Joint Venture Marketing: Capitalizing on the Psychology of Trusting Relationships

Humans by nature are social creatures and they have the ability to greatly influence one another. This influence is not limited solely to a person-to-person basis, as people are just as readily influenced by advertising, reference and recommendations. Suggestions are most powerful when they come from a known and trusted source, but people are almost constantly looking for advice, approval and suggestions on a very psychological level. Expert marketing strategies capitalize on this basic truth of human nature, and the strength of a joint venture marketing partnership creates a space where you and your partners can benefit tremendously from the psychological edge naturally created by your partnership.

The Psychological Edge of a Joint Venture Marketing Partnership

You may not be aware of this psychological philosophy, but just having a joint venture partnership engenders trust among consumers. At its core, a joint venture marketing partnership is a relationship. The stronger your relationship with your partners, the stronger and more successful your venture is likely to be. Relationships are built on trust, and when consumers see that you have partnerships with one or more companies, it demonstrates that you trust one another. This instills a feeling of confidence in the consumer.

Consumers are presented with an endless array of products and companies from which to choose. Depending on the industry, there are usually many companies and websites selling similar, if not identical products or services. In a world of big business and globalization, consumers are increasingly conscientious of the dwindling small business and mom and pop-like stores on which the United States was built. Many consumers, if given a choice, will purchase from a small company rather than a large one, because they believe their purchases are appreciated and make a difference to these smaller companies.

How to Use Consumer Psychology to Your Benefit

If you have a joint venture marketing partnership of two or more small businesses, this immediately plays to this type of consumer psychology. They are more likely to buy from your company, even though you sell the same products or services as a larger corporation because the consumer has a feeling of being personally invested in your company’s survival. On the other hand most people believe a large corporation will survive with or without their purchase.

Being part of a joint venture marketing partnership is an automatic endorsement from your partners, creating a feeling of confidence and trust among your potential customers. If you agree to a partnership, it means you view the company you’re partnering with as a trustworthy source. The reverse also holds true. Your joint venture marketing partners have trust and faith in you and your company. This is demonstrated to consumers simply by the business link that you share.

Consumers recognize these relationships as endorsements and recommendations. Even if the consumer doesn’t know of your company, the fact that you have other professionals and businesses that connect with you is a vote of confidence. One the smartest and most strategic ways you can capitalize on consumer psychology and build customer confidence in your company is to develop a joint venture marketing partnership.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free JV Wealth e-zine.

Strategic Partnerships: How to Choose Them for Greater Success

You may not be aware of it, but strategic partnerships are all around us at all times. Think about your own life. Are you married? Committed to a significant other? If so, you are living in a form of a strategic partnership. Both individuals bring something to the relationship that the other values and sees as beneficial. It’s similar in business. A strategic partnership should be a relationship in which both parties bring something to the relationship that each considers a valuable asset.

When you decide you’re ready to take the leap into a strategic relationship, contact your potential partner and go out for a brainstorming session. Decide if you think the relationship will benefit both of you and how. Spell out how each of you thinks the relationship will work, and who is responsible for doing what and when. Strategic partnerships can become a source of discontent if things are not clearly outlined in the beginning. Sometimes, there are people who say they’re looking for a strategic partnership, but they’re really only in it for what they can get out of it.

A strategic partnership is just that ‘ a partnership in which each party brings something to the table and is willing to work to make sure the other partner is satisfied in the relationship. It can either be like a great marriage or a marriage gone badly; either way, it will take work and a commitment on the part of each business involved.

Just like you don’t want to rush into marriage, you probably don’t want to rush into a strategic partnership. Date for a while. Try a couple of projects before you commit to a long-term relationship. Make sure the other party is as committed to the relationship as you are and is willing to do their share. The great thing about a strategic partnership is that, hopefully, you’ll be partnering with someone who has a different set of strengths than you do. Learning to capitalize on each other’s strengths and minimize each other’s weaknesses is one of the reasons strategic partnerships are so valuable. Like a marriage, you can learn to work together when you’ve found the right partner.

Be creative when you think about potential strategic partnerships. Do you do pedicures? How about partnering with a person who sells sandals or women’s clothing? Are you a make up artist? How about partnering with an image consultant? Or having the image consultant partner with a tailor? One cosmetic consultant creatively partnered with a travel agent because she had a product line that would take a normal bag of makeup and reduce it to 4 purse size pieces for the woman who traveled. There are no limits to strategic partner opportunities when you begin to think about who touches a market that is similar to yours.

