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 Joint Venture Marketing Wealth Report

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 Joint Venture Marketing Wealth Report

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 Joint Venture Marketing Wealth Report

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 Joint Venture Marketing Wealth Report

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