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Overview:
29 practical examples of joint
venture relationships and partnerships.
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Reciprocal
Arrangements:
1.
Exchanging Brochures: This
can be especially lucrative for storefront-types of business.
Arrange for you and your partner to place eachother's brochures
on counter-tops, in shopping bags, in mailings, with billing
receipts and so on.
2.
Exchanging Leads: Check
to make sure that this is legal and ethical in accordance with
their "opt-in" terms, online or offline. If you're
unsure, don't exchange leads, but rather arrange an endorsement
instead. Wherever possible, set up some sort of "opt-in"
co-registration as opposed to simply using someone else's "list".
3.
Exchanging Online Links: Driving
traffic to eachother's sites can often create additional business
for practically no effort at all.
4.
Cross-Endorsement: Whether
through mailings (solo ads), product reviews or simply "referring
customers" casually, cross endorsement still remains a
very powerful way to leverage the day-to-day contact another
business has with your market.
5.
Bonus / Loyalty Endorsements: Reward
your customers by providing them with some sort of "special
deal" from your JV partner, have your partner reciprocate
something similar on their end...
6.
Trading Services: You
can simply trade one service/product for another, for example,
a hot tub retailer "paying" a construction firm with
a new hot tub instead of cash for building renovations.
7.
Trade Testimonials: Review
eachother's products, then display the reviews on your marketing
materials.
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Integrated/Co-Managed
Arrangements:
8.
Sharing Ad-Space: Cut
your marketing expenses in half by sharing ad-space or
promotional events. (This includes sharing trade-show space).
9.
Sharing Office-Space: Do
your services compliment eachother? Would your customers naturally
buy your partners products as an addition to yours? Perhaps
sharing space would help both of you to save on overhead expenses.
10.
Sharing Research & Development Information: If
your JV partner is someone that you trust - and they're not
a "competitor" - then combining "intellectual
assets" can provide astounding results in some cases.
11.
Co-Producing Articles and Press Releases:
Leverage eachother's contacts in regards to other JV prospects,
editors, columnists, freelance writers and otherwise media contacts.
Create a series of PR's and Articles that provide neutral mentions
for each of your services in some way...
12.
Co-Producing Publications:
Such as websites, magazines, trade journals and so on.
13.
Co-Producing Products and Projects:
Sharing costs and effort on product research, creation and testing
could very well outweigh the "cost" of sharing profits.
14.
Co-Hosting Events and Seminars:
Such as industry focus groups, info seminars, courses and consulting
presentations.
15.
Joint Authorship:
Save time and reach twice as much of the market (or more).
16.
Product Bundling:
Integrating products, or adding JV products as an upsell or
"option" is an extremely powerful way to leverage
the assets of another business in a truly beneficial manner.
17.
Not-for-Profit Associations:
While many NPA's and similar organizations, such as charitable
groups and state bars (legal), do have "partner programs"
and "corporate sponsors", often times it's more effective
to ally one's business with them in a unique way. For example,
providing exclusive services for their members, donating gifts
to give away and perhaps helping their operation by way of consultation
and other assets.
18.
Ally "For a Cause":
Joining forces with a "cause"-related group can often
be extremely lucrative in terms of free exposure and goodwill.
However, this can potentially be very detrimental if the "cause"
is too extreme or misrepresented. Use caution.
19.
Co-Producing Incentives:
Co-create a coupon directory or a similar database of "special
offers" that your market would appreciate.
20.
Co-promoting viral marketing items:
Such as compelling mini-courses, ebooks, audio interviews and
so on. This especially applies to info-products and downloadable
online media.
21.
Shared Investments:
Sharing costs of buying assets and investments. (Take extreme
caution)
22.
Shared Venture Capital:
In some cases, it may be easier to get funding for a joint-project
or a "larger operation" from funding groups and investors.
(Take extreme caution).
23.
Expert Services in Exchange for % of Profits/Revenues:
Such as engineering, programming, consulting, designing or construction
- instead of charging per "job", the technician will
earn a residual (ongoing) income.
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Endorsements
and Promotional Arrangements:
24.
Direct Endorsement:
This includes endorsement mailings to client/prospect databases,
mass notifications or ezine announcements - in exchange for
a large portion of up-front profits (sometimes backend as well).
25.
Ongoing Endorsement (Affiliate):
This involves direct and indirect referrals in return for a
commission on any resulting sales processed. This is done both
offline (as a "rep"), or online as an "affiliate".
26.
Marketing or Promotion in Exchange for % of Profits/Revenues:
Consultants often arrange a share of revenue generated instead
(or in addition) of consulting fees.
27.
Indirect Endorsement:
For an example, an author that mentions a company in his/her
book may arrange to collect referrals based on trackable sales
from that mention.
28.
Paid Endorsement:
This includes endorsing a product as an affiliate through classified
ads, pay-per-click ads and other forms of advertising. (Note:
Ensure that your ad copy will produce sales before investing
in advertising).
29.
Product Reviews:
Reviewing a product "objectively" can be very powerful
in terms of generating sales from prospective buyers that are
researching their purchase (or looking to justify it). The reviewer
will act as an affiliate and get paid for referred sales.
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I've
listed only a few examples of JV partnerships in comparison
to what is truly possible, even for your business.
Be creative,
and purposely think about how you can reach more customers,
grow your profits and benefit someone else in the industry by
partnering with a complimentary business.
Take
action today!
-
Chris
Rempel, JV-Web.com
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