As in any relationship, you may hit a few bumps in the road, but if you’ve done your homework and chosen someone who is like-minded in their philosophy, you will be able to weather the storm and make your partnership work for you.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free JV Wealth e-zine.

Joint Venture Marketing: New Strategies to Increase Your Profits

Joint venture marketing has become an extremely popular way for small businesses to increase their visibility and maximize profits.  When two or more companies combine their resources, it increases the growth potential and marketing opportunities for all parties involved.

A typical start to a joint venture marketing partnership is to place advertising for your products and services on your partner’s site, including links to your website. However, there are additional strategies to implement not as readily recognized that will raise awareness for your joint venture marketing partnership, as well as for your individual business.

Issue News Releases

Issuing news releases is a non-invasive way to get information to your clients about your business, and provides a gentle reminder that it may be time to order again. Now that you have a joint venture marketing partnership, there are a variety of ways to fit regular news releases into the regular fold of your business. You may choose to issue a news release once a month, but have each member of your partnership be responsible for alternating months. For instance, if you have a small partnership with only a couple members that would mean each company would be responsible for six news releases per year. In this way you can alternate months so the business of putting out a news release won’t be too time consuming or overwhelming.

The beauty of a news release is twofold: first it provides information to your customer base about your company and secondly it creates additional advertising. Structuring the news releases can be done in a variety of ways. You may choose to have the news release cover just the author’s company, or each month includes news of all the joint venture marketing partners. With the news release will come advertising and links to your partners’ sites. In this capacity, even if the news release doesn’t contain specific information about your company that particular month, the advertising will mention your business, products or services and draw attention to your company.

How to Integrate the News Release into JV Marketing

The most common way to integrate a news release into a joint venture marketing partnership is to have the subject of that month’s news release contain only information and news about the authoring company. This means that your business assumes the burden of writing a news release every other month, but you gain the benefit of extra advertising every time a news release is issued. If you have multiple marketing partners, your authorship responsibility will decrease according to the number of partners, but the additional marketing benefits will remain intact.

Another way to capitalize on your news releases is to send them to print and web periodicals in your industry. They may not get released or published each month, but that will be at the discretion of the publisher. The important thing is to try to increase the circulation of your news releases (including the links and advertising) once they have been written. Once the work of writing the promotional news releases has been completed, you’ve got nothing to lose by trying to increase the distribution of them!

Proposing a Joint Venture Offer that Cannot Be Refused

Joint ventures are an excellent strategy for increasing your market reach and overall revenues but the question is; how can you entice a prospective partner to join you in a lucrative joint venture? Not everyone can see the big picture quite as vividly as you can, therefore it is important to employ strategies to make sure you are both on the same page of excitement.

Increasing the Value of the Partnership

There is only one bottom line to attracting a joint venture partner: provide significant benefits. This is easier said than done, but there are several strategies you can employ to enhance the lure of your proposal.

• Craft your joint venture proposal with only the partner’s perspective in mind. You already know the benefits your business will gain, so there’s no need to re-hash this information in your offer. Instead, focus specifically on how your potential partner will benefit.

• Clearly outline all benefits. What seems obvious to you may not be apparent to your potential partner. Being too clear is never a flaw, but vagueness is always a fallacy. Make sure that you specifically highlight all the benefits, whether tangible or intangible. Of course, your partner will gain additional sales and revenues, but what about intangibles, such as increased branding, new market segments, and free exposure to a target audience? Revenue from these aspects may not be seen immediately, but certainly offer long-term benefits.

• Make your offer standout from the competitors. Chances are you’re approaching a potentially lucrative partner for joint venture purposes and if so, then other companies are doing the same. Making your offer enticing means standing out from the crowd. If you are willing to provide your potential partner with a higher commission than the industry standard, then make sure to mention that first. This will attract their attention, motivating them to read through your entire proposal and absorb the benefits.

• Be exclusive. If you have joint ventures with anyone and everyone, then the most lucrative potential partners will not be enticed. Why would they want to joint venture with you when your partnerships are already saturated? Make sure that your proposal feels exclusive, and discuss the reasons why this proposal is unlike others already on the table.

• Demonstrate your understanding of both customer lists. When you show your potential partner that you have a full knowledge of both customer bases, this will demonstrate your awareness regarding the full potential of the joint venture. Point out why and how your customer lists benefit from the joint venture. The more specific you can get, the more enticing the offer is.

Joint ventures go above and beyond the standard affiliate marketing. Typically, joint ventures can offer significant rewards for both parties that supersede the affiliate relationship. Subsequently, the work you put into enticing your ideal partner will be worth the effort in the end.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free JV Wealth e-zine.

