Working with joint venture (JV) partners is a powerful way to grow your business. You can recommend and promote each other to extend your exposure and the number of people who learn about what you do. This is a great addition to other traditional means of list building, like collecting names at speaking engagements and offering a free gift on your website.
A recommendation from another professional adds credibility when you are being introduced to a new group of potential clients. This helps prospects open up to what you have to say and makes them more willing to consider your offer.
A good JV partner has alignment with your business
For a successful partnership, you need to have several things aligned in your two businesses:
1. You share the same target audience
2. Your businesses are not competitive
3. You are both trying to grow your business
4. You have similarly sized businesses
Reach out to potential partners
After you have identified some potential joint venture partners, the question is how do you connect with them? Below I’ve shared three different methods and each one can work very well.
1. Introductions. The best way to connect with a potential new partner is to be introduced by someone you know in common. This helps break through any possible barriers and starts to build trust early. Check LinkedIn to find connections if none immediately come to mind.
2. Leverage your intuition. Email a person you feel would be a good partner and say something like, “I keep getting these intuitive hints that we should be talking. Not sure if you believe in that sort of thing, but if you are open to it, I’d like to jump on the phone for a few minutes to see what we’re supposed to do together.”
3. Offer to contribute. If you know someone running a program with a bunch of JV partners and you’d like to be included, email and simply ask, “I see that you are having a great telesummit and I’m open to being a contributor. If you’re open to that, I would love to talk with you. There may be a way I can reciprocate and we’ll see where it goes.”
At first this kind of contact may seem awkward to you. Don’t worry, because after a little practice, you’ll feel more comfortable. Your skills will improve as you reach out to people and start getting a good response. Not everyone will be open to your offer to work together, but you don’t need them all. A few good, committed partners will help you grow your business faster than you can on your own.
Your Client Attraction Assignment
What kind of partners would you like to work with? Take time this week to look at business owners who serve the same target audience. Investigate how they work and present themselves. Make a list of the best potential partners you’ve discovered and then start reaching out.
This is just one of the many best practices we dive deep into with the students of The Client Attraction Business School, the premier training school for growth-minded entrepreneurs looking to quickly attract more clients and make more money. If you’re interested in finding out more, visit www.ClientAttractionBusinessSchool.com for more details. To speak to an enrollment coach, click here.
Comments 1
Hi, Just starting off and was looking for ideas re Joint Venture partners and how to reach out to them. Your article has been extremely helpful and I am going to get onto it this week.