Joint Ventures: Linking Needs and Assets for Fun and Profit

There are no shortcuts in business, but there ARE ways to use the power of leverage in profitable ways. You are about to find out how to earn much more money without adding new equipment, services, staff or hours of labor to your life through organizing joint ventures (JVs).

No matter what kind of business you run, what products you sell or services you offer, you can serve both your customers and your bank account better by organizing joint ventures, or JVs. All you need is a sincere desire to serve your customers even better than you already do plus an eye for increasing leverage.

A JV happens when two or more businesses create a deal that is mutually beneficial to both companies and to all customers they serve, creating a win-win-win scenario. While it may sound like "pie in the sky," it is an extremely productive way to raise your bottom line.

You want to think of it as a matching game of linking assets and needs. I am not speaking about your financial assets here but of your systems, services or products.

It's easy to do. Simply answer these questions for yourself and you are on your way.

- What product, service or system do I have that other businesses would benefit from having or using?

- What systems, services or products do I need that would better serve my clients/customers without any extra work on my part?

In order to help you underrstand how this works, I'll share an example.

An entrepreneur has a mostly automated system for improving traffic to websites. He sells this service from his own website and through affiliates (distributors who earn a commission for selling his membership). Now he wants to increase his leverage.

He asks himself "What type of business needs my traffic service," and he might come up with answers like these:

- Bloggers
- Network marketers
- Internet entrepreneurs
- Bricks and mortar businesses that have a presence online (at least a basic website)

His needs include: - Customers to use his monthly service - Affiliates (or distributors) who will act as a sales force to sell his service to their customers - Businesses that will integrate his system into their own

For him to arrange a true joint venture, he is looking for more than simply customers who will use his system and more than affiliates or "reps" who will sell his membership service to their clientele. He is looking for a win-win-win match. He is looking for someone who will integrate his system into their business.

Let's say he meets someone who has an online education program that teaches people to start and run an internet-based business. Here is what he will do to determine whether there is a good "fit" for a joint venture. (This is what YOU will do for your own business)

Researching the Possibilities

First, he has to do some sleuthing to find the right partner.

1. He researches the company and business owner to make sure there is currently enough traffic to make it worth his while. He can determine this by looking at their website rankings on Alexa.com and Quantcast.com. If this person only has a few students, there is no profit in it for him. However, if the school is already thriving, the potential for growth is huge.

2. He gets to know the other business owner. For one thing, he wants to ensure that the way she runs her business is in philosophical alignment with the way he operates his.

3. The two business owners get better acquainted and discuss the "fit." They are looking for ways to "amp up" the power of the collaboration.

Organizing the details

Assuming all goes well, the two owners create an agreement between them and move forward. The arrangement looks like this:

The university students all use the traffic program free for the first three months.

2. They get a special "inner circle" price thereafter.

3. The students don't get the traffic membership right away, because they would not be ready. They receive this valuable tool at the point in their training when they have their basic blog and website set up and already know the basics of driving traffic.

Taking Action

The owner of the traffic system makes a special page for his JV partner, the university owner, to share with her students.

2. Our dean incorporates the traffic system into her programs and makes sure that all current students who meet the minimum requirement get access to the program as well as all upcoming students.

Ready to find out how the win-win-win wokrs?

For the owner of the web traffic membership site

Maybe you are wondering how giving away three free months of service to a whole bunch of people serves our traffic guy. Imagine this: Without any advertising, he gains a few hundred brand new customers a month. They use it free for 3 months, and because this is such a perfect match, they are going to continue to buy the service.

He also gains an army of salespeople out of the deal, because many of the students in the school will also become affiliates. THey will earn a commission for selling his program to their customers or clients.

So if our school generates 500 new students per month, he gains 6,000 new customers annually plus maybe 3,000 more who are current advanced students, with no effort other than making a few phone calls and a modified webpage or two. Even though some will not retain the service, most will.

For the university students

They are so excited to have the perfect tool to generate traffic, and since they know what they are doing by the time they get their free trial, they are using the program daily right from the start. And since they're hooked on his service and using it every day for their business, they are going to be long-term customers as well as affiliates.

Additionally, a significant number of the students will gain a source of income by promoting the traffic students for their customers or clients. They become a sales force and are glad to earn a commission.

For the online school

You already know that a good joint venture must be a win for all parties involved. So far, you've seen how the traffic guy and the students win, but what about the online university owner?

The owner of the education program also wins in a big way, because she is able to provide something every student needs, at no cost to her and at no cost to them, for a whole three months. This also means she has a highly valuable bonus added to her program. Say the traffic system costs $97 per month. They save $297 the first quarter. She is setting them up for success by offering such a useful tool for them.

Everybody wins when you put the deal together in the right way, and that's exactly how it should be.

As you can see, playing a game of matching needs to assets is extremely profitable! So why not start organizing joint ventures for your own business?.