Profitable Strategic Alliances

The most enduring and profitable strategic alliances are those in which each company brings something to the table the other company lacks. There are certain situations when it simply makes sense to form a strategic partnership. For instance:

• Partner when one business lacks wide access to the market, and the other has a large customer base or access to the market, but needs more products or services to bring to its customers.

• Partner when one business is highly specialized or has a strong niche skill. Large businesses often outsource to smaller businesses that specialize in certain areas.

• Partner when trying to break into a new market, while keeping costs contained.

• Partner in government contracting situations in order to win the contract. A larger company may partner with a smaller enterprise in order to qualify for certain contracts that are reserved for minority-owned businesses or small businesses. Sometimes the smaller company will need the resources of the larger business in order to adequately fulfill the government contract requirements.

Also, consider strategic alliances when there is a need to access the market quickly. By focusing on your core competencies, weighing the options of creating a product or service versus finding someone who already offers the same thing, you can bring a potential opportunity for partnership to a company with whom you would like to work. Keep in mind that you need to think about how all the parties in a partnership benefit, not just your company. If you are only out for yourself, your alliance will fail.

A strategic alliance can also take form in finding profit by cutting costs. For instance, two small businesses might find a way to reduce rent by sharing space in a warehouse or office complex. Or perhaps you can share the cost of a database subscription or business group membership with a strategic partner to help defray the costs. Small businesses can also lease space from larger companies. One woman runs her small coffee shop out of a local gas station. Her lease monies were more than the retail profits being generated by the few items that were selling in the space. She had a steady stream of clientele so both businesses found the arrangement profitable.

Think ahead when looking to develop profitable strategic alliances. You can increase market share, reduce costs and keep more money in your pocket by partnering with large or small firms. Whatever you decide, keep your partner’s best interest in mind and you’ll be able to develop partnerships that create a better business environment for everyone involved.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free JV Wealth e-zine.

Joint Venture Marketing: Partnering for More Links Back to Your Site

Embarking on a joint venture marketing partnership is an excellent way to raise awareness for your company while simultaneously forming a new network of business relations that have the potential for highly profitable returns. What makes joint venture marketing so successful is the exponential exposure you gain as a result of the partnership. This type of partnership puts to use many traditional forms of Internet marketing, but because of the increased potential for exposure some of these strategies deserve a more in-depth look.

Linking Strategies Realized

Links to your site from other sites can lead to significantly increased traffic. A joint venture marketing partnership is a key component when capitalizing on the importance of linking strategies.

One of the first steps to take in your new joint venture will be the mutual exchange of advertising rights on your partners’ site. This often includes a link to your company’s website from the advertisement on your partners’ site. With this first primary component you’ll immediately start the all-important Internet linking strategy, which can greatly increase traffic to your site.

Further Linking Strategies

Once you have formed a joint venture marketing partnership, you will most likely notice an immediate increase in traffic to your site. However, to continue to be successful, you should capitalize on the fresh energy generated by this new partnership. Submitting your site to key directories will help increase the visibility of your company through the advertising of your joint venture.

Google and other major search engines consider “link popularity” (the number of incoming hits or links to your website) as a very important factor in assigning ranking to your company’s website. The more links you have, the higher your rank will be in their search engine. The higher your rank, the more traffic there is driven to your site.

Strategies to Gain Link Popularity

If you don’t have enough link popularity to score high on the Google rankings, don’t lose heart. There are other ways to get your marketing partnership and individual business noticed. You may want to construct a website specifically for your new venture in addition to the advertising that you mutually conduct on each other’s sites. If you do create a third party site, submitting the new site to key directories will help your Internet ranking as well as increase traffic.

Remember, it’s free to list in some directories such as the Open Directory Project but make sure to list your business site as well as your joint venture site, and you can garner a very important back link that will boost your search rankings. Yahoo! Directory is an important site to be listed in, but requires a $299 annual fee, as do some other commercial sites. However, since you are now part of a joint venture marketing partnership, you can share the costs of the annual fee for things like directory listings.

A joint venture marketing partnership not only increases your business community and an awareness for your business, but it also offers new financial resources such as paid advertising and directory listings which on your own, you may not be able handle from a financial standpoint.

Strength in Strategic Alliances

A strategic alliance is really just a business-to-business collaboration that can be formed for many reasons. As a small business owner, it’s important to understand the strength and benefits of utilizing strategic alliances, which may be overlooked during the process of developing new business and creating additional streams of revenue.

