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One of the most common "win-win" business arrangements is
known as a strategic alliance.
I know... "strategic alliance" sounds like something you'd
hear in a Star Wars movie. It's really just a fancy term
describing a business arrangement in which the partners work
together to help each other make MORE money.
Businesses join forces and form strategic alliances all the
time. In fact, you probably run into examples of them every
day -- literally!
Ever stopped off for a burger at the McDonald's restaurant
inside your local Wal-Mart? Or enjoyed a cup of Starbucks
coffee inside a Barnes & Noble bookstore?
Then congratulations! You've had a run-in with a strategic
alliance!
How do these arrangements benefit the businesses? Think about
it... When Starbucks has a shop inside a big bookstore like
Barnes & Noble, it gets to put its products right under the
noses of a whole lot of potential customers.
(And who doesn't like sipping a cup of coffee or tea while
flipping through a brand-new book or magazine?)
Barnes & Noble, meanwhile, is happy to play host to Starbucks
because its customers won't have to leave the bookstore to
get their daily caffeine fix.
And the more time people spend inside the store, the longer
they're exposed to all those books -- and the more likely
they are to make a purchase!
But it's not just the "big guns" like Wal-Mart, McDonald's,
and Starbucks that can benefit from strategic alliances.
ANYONE can boost their profits by teaming up with a company
that sells complementary products to the same market as they
do.
For example, a dog kennel could promote a local pet groomer's
services, in exchange for a "cut" of every sale.
Or a golf shop could partner up with a local golf pro and
recommend his lessons to their customers -- and in exchange,
the pro can encourage his clients to buy all their clubs and
accessories at the shop.
With the right business partner, you can put your products in
front of new customers and get fresh new products to sell to
your existing customers. You can expand your reach AND boost
your profits -- talk about a "win-win" situation!
And the great thing is, strategic alliances are ESPECIALLY
effective for online businesses...
Read on to discover why!
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The top 5 ways to make strategic alliances
work for YOUR site
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Thanks to the Internet, it's now easier than ever to get into
"win-win" relationships with other businesses -- and generate
HUGE profits doing so!
That's because online tools like email, web sites, and blogs
make it SO MUCH easier to reach your customers and build
rock-solid relationships with them.
And with useful tools like search engines, you can find other
reputable businesses who sell to the same customers -- and
then work together to promote each other's products.
Everybody wins!
Here are five of our favorite ways to ramp up revenues by
forming strategic alliances with other businesses:
1. Enter into a "link-exchange" partnership: You put
a link on your site that leads to your partner's
homepage, and your partner does the same for you!
If you have a a catalog-style sales page, for example,
you could put a discreet ad in your sidebar or link
to your partner's products.
2. Promote someone else's products in your newsletter
or blog for a percentage of each sale: Your
"advertisement" could simply be a link and a bit of
salescopy, or it could written as a detailed product
review. Whatever works best for your market!
3. Build credibility through third-party endorsements:
Get to know the experts in your field! Send them free
samples, if possible, so they can become familiar with
your product. Give them a chance to be impressed by it!
Then, if they like what you've got to offer, ask them
for a personal testimonial endorsing your business. In
exchange for their endorsement, you can offer them
increased exposure and publicity -- because their name
and business will be put in front of YOUR visitors!
You might even consider given them a small percentage
of your sales. If their endorsement directs a big
enough swarm of customers your way, it'll probably be
worth it!
And that leads us to our next strategy...
4. Capitalize on your OWN good name: If you're known as a
respected expert in your field, people are going to
value your opinion and listen to what you have to say.
So if you come across any products or services your
customers might like, why not contact the businesses
that sell them and offer to give them an endorsement in
exchange for a small fee or percentage of each sale?
Not only will you boost your revenues, you'll get
increased exposure and be able to spread the word about
your business to your partner's audience, as well!
Finally, one of my favorites...
5. Buy the reprint rights to someone else's product:
When a company has a product like a book or a video
that they've been selling for a while, they may be
interested in extending that product's lifespan by
looking for ways to introduce it to fresh new markets.
This creates a great opportunity for you to get your
hands on a well-established, successful product you can
offer to your own customers.
When you buy reprint rights, you get all of the files
and documents you need to reproduce the product --
and you'll often get a tested and proven salesletter
as well.
So, all you have to do is put up the salesletter and
start collecting orders!
