you share resources, costs, supplies, and contacts, the risk is spread between you and your JV partner. You both agree to share the profits (and losses) that are realized from the partnership. Though increasing your profit is a great benefit from joint ventures, you also have the opportunity to walk away from the JV if it doesn’t work.
But how do you find a good JV partner willing to work with you and take on the risks of exploring a new markets and sharing the rewards of bigger profits? Although JV partnerships may seem like a difficult business challenge, finding and convincing potential JV partners is not hard. The truth is that potential partners are everywhere!
Look In Your City
You might look right in your metaphorical backyard. Look at the business across the street or the mall. What about that downtown business that you could partner up with for your company in the suburbs? Proximity doesn’t have to be a detriment to finding a JV partner, nor is it the only way to find one.
A JV partner who is in close proximity has many benefits. First, it has the benefit of being able to hold face-to-face meetings when you and your partner need to discuss an issue. Communication between JV partners is essential, so working with someone you can meet with regularly is a bonus.
Secondly, you and your JV partner can share walk-in customers. A great JV strategy is to have coupons for your JV partner’s business in your store, and vice versa. Convince a customer that if they buy a certain product, they will receive a discount for a complementary product at your JV partner’s location.
Look at businesses in your neighborhood and city and find one that could potentially be a good pairing for your products or services.
Look Online
You can search online and find potential JV partners. You could post an ad on your website, or on a popular “want ads” forum like Craigslist. Though you can never be sure what type of response you’ll get and the quality of potential JV partner, it is a way to increase your list of possibilities.
If you have an Internet business that works from a website, you could also search out other online businesses. You could set up an affiliate program or find other ways to share and build traffic to your sites.
Leverage a Joint Venture Service
There are companies that can help you match up with a potential JV partner. These services usually require a broker fee, but the investment can be well worth the return in finding reputable JV partners. Some broker services simply use a “members only” website where registered members can post their business and needs and browse other businesses that may be a good match. Other companies may do all the matching for you, rather like a dating service. They take into consideration your industry, needs and wants, and then find a set of matches that could work for both parties.
Finding a JV partner doesn’t have to be time-consuming or difficult. It may take a little work to research good partners and find the best matching, but the reward could be bigger profits for you.
christian fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A joint venture marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.
To discover more joint venture marketing Strategies join his free joint venture marketing Wealth Report.
How do you work out the monetry aspects of a joint venture? Is it usually a 50/50 thing and how can you ensure the integrity of the money side of it?
indonesia
Christian –
I love what your’e doing, but you should know that my emails are addressed to “Marv”. I’m hoping your’e not sending emails to Marv and calling him Bonnie.
Anyway, great ideas.
Bonnie
JV partnerships won’t work with an insurance practice and here’s why:
1. JV partnerships are simply mutually beneficial affiliate partnerships you don‘t need a fourteen page newsletter to tell everyone this ok?
2. Insurance is intangible. -We can’t bundle our products with a flower shop owner or give away free samples or offer a reduced price or package deals to clients of a local CPA firm.
3. An established CPA or law firm doesn’t require cross promotion from a small indy insurance guy.
4. An established CPA or law firm don’t give small guys the time of day: I asked thirty firms in September and none of them did. No amount of success stories from people I’ll never meet will convince me.
5. Maybe a blossoming CPA or law firm may use cross promotion with a small, indy insurance guy. But if they’re blossoming what would be the point in having a JV with them? The point is to obtain their present book and if it’s small, there is no point. Exchanging business cards is NOT a JVP.
6. We CAN pay a referral fee to a JV partner as long as it’s not conditioned on getting a sale. This could get expensive and paying for qualified leads really is all this is and even then, there is no guarantee of a sale or even a meeting with yet another know-it-all, closed-minded prospect who is merely listening to a pitch out of respect for his accountant or lawyer of many years.
7. How does a JV partnership with a non-competing firm benefit the partner? What do they have to gain by promoting me? Or writing an “endorsement letter” for me to hand out?
8. I’m sure my own accountant and I’m being sarcastic, would be thrilled to write me out one of these letters IF he has something to gain. Ok, more clients right? I promote his firm when I get a new client and he does the same for me or advertise on the Web and the website, yadda, yadda, yadda. Why would he do this? He’s got the cash and the credit to pay for full page ads in the NY Times and promote himself.
9. The only way I can see a JV with a non-competing company is to pay them a referral fee when their client calls me up. But again, this is simply paying for qualified leads many indy insurance producers who can afford it already do this.
10. If a small indy firm earns a living by being a consultant, giving away their services is pointless.
Many wealthy firms with huge books of business and bank accounts advertise on television and therefore don’t need my “help” with “cross promotion” on the Web or any other avenue.
I did registered on April 9th, 2009, but I am having difficulties signing on with my
Username and Password.
Unfortunately, you do not have a “Forgot my Username or Password” Link to assist any member who may in avertently “Forgot his/her Usernam / Password”.
Johannas J.H. Moers
212-732-0403