I have been involved with marketing for a long time and I can honestly say that the entrepreneur who succeeds is the entrepreneur who practices proven marketing techniques. If he’s still on the cold calling bandwagon, he should know that he’s wasting his time trying to convert cold prospects into his customers.
I learned this the hard way. When I started my consulting business, I made it a point to contact almost every business owner in my town to see if they needed help with their marketing campaigns. Most of the numbers I called were no longer in service, and those I contacted were simply not interested. I can recall a bakery owner responding to my email, but I couldn’t close the sale.
That was almost 5 years ago, and if I were to do it all over again, my approach would be radically different. I wouldn’t start out with direct mail to start my business, because this approach can be difficult and extremely expensive if you don’t know how to do it. If I had to do it all over again, I’d start with joint ventures.
Joint ventures are a great way to attract more new customers to your place of business. The general gist of joint venture marketing is that you partner with a similar business in your neighborhood, and they come together to capture more sales and split the profits. When selecting your JV partner, make sure you don’t make the mistake of contacting your rival competitors in your neighborhood. You don’t want to give these groups of people access to your customer list.
When you contact your potential joint venture partner, be sure to let him know what’s in it for him. Offer a good commission rate that will make the deal worthwhile for your partner. Never be greedy by sharing profits because a small commission could absolutely ruin the deal.
One thing you will want to have is a good JV proposal letter. This is the letter that will lay out all the details of the joint venture. If your letter doesn’t sound appealing, and if it looks like the partner will have to work hard to get started, the partner will most likely decline your application.
Make sure the proposal letter sounds like YOU will be doing all the work. You have to remember that these people are also busy and also have a business. So make it look like the whole deal will be semi-automated. Now your potential customer will have to do a bit of work, in the form of contacting your customer list about your product or service.
Other than that, make it look like the offer will be extremely easy to make. Joint ventures can be extremely profitable for you if you know how to do them right. Make sure you have some kind of tracking device that allows your partner to check sales and profits. With a hard enough search, you can find solutions like this on the internet.
Joint ventures are a great way to launch a new business, or simply to make more money on your existing business. Start implementing this technique in your business today and watch your income soar.
Good luck with making joint ventures work for you.