Best of all, you get to keep 100% of the profits!
Those are just FIVE of the ways strategic alliances can help
you SERIOUSLY ramp up your profits.
But there's no limit to the ways you can establish mutually
profitable relationships with other businesses.
You could even go all "old school" and enter into a barter
agreement with another business!
For example, if you're a great writer, but can't build a web
site to save your life, you could partner up with a design
team who could build your web site FOR you.
In exchange, you could write their salescopy for them. That
way you both get what you need -- without any damage to your
bottom line!
Or, if you had a gap in your skill set and you found someone
whose expertise filled that gap, then the two of you could
team up to create a BRAND-NEW product you could BOTH sell to
your customers, then split the profits 50-50!
And that brings us to our next "win-win" business arrangement...
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Partner your way to bigger profits by selling
joint venture products!
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Let's say you're a building contractor who sells do-it-yourself
eBooks on how to build your own house addition.
Your customers have told you time and time again that they're
desperate for advice on how to make sure their new additions
don't stick out like a sore thumb.
They want to know things like how to blend different building
materials or create seamless transitions between the addition
and the original house. In short, they're looking for exterior
design information.
But YOU can't help them, because you don't know SQUAT about
design!
So here's what you do...
You partner up with a reputable designer and work together to
co-author an eBook that combines YOUR construction know-how
with your PARTNER's design skills... and then sell that
product to your customers and split the profits right down
the middle!
Not only that, your partner could then offer her offline
services through a link on your web site, in exchange for YOU
getting a cut of every sale!
Not bad, huh?
THAT'S what joint ventures are all about -- businesses teaming
up with each other and pooling their expertise to create new
products they can sell to both their customer bases.
Joint ventures may take a little more effort than strategic
alliances... but when you partner with the right business,
you'll have a great new product to sell to your customers.
And THAT will make your hard work totally worth it.
Trust me, I know!
Last year, I teamed up with eBay millionaire Brandon Dupsky
to develop a product that combined MY Internet marketing
expertise with HIS insider knowledge of eBay...
And the result was a comprehensive how-to course that teaches
people EVERYTHING they need to know to ramp up their eBay
auctions and explode their online profits!
In fact, a customer recently wrote me an email saying that
after he read our Insider Secrets of an eBay Millionaire
course, his auctions started getting SEVEN TIMES the number
of bids they'd been getting before!
Not only that, he's been able to build up a loyal base of
repeat customers -- and boost his successful sales rate to 99%!
Now let's look at a couple more examples of savvy entrepreneurs
who have used strategic alliances and joint ventures to add
new streams of income to their businesses -- and SERIOUSLY
flood their bank accounts!
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An "organizational guru" who makes an extra $47,000
a year -- promoting OTHER people's products!
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Maria Gracia of GetOrganizedNow.com makes an incredible
$375,00 a year -- telling people how to clean their rooms!
Well, she actually does a whole lot more than that...
Her site offers a TON of useful resources that teach people
everything they need to know to organize all aspects of their
lives -- from their homes, to their offices, to their
day-to-day activities.
Maria's "anchor products" are books and organizational systems
she's developed herself. But she's formed a number of key
strategic alliances with companies that were EAGER to have her
promote their products.
And it's not hard to figure out why... Maria's site gets 20,000
- 30,000 visitors a week, and her popular free newsletter goes
out to more than 150,000 subscribers.
Talk about a swarm of potential new customers!
And the great thing for Maria is, she doesn't have to go out
of her way to find businesses to partner with. In fact,
companies usually approach her!
In addition to her own products, she sells...
* Organizational tote bags that help people manage their
personal items
* A household filing system for important documents
* A get-out-of-debt program created by a professional
financial adviser
And she also promotes the services of a "relationships"
business and a motivational company on her site.
Thanks to these added products and services, Maria's business
generates an EXTRA $47,000 a year!
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How this "Online Trader" traded his way up to $150,000
a year -- with a little help from his friends!
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Richard Grady started out online selling novelty items on
eBay... But when his competitors started asking him WHERE he
got all his great wholesale stock, he knew he'd stumbled on
to a exciting new business opportunity!
These days, Richard's pulling in a sweet $150,000 a year,
teaching people how to find high-quality wholesale and
drop-shipping products.
His main products are eBooks and subscriptions to private
members-only web sites -- but a healthy chunk of his income
comes from strategic alliances and joint ventures.
