Your First JV
JVs…Joint Ventures…Strategic Alliances…oh my!
You’ve probably already been told that joint ventures are the fastest way to grow your business.
That is 100% true. The quickest to sell your product is to find out who already has your customers and get them to split the profits with you through an endorsement. The fastest way to build your list is to figure out who already has your subscribers and how you can get in front of their audience. A risk-free way to create your first product is to interview an expert who already has credibility in the marketplace.
Build your business using other people’s information, other people’s subscribers, and other people’s skills.
But most beginners have a horrible time getting their first JVs going because they go about it in totally the wrong way.
They send out an email to all the top marketers saying, “Would you be interested in promoting my product?”
Sorry. No. I wouldn’t be interested.
Except they don’t receive that rejection email back. All they hear is silence. Worse than being rejected is being ignored.
I remember the first time I asked Julie, my wife now, out on a date. I asked her if she’d like to go out with me. Instead of responding with a yes, no, or even a maybe, she ignored the question and changed the subject. After forcing the issue and asking again eventually she responded with a, “Sure, I’m not afraid to go out with you.”
But let’s put my personal problems aside for now…
If you send out the normal “Would you like to promote my product” emails, the most often response will be silence. People won’t respond.
They get those emails every single day. And it’s almost as bad sending out your product to them in the mail. Do you realize how many products most business owners with large audiences already receive?
You get lost in the shuffle.
We have to think like a marketer when you’re going after JVs.
Your audience here are busy business owners who already receive JV offers constantly. They’ve heard all the pitches about how much money they can make with your product.
How will you stand out as unique in this competitive marketplace?
Let’s say you’re starting at ground zero with nothing. You don’t have a track record or other relationships to build off of. Obviously once you have some successful JVs under your belt, you can use those as leverage to keep building your online empire.
Just like any other prospect, your potential JV partners are tuned into WIIFM (What’s In It For Me?).
What’s in it for them?
What can you give to the list owner that’s unique…that they’re not getting anywhere else?
They already receive a ton of emails to promote products. All of them talk about how much commission they can earn. All of them offer a free copy of the product (if you’re not offering this you’re not even in the market).
What aren’t they offering?
The first place you can stand out is with real numbers. For example, no one wants to be your test dummy. What conversion rate is your site getting currently? If you’re not sure, run some tests and make sure you’re tracking numbers.
Why will their audience appreciate them for recommending the product? Show that you’ve really done your homework by subscribing to their list, reading their blog, and knowing how they normally operate.
In many markets, just having these real numbers will put you far ahead any other competitor you have.
What about the really competitive markets like internet business?
You may have to go further. Others are also sharing their numbers, so how can you give more? What else does that publisher need (WIIFM)? If they have a newsletter, maybe they need article content which you could provide them. If they have a membership site, they definitely need content for that. If they’re a large publisher you could offer to develop exclusive content just for their group.
Maybe they’re not interested in promoting your first product. Perhaps it could simply be included as a free bonus with a product they’re already selling.
You may be thinking, “But then I won’t make any money!” So what? You would be getting exposure and building your name in the market by being attached to their product. Your information would be put in front of thousands of people you never would have reached without a large advertising budget.
Another backdoor strategy is to secure an interview with them. Come up with a good topic and find questions related to the topic. During the 30 minutes to an hour you’re on the phone with them you’re building a relationship with them which can later be leveraged into other opportunities.
Think long-term instead of immediate profits for your first few JVs. What can you provide to them or give to them to improve their business first. This old statement from Jay Abraham comes to mind, “Give first and prove your worth.”
This applies to customers. It also applies to JV relationships.
Related Entries:- How to Write a JV Email
- The Money Is In Your Email List
- Customer Service – Or Customer Annoyance?
- Support Our Troops?
- Contest For a Free Copy
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Nice writing style. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Chris Moran
Terry
Definately like the interview idea…I also always thought a direct personal message via a video, but then that might be scary
The best investment in terms of JVing, for me, was to haul myself out to a seminar and integrate..nothing beats face to face meeting (without the ‘in ya face’ pitch of course)
Jerry
How About viral marketing ? it’s same ?
Terry, well written article as usual, and funny too. I have a brave mate too!
Just to stir the pot a bit, here’s a little debate, and something to add.
Your article implies that modest merchants have a shot at doing deals with top marketers, and I’m not sure that’s very realistic.
I’d guess that 99.5% of the time, an outreach to a serious marketer will be ignored, no matter what you put on the table.
In order to have your deal considered, the serious marketer has to actually read and consider your pitch. How likely is this, given, as you say, that they are being pummeled with pitches from strangers on a daily basis, and are quite busy?
