Are you Doing Joint Ventures All Wrong?
By Larry Benet on May 11, 2008 in Featured
I was reading an interesting blog post by Rich Schefren, who is a guru to many of the top online marketers.
His blog post focused on building strategic alliances versus doing transactional joint ventures, and how much more profitable these types of relationships can be for you and your business.
To read Rich’s post go to http://www.strategicprofits.com/blog/1-plus-1-equals-3/
Whether you are an online or offline marketer, a prudent growth strategy is to focus on more meaningful relationships. Who are the people in your industry that you can strategically partner with?
Who shares the same type of customer as you? Does your service or product when combined with an offering create more value for the client?
Creating relationships where you add value first is extremely important.
Here is a great way to start adding value to a relationship of someone you would like to do more business with, and get to know better.
- Identify a company or individual you think would make a good strategic partner
- Ask them, “What are your most important projects and top goals this year, in case myself or someone in my network could help you?”
I have asked this simple question to marketing superstars and best selling authors like Keith Ferrazzi, self made billionaire Bill Bartmann, Bill Phillips of Body for Life, David Frey, John Jantsh of Duct Tape Marketing, Stephen Pierce, Jay Abraham, Mark Victor Hansen from Chicken Soup For the Soul, Alex Mandossian, Chet Holmes and they have all shared with me what their top initiatives are.
Now that you are armed with this information you can start the process of adding value to them.
It is much easier to establish a relationship when you are focused on helping them with things that are important to them.
Try asking that simple question to those you want to have a strategic relationship with, and post your results on my blog. Also, I would love to hear from you-what strategies you implement when wanting to build a relationship with a strategic partner.
Until We Connect Again,
Larry Benet
The Connector
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2 Comment(s)
By Steve Turner on May 16, 2008 | Reply
Larry,
Your approach to relationships and Rich’s comments on the value of strategic alliances are based on the same great premise…those who reach out to others with value for them (as opposed to value for you), receive value in return. The value for you becomes a reward for providing value to others, as opposed to an end in itself. The result of strategic alliances where they are built on the expectation and realization of continued fellowship will result in returns based on multiplication, not addition. In the abundance of counselors, there is victory!
God bless,
Steve Turner
By Fabio on May 16, 2008 | Reply
Larry,
Thanks for highlighting the importance of being a giver and adding value to others. A lot of people are looking for help with a what’s in it for me approach. You remind us that giving is the way to get in return.
All my best,
Fabio
P.S. I was the guy from Portugal on your webcast who sent you a question.