A joint venture is when two or more businesses join together to work on a project for a set period of time. Doing online joint ventures can increase your chances of beating your competition, increasing your sales and profits, saving time and money, getting valuable referrals, and increasing your market share.
Plus:
-you can save money when businesses share operating costs
-you can get referrals from other businesses
-you can save valuable time when businesses share the workload
-you can offer your customers new products and services
-you can gain new business associates
-you can save money by sharing advertising and marketing costs
-you can get free advice and important information from other businesses.
You can find businesses to joint venture with online or offline. I try to find businesses that have the same target audience, but are not in direct competition with my business. Here are a few ways to find joint ventures online:
-subscribe and participate in e-mail discussion groups, online forums and newsgroups that deal with your target audience
-subscribe to e-zines that deal with your targeted audience
-note on your Web site or e-zine that you are interested in doing joint ventures
-search in your favorite web directories and search engines to find businesses to joint venture with online
Once you find a business simply e-mail them your proposal. Tell the business owner the benefits of the joint venture. Explain to him or her why it would be a win/win situation for both of your businesses. Give them a lot of compliments about their business, Web site, products and services. Using all three methods above will greater your chance of constructing a profitable joint venture. Good Luck!
JV ideas are virtually endless. Here are just ten online joint venture ideas:
1. A simple joint venture would be exchanging text links or
banners with other related web sites.
2. Share a web site with another business with the same target
market. You both will be marketing and advertising the same
web site which means double the traffic.
3. Exchange testimonials or endorsements for each others
products or services.
4. Combine your products or services together with another
businesses into one big package. You could split the profits.
5. Do you have and product or service that doesn't sell good?
Offer it as a free bonus for another businesses product or
service. In exchange ask for a small portion of the profits.
6. Offer to insert a promotional ad for another business into
your product package. Just ask them in return to do the
same for your business.
7. Trade e-zine or auto-responder ads with similar businesses.
8. Team up with related businesses to create an promotional
e-book to give away. Publish your web site ads in the e-book
then just give it away for free.
9. Host a virtual trade show or seminar with another business.
Include each other's promotional material on the web site.
10. Create a freeware program with another business. Include a
promotional ad for each of your businesses in the program. Submit
it to freeware and freebie sites.
Joint venture marketing, also known as JV marketing, has become a very popular way for businesses to maximize their exposure in the marketplace, as well as their profits. When two or more businesses combine their resources, contacts and clients in a synergistic way, it has the potential to create a larger marketing impact, and greater profits than either entity has the capacity to create on its own.
Put your needs first - even if you are a new business
When entering into a new joint venture marketing partnership, you are creating a relationship, and one that may potentially be a close, profitable and long-term one. Given this, it may be tempting to look at the partnership from the perspective of your partners to be sure that their needs are being met and that the deal is fair to them. This is important, as people who are not being offered a fair deal are unlikely to be happy with the long-term relationship. But, the first thing you must ask yourself and have a positive answer for is, What's in it for me? It is essential to secure a fair and profitable deal for yourself and your company.
If you have just started a business, or are new to the practice of joint venture marketing, it may be tempting to think that you should accept a lesser deal because your partner is doing you a favor by deciding to engage in a partnership with a novice. This is the time to be selfish! Do not undermine your potential or sell yourself short by getting into a partnership that doesn't offer equal benefits to you. If you accept a deal like this, it has the potential to backfire down the road for a couple of reasons:
- Your partner may develop an undervalued perception of your company - It may affect your partnerships and profits down the road - You may not be enjoying your fair share of joint revenues
Don't set precedence for lowered profits
When starting a new joint venture marketing partnership, if you accept a lower percentage of profits or of advertising space, this tends to set a precedent where your partners may then expect you to continually accept a lesser deal. And if this sort of thinking continues, it has the potential to breed resentment on your part and affect your professional relationship with your partner, but it may also affect the future of your bottom line and company profits.
If you are new to the market or new to a business, you have just as much to offer as an established company. They may have a larger and more grounded client list and more experience, but particularly with the climate of Internet business, it is vital to offer something new and cutting edge. You may benefit from their expertise, but they will benefit from your fresh ideas and perspective.
Keep in mind that you may not have the same things to offer as your partners, but you have just as much value to bring to the venture. It is fine to look out for yourself and the interests of your company, and probably a good way to embark on your joint venture marketing partnerships. Being selfish doesn't entail being unfair or rude - simply keeping the interests of your business at the front of your mind, which is exactly what your partner will be doing for his or her own company!
Both Manishh Kumarr & are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.