(Add to Favorites | View All Articles | Resource Directory)
|
|
|
Joint Venture Your Way to Extraordinary Sales!
You know what makes me really happy? Drinking a Starbucks latte while doing my grocery shopping at Safeway. Getting my Godiva fix at Barnes & Noble. Cheap thrills, I know! Ever wonder why McDonald's is inside many WalMart stores? Or why you can buy the board game, Cranium, inside most Starbucks locations? These are not just lucky coincidences. They are very well-planned, structured, and negotiated marketing strategies. They are implemented by companies that get creative with their marketing by focusing it around who their ideal customer is, where they spend their time, and what they do. These kinds of joint ventures, or distribution agreements, deliver convenience to the customer while generating profits for both the company that manufacturers the product as well as the one that distributes it. It is a win-win-win. Joint ventures are likely one of the most profitable ways for you to invest your marketing time. If you can identify ways to team with someone who already has the attention and respect of your target market, you will multiply the results you get from your marketing campaigns. Think about it - what could be better than someone who already has the respect of your ideal clients telling them all about you and what great work you do? That is all a joint venture really is, afterall. One person or company putting their seal of approval on another. In simple terms, they are saying "This guy is okay. You can trust him. I have seen his stuff, and he knows what he is talking about." Smart business owners take the time to identify who else has contact with their target market and approach those people to ask if they would recommend them to their clients. Some arrangements might involve a referral fee. Others might just be reciprocal agreements - you send me people, I will send you people. That is why your printer might be able to recommend a good graphic designer, your pediatrician can recommend a nutritionist that specializes in working with kids, and your web hosting company can recommend a web designer or two. They have developed relationships with other professionals with a natural crossover with the service they provide. Perhaps they met at a networking function, stumbled across each other during the regular course of work, or took a more proactive role to seek out joint ventures. It does not matter how it gets done - just that it does get done. So, how can you get started? It is easy. Just sit down and really take some time to think about your ideal clients. What are they like? What kind of business are they in? What kind of life do they lead? Where do they live? What do they read? What organizations do they belong to? What do they do during work hours and off-hours? Where do they spend their time? Once you have a clear understanding of them, ask yourself - based on what I know about my clients, who might already have a trusted relationship with a group of them? Some common online examples are ezine editors who have a subscriber base of your ideal clients, other companies who have a client base of your ideal clients, or discussion group owners who have a member list made up of your ideal clients. In the offline world, you might approach associations whose members are your ideal clients, other businesses who sell complimentary products/service to their client base which consists of your ideal clients, or print publications whose subscribers are your ideal clients. Once you have identified some potential joint venture partners, just contact them with an offer. Decide ahead of time if you are going to offer a financial incentive or simply reciprocity. The referral mechanism for reciprocity could be as simple as displaying one another's business cards, adding the other organization's logo to your materials, or sending out an endorsement of them to your clients and having them do the same. The opportunities are endless once you begin to think in the right terms. So, take some time this week to really understand your ideal clients. Who are they, what do they want, and how can you best deliver it to them in a way that is convenient for them and makes money for you as well as your joint venture partner? About The Author Kimberly Stevens is the author of the ebook series, *The Profitable Business Owner: A Step-by-Step System for Starting & Running a Successful Service Business*. Download Sample Chapters & get her free MiniCourse, *The 10 Most Common Mistakes Business Owners Make & How To Avoid Them* at: http://www.askthebizcoach.com/ebooks.htm
MORE RESOURCES: News provided by Yahoo! News and Google News Obama: A War on Big Business? (US News & World Report) SMALL BIZ TIPS - Asheville Citizen-Times Small Business Tips for a Challenging Economy (Carteret County News-Times) Small business feels the squeeze from big banks (Toronto Sun) Small business, minorities in business on the rise in Texas (Temple Daily Telegram) Feds hope to unfreeze small business and consumer lending (BizJournals) Small biz index shows economic strength - Bizjournals.com Despite nervous lenders and borrowers, local small-business lending still seen as healthy (BizJournals) Small biz slogs through the turmoil; agency reports demand for SBA ... - Bizjournals.com The CNY Small Biz Project - Weekly Wake-Up - dBusinessNews New York (press release) |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Protecting your small business network Anyone in business today realizes both the natural dependency on computers in the workplace, and also the potential dangers associated with storing important data on them. Today's business owners are constantly being reminded that their company's data is at risk by the daily reports