Like Maria, Richard regularly promotes other people's products
in his newsletter. But he's also worked with partners to set
up some long-term joint ventures.
One of his partners is a major US wholesaler who approached
him to see if he'd be interested in setting up a co-branded web
site, in exchange for a commission on sales.
Richard thought it sounded like a good deal, so he said yes --
and it turns out he was right!
Richard and the wholesaler worked together and set up "The US
Trader Warehouse," which sells HUNDREDS of wholesale items.
Now, every time a customer buys one of those products, Richard
gets a cut of the sale!
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Find the partner who's right for YOU -- and then hit them
with an offer they CAN'T refuse!
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Thanks to the Internet, finding a suitable business partner
is now easier than ever. All it takes is a bit of research
and creative thinking.
Here are some tips to help you get started...
1. Start your hunt with the free search engines: Pretend
you're a customer and run searches for the kind of
information your market is trying to find online.
Then look at the results that come up.
Which listings are for businesses that are trying to
sell something to your market? Check them out! See which
businesses offer competitive products, and which offer
complementary ones.
Take special note of sites that belong to the second
group -- they may become your future business partners!
2. Record your first impressions. As you explore the
businesses that sell to your market, jot down your
initial thoughts about their sites. Which ones seem the
most professional? Which did you want to spend the
most time exploring?
THOSE ONES are the winners!
Remember, the average Web user spends only 10 seconds
checking out a web site before deciding whether or not
it's worth a closer look. And if YOU don't think a site
is worth exploring, neither will your customers!
3. Use the Alexa Toolbar to give potential partners the
"once-over.": The Alexa Toolbar
( http://download.alexa.com/index.cgi )is a cool free
tool you can use to discover all sorts of killer
information about a web site.
You can find out how long the site's been up and
running, how much traffic it receives, and how many
other sites are linking to it. You can even read user
reviews!
If the site's been around for a few years, has lots of
steady traffic, and has a good number of sites linking
to it, then it's a great potential business partner.
4. Don't forget to look offline for partners: Are there
any "brick and mortar" businesses you could partner
with?
For example, if you sell real estate advice online, is
there a particular real estate agency you could refer
your customers to, in exchange for a fee?
Or maybe you run an online restaurant directory. Maybe
you could get local restaurants to advertise your
directory -- in exchange for a mention in it, of
course!
5. Contact potential partners personally -- and be
PROFESSIONAL: A phone call or face-to-face meeting is
FAR more effective than an email.
Live contact helps you establish a personal relationship
right off the bat. Potential partners will take you far
more seriously, and you'll be able to answer all their
questions on the spot -- and make it harder for them to
say "No"!
Just make sure you come to the table with a strong
argument! Clearly explain EXACTLY how they would
benefit from a relationship with you.
If you can't present them with compelling evidence that
PROVES you can help them increase their profits, why
should they bother doing business with you?
The bottom line is, BE PROFESSIONAL. The better you present
yourself to your potential partners, the more eager they'll
be to do business with you!
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Final thoughts
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When you're running an online business, you ALWAYS have to
be on the lookout for ways to add new streams of income to
your site. And one of the BEST ways to do this is by
entering into "win-win" relationships with other businesses!
Make sure you keep your eyes open... you never know WHERE
you're going to find your next business partner!
Maybe your child's teacher's husband runs a business selling
products that appeal to your target market. Or maybe your
neighbor's wife is a consultant whose services your customers
are ALREADY clamoring to buy!
Who knows? Your next joint venture partner could even be the
guy you see waiting at the bus stop every morning! His skills
and expertise might dovetail perfectly with your own -- and
you just don't know it yet!
In fact, just reading this newsletter, you've already
discovered one joint-venture opportunity you may not have
considered -- the IMC affiliate program. You can read more
about how to start promoting IMC products to your customers
-- in exchange for healthy commissions -- here:
http://www.marketingtips.com/assoc
The point is, strategic alliance and joint venture
opportunities are EVERYWHERE. If you keep yourself open to
the possibilities, there's no limit to where you can take
your business!
Just make sure you research your potential partners carefully
and contact them in a professional manner.
Come to the table fully armed with all the best reasons why
it's in THEIR best interest to do business with you -- and
before you know it, you'll be helping each other skyrocket
your bottom lines!