Small Business Alliances Produce Great Results

Alliances between small businesses can offer additional benefits aside from an increase in sales. For instance, small business owners within a strategic alliance who proactively approach large corporations on behalf of their membership base can secure better rates and additional services as a result of the alliance they’ve formed. If you’re a small business owner looking for products or services to enhance your business, chances are other small business owners are looking for similar opportunities. Why not form a strategic alliance and approach the product or service provider as a group to show there is a need and a market you are aligned in, with the hope of doing business with larger companies who are willing to work with you.

Capitalize Upon Merged Resources

Small businesses can combine their limited resources in order to appear in high traffic advertising areas than each business could afford to do on its own. For example, one small business-networking group decided to participate in a high traffic tradeshow on behalf of the businesses that chose to be involved. Using the banner of their combined membership, the group was able to absorb the tradeshow fees and cost of staffing the event, with each participating company taking a time slot and promoting their business, as well as the alliance that they had formed. Not only did the participating members increase their company’s visibility and gain new business, the networking group added new members that were unaware of their activities, which only served to increase the strength of the alliance by providing a larger member base to include in negotiations.

Synergetic Referrals

A business group of marketing professionals found strength in forming a strategic alliance amongst themselves in order to offer a more comprehensive service package to large clients than any of the independent businesses was able to offer on their own. While they had to deal with some service crossover, it was determined the size of the potential contracts outweighed what any one business would give up in revenue if crossover did occur. To handle the situation, it was written in the alliance contract that the company who brought the business to the table would have the last say in who would work on each contract and what the final compensation would be in the event of a crossover situation. The business owners were like-minded in that they all agreed to act in the best interest of the alliance’s clients first in order to provide a service level above and beyond the large marketing communications firms with which they were competing. By operating as a virtual team of experts, this alliance was able to increase business for all participating. They understood the strength in approaching large clients with a more comprehensive offering than any of them could offer independently.

Leverage the strengths of a strategic alliance on behalf of your business and tap into clients and resources you may not have thought previously available.

Joint Venture Your Way to the Top

Joint ventures are a great way to team up with another company or person who are looking to achieve similar goals. By using your existing resources, you can save time and money to achieve your dreams. Before you set up your joint venture, decide exactly what it is you want to accomplish with the project. Are you looking to access additional information and resources? Do you want to tap into new markets or extend your marketing reach? What is it that you hope to accomplish? By having a defined target, you are more likely to hit the “bulls-eye” and create a winning plan.

Joint Venture vs. Traditional Partnership: Benefits

The main difference between a joint venture and a traditional partnership is that a joint venture is normally a temporary or project based arrangement. Because of this dynamic there are significant tax advantages to be realized. First, each member retains ownership of his or her property. Secondly, you will only be taxed on the joint venture profits according to whatever business structure has been established. Additionally, you and your partner can choose to use as much or as little of their Capital Cost Allowance (CCA) claim as you would like.

Let’s use an example of an inventor looking to bring a new product to market. Normally, an inventor will not have the resources and distribution channels needed to mass-produce his product. Thinking creatively, the inventor decides to research manufacturing companies with the capabilities needed to produce his product. By entering into a joint venture with the manufacturing company, the inventor now has access to additional funds, production resources, and distribution channels that would have required months or even years to develop on his own. The manufacturing company in turn has acquired a new product to provide to its existing customer base, thereby creating an additional stream of revenue. Both parties have retained their autonomy in regards to how the profit share is utilized.

Joint Venture Your Company

Suppose you don’t have a new invention to bring to market. Say your company is service-oriented, providing consulting services to the small business sector. Your dilemma is reaching and gaining greater exposure to your target market. How can you accomplish this without spending an arm and a leg on advertising? How about a joint venture with a bank or credit union that is currently servicing your target market? The bank may be able to offer your company’s services as a resource to their customers as a way of helping the businesses they are financing to succeed. Naturally, the bank is interested in the success of the businesses they’re funding and understands that any successful business will have a great marketing strategy. You reach a broader target market and the bank assists the businesses in which it has a vested interest, and you both retain autonomy.

There are a myriad of joint venture opportunities available. You can have great success with this marketing strategy if you’re willing to think outside the box, outline specific goals for your joint venture and follow through on the execution.

Increasing Your Revenues Through Strategic Alliance Partnerships

Strategic partnerships are a great way to increase revenue without significant out of pocket expense. Many small businesses offer a limited product line or service and find that while they have happy customers, their customers don’t need to purchase the product or service on a regular basis, especially when it is not a consumable product.

