Joint Ventures

Joint Ventures

Joint ventures are strategic alliances that help you to gain visibility to a new audience, as well as promote new products and services to your mailing list and generate new sources of revenue.

Essentially, you and a colleague agree to promote each other’s work, or agree to create and promote a new product or program, or agree to promote a particular product for the other in exchange for an affiliate commission on transactions resulting from your promotional initiative.

There are three items of value in any joint venture:

1. Marketing channel (list, high-traffic site, established systems that create revenues, etc.)
2. Value (content in terms of products or services, expertise, tools, skills, etc.)
3. Resources (time, money, etc.)

If you don’t have a good-sized mailing list to offer a potential JV partner, that doesn’t count you completely out. In that case, you just have to be a little more creative in how you can bring value to a joint venture partner.

Here are some ways you can potentially provide value to a JV partner who has a bigger list / market / reputation / ‘reach’ (or visibility in your complimentary market) than you do:

1. Become a columnist in their monthly communications (ezine, magazine, podcast, etc.).

2. Design and facilitate a program for their members, then split the profits.

3. Moderate their online member forum.

4. Hold a monthly tele-seminar for their members which becomes an opportunity to build your list, establish credibility and become known in your niche market.

5. Offer your product as a sales or renewal bonus to an industry organization or a membership site to help them increase sales and/or client retention.

If your goal is to grow your mailing list, everything you offer to do for your partner must help you do that.