I recently offered a top marketer, whom I’ve known well since 1998, $7000 to write a blurb about my product in his newsletter. In order to achieve this fee, we would have had to convince 1/3 of one percent of his readers to spend $12 on a completely relevant product.
He did read and politely reply to my offer, because of our long association, but his mindset is focused on obstacles, not the opportunity and how we would achieve the goal.
The point is, I find this to be perfectly natural and understandable from his point of view, given that he has been pummeled relentlessly with deal ideas, most of them junk or scams, every day for 10 years.
Here’s a solution of sorts that readers might consider.
Lower your sights, and aim for marketers on your level or just a bit above. And then patiently work your way up the marketing food chain. Forget the experts and the stars for starters, unless you yourself are already a well known expert and star.
Read the serious marketers, learn from them, buy their teachings, but forget about doing deals with them.
I believe this perhaps more realistic approach holds more promise for the majority of us.
Some interesting suggestions and responses. And my opinion regarding a decent way forward?
Some enterprising individual need to establish a small secure blog-site where newbies, experts or fresh hot ideas can be placed for perusal, with a ‘contact me’ link and a ‘what I seek’ field.
Site will need to be passworded to subscribers from this industry.(website owners)with an application for admission. (we then get chance to reject/ignore too!!)
There, was that not a realistic solution to exposure and potential uptake by ‘experts’?…so who’s going to set this up? Don’t forget my commission.
Brian
Phil makes a legitimate point, certainly, and one that probably applies to a large percentage of the people out there learning marketing techniques.
However, someone with what it takes to compete in the marketplace will certainly be cunning enough to figure out an approach that works.
Nice post and comments.
Carole
An interesting post and I would agree with all of it. I guess this is focused on doing joint ventures with people who hang out in the online world.
From my standpoint the approach is critical to the success of any joint venture.
My focus is to find people with offline bricks and mortar businesses. My business partner and I invest a fair amount of time in educating people about what is critical in their business. We now do a lot of this via a report “Partner or Perish The Obvious Truth About Business”.
As joint venture brokers we apply or combine the best of the offline world with the best of the online world.
It is just amazing how far ahead On-Line marketers are when compared to most offline businesses or their owners. The online world generally understands the terms joint venture, affiliates, strategic alliance whereas the offline world does not (unless you include large multinationals).
As I suggest the approach is critical and you have to no where your potential JV partners is comming from and whats upermost on their mind.
I usually ask people what their top three challenges are and then listen. At some point you can feed back their challenges and may be angle a solution that fits with their concerns.
In fact I would go as far as saying the questions you ask are more important than anything else. Good questions can peel away the layers of the most sceptical business owner.
The ultimate aim for any JV is a win/win/win.
Fill your boots, JV’s are a great way to add value and leverage…Execution is everything!
Cheers and kind regards
Steve (joint venture broker)
Wow, some great comments and feedback from everyone.
Phil: I wouldn’t consider it a debate at all. While people should aim high, you’re correct they will be ignored many times. There is no reason at all they shouldn’t go for smaller jvs. And remember this also, the smaller jvs can become contacts and relationships that grow into big deals as both of your businesses grow. So my only disagreement would be telling people to forget about the stars. My suggestion, just don’t basis your project based off of them only.
Brian: There are a couple of sites like this, but it sounds like you have yourself a good project idea there.
Steve: great comment I want to highlight, “I usually ask people what their top three challenges are and then listen. At some point you can feed back their challenges and may be angle a solution that fits with their concerns.”
Thanks for your reply Terry, agreed, not really a debate.
I seriously doubt this is an original idea, so tell me who is already doing this perhaps?
Big marketers and baby marketers might connect like this.
The big marketer could bring all the baby marketers together, and provide a supportive environment where the baby marketers could learn to JV, and find people they could actually JV with.
As the baby marketers grow, under the wings of the big marketer, the big marketer can reach down in to the pile from time to time, and invite the most promising babies in to JVs. This gives the baby marketers something realistic to shoot for, to encourage them on the JV trail.
The main thing, and I really must insist on this, is that all we baby marketers get official baby marketer T-shirts and baby bottles full of some highly caffeinated beverage. Maybe when the big marketer finally returns our emails, we get a master marketer birth certificate.
Somebody whip this up in to a package, and we’ll all promote it to our baby lists!
Ok, I see it took me a month to get to it, but I finally followed up on Terry’s thread here, with a new project designed to serve baby marketers.
I’m going to need to be a bit less of a baby marketer to get it rolling, but we’ll crawl forward together.
Thanks for the spark Terry.