Joint Ventures – Part VII

Endorsements – There are people and businesses that have a great personal relationship with their customers and prospects. They may not necessarily know this fact. In fact, a lot of them don’t even realize the amount of pull they have with their audience. People who recommend certain stocks or trends, people who give great content and information to their subscribers, people who give investment advice, generally people who have a certain rapport with their subscribers. They are the ones you want to target. If their niche is non-marketing-related, so much the better in order to cut through this niche’s clutter. I know someone who targeted golf enthusiasts for a marketing product, simply because of their test results. In any case, if you can JV with this sort of person who will endorse your product or service, you have a huge advantage. It’s simply one of the best ways to print money on demand. Please don’t overlook this technique.

These people may not even realize the relationship they have with their list. So you would be well advised to start with those folks.

JV Your List Building: Large List – If you have a large list, one of the easiest ways to build it even further is to do a cross mailing. That is, you partner with another large list owner in your target market. You send out his message to your list, he sends out your message to his list. Simple. Just remember, once your prospects or customers are on another list that sells to them, there is increased message clutter. That is, they are now being pitched by your JV partner AND you. It’s a tradeoff you need to consider.

JV Your List-Building: Small List – Ok, if your existing list isn’t large enough to warrant a cross JV mailing as described above, here’s a clever way to build your list up quickly. I’ve done this, but not to the extent I should. I’ve got more deals like this in the works. Here’s how it works:

Let’s say your list is on the small side. “John Smith” has a huge list. You want to JV with him, but a cross swap isn’t going to persuade him. You need to be the middle person between John Smith and another large list owner.

”Jane Doe” is another huge list owner. What if you can put John Smith and Jane Doe together to do a cross mailing, and you get exposure as well. Instead of a cut of profits, you agree to get a slice of the list. In other words, perhaps in order to get onto Jane’s list from John’s, they have to come through you first. Or, you could have John mail his list with the agreement that whatever prospects Jane gets, she’ll share with you. It’s a win/win/win situation, because all of you are gaining new prospects on your lists.

John gets some of Jane’s list.

Jane gets some of John’s list.

You get some of Jane’s list. Or, ideally, you get some of both lists. You are the deal maker. It wouldn’t have happened without you, so depending on the deal you make, why shouldn’t you get access to both lists?

to be continued….