One of the things we are all about at the Sue and Steve Show is helping you get the most exposure with the least effort. A great way to do that is to sort of hitchhike on other people’s lists. You’ll get your message in front of a lot more potential contacts and all you pay is a percentage of the money you take in. You do that by affiliating with Joint Venture (JV) partners; they are an excellent source of new business.

The ideal JV partner is someone who’s established online, has a good sized mailing list and has a business that’s compatible with yours. For instance, if you’re selling landscape services, an ideal JV partner might be someone who’s marketing flower seeds and tulip bulbs.

When you don’t have a large mailing list, getting a JV partner can suddenly double, triple or quadruple the reach of your marketing. We know our progress could have been faster, if we’d known the value JV partners and especially, how to go about attracting them.  On the other hand, we also know everything happens for a reason and how we have several awesome partners we’re excited to be working with.  We also made a video about attracting JV partners if you want to learn more about it.

Finding Joint Venture Partners (Behind the Scenes of a Product Launch Day 5)

We have also discovered that finding an ideal JV partner and getting them to work with you is not like going to the store and picking cans off the shelf. You have to help them get to know you and become interested in you. Since you’re asking them to do something for you, you should have something you can offer to do for them. You’ll also need to show how your business is compatible with their list of people but doesn’t compete. So it’s good to have a very persuasive description of your business ready to go.

Fortunately there are websites that make the process easier. We recommend a site called ejunkie.com because their tools make it easy to get going right away. You’ll want to go to the section titled “Affiliate Program Management.” We now use Infusionsoft which is the Cadillac of customer management software and includes affiliate management. It’s very powerful and meets all our needs perfectly. However it takes awhile to learn. We spent about three weeks getting the hang of it but now we love it.

A final note: once you connect with a willing affiliate you’ll need to have a dynamite product or program ready to market. You’ll also need plenty of marketing support materials to provide, like a dedicated series of emails written by copywriting pros, or at least a great writer who has had success before.  Never supply your JV partner with substandard material.  They won’t be nearly as inclined to do everything you ask of them and may in fact feel less willing to work with you ever again.  Make sure you really have convincing, well-written copy.

AND once you get established and you have a large list of your own, people will be coming to you for affiliate programs. By using your list to promote them, you can create a new income stream with very little effort.