With that in mind, what can you do with the customer list you already have and how can you tap into more of your target market? Simple. Find another business with the same target market, and partner with them to share the resource of your leads.

For instance, suppose you sell high-end furniture. Since people don’t need to purchase furniture every week, your clients may be happy, but regular repeat business will be difficult to generate. How about partnering with a high-end interior designer who has access to the same market you are targeting? You can make referrals of your clients to the designer, and the designer can offer your product line to her clients. You can take your partnership a step further and include each other’s information on your websites or informational pieces in order to maximize exposure for both businesses.

Another example of a strategic partnership is a small travel agency that approached a luggage store in her city. Both companies look for people who travel. The luggage store was happy to include the agent’s information when they sold a piece of luggage and the agent provided luggage tags to her clients when they booked a trip. Both companies benefited from the alliance and their customers received an additional value added service.

One real estate agent formed a unique strategic alliance with a pizza shop in the area in which he focused on selling real estate. In return for sending business to the pizza place, the agent negotiated a reduced rate on the pizzas he purchased. When a client was moving in to their new home, the agent had a pizza delivered, with a magnet congratulating the client on the move. The magnet included the pizza shop number and the agent’s contact information. The pizza shop was introduced to the new resident, the agent was cemented in the mind of the customer and the customer didn’t have to worry about what to fix for dinner during the move. It was a winning combination that continues to this day.

Strategic partnerships are a great way to move your business forward without significant out of pocket expense. Think about businesses and people related to your industry and decide if there are some strategic alliances that are just waiting to be formed. Then pick up the phone, tap into your business network, and see if there are any warm leads you can pursue. If your network doesn’t turn anything up, pick up the phone and make a few cold calls to see what businesses would be interested in a strategic partnership with you. You may find some that are not interested or who already have relationships in place. This is completely normal. Move on to the next until you find one that works. Then commit to the relationship and watch your business grow.

Increase Consumer Confidence with Joint Venture Marketing

Forming a joint venture marketing partnership can be an effective way to expand your business and gain new clients as it has a psychological component that works particularly well to instill consumer confidence, which will ultimately lead to loyal customers and increased sales.

Tapping Into Consumer Psychology

Psychology plays an integral role in all business marketing. Studies have proven time and time again that people will buy just about anything, as long as it is well marketed and effectively advertised and that consumers are prone to purchasing items they don’t really need or often cannot afford. Inspiring people to make such purchases is marketing genius and can be enhanced through a joint venture marketing partnership.

Consumer confidence is one of the largest determining factors in purchases they make, and psychology is one of the largest determiners of consumer confidence. Thus, understanding the role psychology plays in marketing can help boost the confidence of consumers who purchase your products and services, leading to increased sales for your company.

Using Joint Venture Marketing to Increase Consumer Confidence

Forming a joint venture marketing partnership is one way your company can reach consumers on a psychological level, increase their confidence, and form a tight community of loyal clients. Keep in mind, people like to feel significant, needed, and important, so if a customer feels his business is truly important to you, this will inspire his confidence to purchase from your company. If you reinforce this feeling of importance, you create a snowball effect, where the more important a customer feels he is, the more confidence he will have for your business. This increased customer confidence of course translates to increased sales for your company. Understanding this psychological mechanism of the business/client relationship will put you on track to forming strong and long lasting relationships with your customers.

Joint Venture Marketing Taps Into Buying Psychology

Forming a joint venture marketing partnership influences consumer buying psychology in many ways. Here are a couple of examples:

• Working with other companies and sharing ideas about how each of you handles customer service and consumer confidence will create new and exciting ways to reach a previously untapped consumer base, benefiting both companies involved in the joint venture.

• When your joint venture partner gains some of your clients and vice versa, you create a community of clients that you both share. These customers are now part of an elite group of clients that you and your joint venture partner can target and market to in ways that you couldn’t when they only belonged to one of you.

Both of these points are important to understand when tapping into the psychological nature of human beings if you are to be successful at utilizing this knowledge to improve your company’s sales. You can use this understanding to your advantage. Don’t regard it as manipulation, but simply smart business psychology. These psychological influences are at work all around us in everyday life. Human beings are naturally wired this way, and understanding this is not the same as manipulation.

A joint venture marketing partnership that focuses on consumer psychology makes targeted suggestions based on buying habits and behavior, which is a win-win situation: it makes the consumer feel understood, and it has to potential to increase your business!

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free JV Wealth e-zine.

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