on various news stations, or even their favorite business-related website. What to expect with a Home Business All legitimate home business entrepreneurs insist and announce loud and clear that a successful home business is not about an overnight thing. And that you cannot get rich overnight and so on. Using Business Broker In the Franchising Industry for Franchise Sales Franchising companies often use Business Broker to help attain sales goals. Here is an interesting fact. 10 Ways to Start a Business on a Budget If you've been thinking about starting a business, but are held back due to cash-flow issues, there are plenty of ways you can get your plans off the ground. Though your vision may be to own a big store, restaurant, warehouse, or office, consider starting on a smaller scale. Grants vs. Contracts Commonly folks have asked me what the technical difference is between a contract and a grant. The difference is not about the dollar value or who the buying entity is nor the kind of work being done. Grab Your Consumers Attention in a Cluttered World of Marketing Communications A cluttered world of marketing communications diminishes the ordinary. The consumer can no longer be bother with the dull, trite and a boring hodgepodge of marketing communications that are pandered in front of them every day. Business Leverage - what it is, and how to apply it Remember those drawings from science class of how a lever works?The lever was a long bar that rested atop a triangularly shaped fulcrum. One end of the lever was underneath the object to be raised. Janitorial Cleaning Service: Getting Started A janitorial cleaning service is one of the best businesses for a hardworking, blue collar person to start from scratch. Every business and every building needs to be cleaned once in a while - in some cases, many times each day. Basic Psychology of Franchisee Ownership and Expansion If you are a franchisee of a large franchise system; before you expand your franchise to include more stores there are some questions you might ask yourself. If, however, you bought your franchise to expand, grow and amass a small empire of your own, your franchisor will be the last person to stand in your way. Small Businesses With Work Trucks; A Warning If you are a non-operator owner of many work trucks, you should keep your business credit card with you not leave it in one of the trucks. You should not issue them to employees without strict guidlines. Low Cost or Highly Funded Start Up Many new ventures are preoccupied with all the money they are going to make, rather than how they are going to the about making it. Set realistic goals by setting realistic steps-discreet 'doable' actions, each of which connects to the next one in some logical progression. Where Can I Get Clients From? The following tips have come from a wide variety of sources; some from other successful businesses we know, some from our Home-Based and Small Business Support Group meetings and some we've developed by trial and error.Some of the ways to get clients are:contact previous employers;mailing lists;cold call your target market;attend group meetings and seminars for your target market (conventions for doctors, lawyers; computer seminars);attend local Chamber of Commerce meetings;join groups related to your target market;if your target market uses a specific system, for example accountants use the SafeGuard system, contact them and tell them that you are available to teach them how to use the system or you can do it for them. Expand Your Professional Organizer Business Grow your Professional Organizer business by branching out into related areas. If you have been doing the same old thing for a while, and are comfortable with it, it may be time to stretch your capabilities and offer something new. How To Build Business Credit Having their own business is something many millions of people dream of doing. Many do, of course, but so many others never quite get around to it. What Is YOUR Value Proposition? Every company has a value proposition. That is a statement of their perceived value to their clients. How to make your property management business really take off Discover How Specialized Cost Containment Creates A New Win-Win Position For Property Owner's And YouProperty Management: A simple strategy to increase client loyaltyProperty managers who pro-actively employ advanced techniques to help property owners and anchor tenants reduce operating costs, will most certainly be considered a more valuable business asset. When you can achieve this with lower administrative functions and no out-of-pocket cost to you or your client's, you've created additional benefits. Outsourcing your PR may be more affordable than you think Small businesses need Public Relations, possibly more than large corporations, to put them on the map. If you consider that time is money, however, you may find that handling your own public relations is a daunting task and not necessarily worth the monetary savings. The Care and Feeding of Your Small Business While I was hard at work last week, an everyday drama was playing out in a hospital room in the next town. My niece was working on presenting me with a new great nephew. Beating the Small Business Cash Flow Blues Small business owners can relieve a lot of their own cash flow problems, according to Caroline Jordan, small business advisor and author. "Small business owners have more control over their cash flow than they realize. Determine what kind of clients you wish to attract "I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."--Bill CosbyHave you ever had clients that were more trouble than they were worth? Maybe they were always late to pay, or didn't do what they said they'd do.
|
| home | site map | articles |
| © 2006 |