Category Archives: Joint Ventures

The Paradox of Joint Ventures


Know what’s really weird about joint ventures?   If you go after them the right way, you actually won’t need them.

Think about it for a minute…

Let’s say you control a 100,000 person mailing list.  Maybe you’ve generated through paid advertising.  Perhaps the leads cost you $15 each.  And to maintain that list, you’ve got to KEEP paying for new leads.  (One thing a lot of new marketers don’t realize is that once you get to a certain size with a list, you actually can’t keep growing it with the same lead source.  Because at some point, even with a very low unsubscribe rate, the number of leads dropping out exceeds the volume you can attract each month.  It’s just a byproduct of the math)

The “bandwidth” (mailing slots) on that list are therefore NOT really cost-free, despite what most people who’ll be pitching you joint ventures seem to assume.  You actually HAVE TO earn substantially on every mailing to “keep the lights on” for that particular list.  Plus, especially with a list that size, every mailing has it’s own costs…mostly in unsubscribes, but also in managing complaints, customer service inquiries, and the like.

The upshot of this is, before you’re going to agree to mail for someone, you really want some kind of proof their system is going to profitably convert your visitors into customers.  You’re going to ask to see evidence of previous mailings… or even better, paid advertising tests to a similar audience.

This is why it’s difficult to get major list holders to mail for your new offer.  What you really need to do before you approach a major mailer is develop PROOF that your system works. Which means, oddly enough, to get really solid joint venture partners you usually need to spend some money on advertising and conversion optimization.

Now, here’s the paradox…

If you develop your paid advertising funnel correctly (so it converts!) you actually may not need the joint venture partners at all.  Or rather, you may only desire them for extra volume… but most likely you’ll be able to buy all the traffic you need.

In fact, you should be able to approach the joint venture partners and just BUY traffic from them directly, rather than asking for a joint venture.  (For example, if you’ve got a proven list of 2,000+ responsive coaches, consultants, authors or speakers I would consider paying you $2 per visitor you send to my site via a specific email I’ve tested… contact me via www.PsyTechSupport.com if you’re interested)…

Of course you’d need to test this out slowly in order to protect yourself.  But if you CAN do it–and the fastest way to get there is by conversion optimizing your site on paid advertising–you’ll be in an incredibly powerful position…

Because it’s unlikely your “JV Partners” will want to reciprocate.  (Thanks to Bill Harrison for pointing this out to me originally)

On the other hand, if you have a brand new site with no proven conversion statistics, but you approach a power JV player to mail for you, what you’re really doing is asking THEM to take all the risk.

In a rational world, they won’t play ball…

Hence the JV Paradox.

However, we don’t live in a completely rational world.  Not even close!  And because of this, there ARE ways to convince power players to joint venture with you:

  • Perhaps they’re really in love with your idea…
  • Or maybe you’ve built the relationship in such a way as to imbue a feeling of reciprocity or obligation…
  • They could love YOU…
  • Or they really feel your free promotional series is valuable for their list and they’d like to use it to educate their own customers (Perry Marshall once told me I made his customers smarter, and that made it possible for them to buy more from him)…
  • Or maybe you offer them a ridiculous commission to compensate them for the risk you’re asking them to take.  (But remember, 100% of zero is still zero if the system doesn’t convert.  And no matter how much of the work you do for your partner they STILL are spending their credibility and mailing-list-bandwidth on your promotion)

There are actually about 101 different ways you can compensate for asking a JV partner to take more risk for you… but before you can use them effectively you really need to understand and accept the magnitude of what you’re asking.

Asking for a serious joint venture is kind of on the level of asking to stay at someone’s house for the evening.  You kind of have to prove you’re trustworthy, have something to offer, and invest a little time in the relationship first.

If you’d like to learn more about using joint ventures to put cash in your bank account and visitors on your list year after year, please opt in to the JV Fast Track Sublist here.

The Fastest Way to Find JV Partners

If you’ve been on my list for any length of time then you know I’m definitely NOT a “shortcuts” kind of a guy.  I don’t believe in “silver bullets” and “get paid quick formulas”…

  • I believe in order to create a business, you have to do your research… 
  • You’ve got to isolate point of difference benefits…
  • Slave over sales copy for a ridiculous number of hours until it shines…
  • Rigorously follow-up with your prospects to be sure they fully understand the benefits of your product… to say nothing of the cruel, hard fate which awaits them if they decide to pass…

And I most certainly believe it’s serious work, NOT “half-assing it” which creates the deepest level of business success.

That’s what I’ve preached for years on end, perhaps even to my detriment.

If you put a group of MY students in a room, you’ll see a group of very serious people who believe in hard work and dedication…

As a matter of fact if you’re reading this, odds are you’re ONE of those people!

But sometimes… the easier, faster way actually is the right one. So I’m writing this to remind you (and myself) that when it comes to finding joint venture partners, the “low hanging” fruits are truly the easiest and sweetest pick.

You see… in order to get a partner to promote your products or services to his hard won customers he needs to know, like and trust you.

That’s much more than a phrase.  Because JV seekers often forget how hard their partners have worked to “win” their customers.   (If you’re a vendor, you know how much time, money and emotional investment goes into getting a single customer.  But for some reason when vendors seek JV partners they forget about this and minimize the request in their minds.  “I’m just asking for him to send one email.  I’ll even write the damn thing for him!” they rationalize.  But this utterly ignores the risk your prospective partner is taking)

Potential partners want to protect their investment.   If they don’t know you their relationship with their customers is worth a LOT more to them than the potential extra income you can bring.

That’s why in Joint Venture Fast Track, we devote a great deal of time and effort to show you how to quickly move through the phases of ‘knowing’, ‘liking’ and ‘trusting’ with a new partner…

And how to prepare in advance to maximize your chances of successfully advancing through these stages.

But… that’s not what this post is about.   Rather, it’s about a group of people who already know, like and trust you…

You see, hidden within your phone’s contact book, your friend-list on Facebook, your Linkedin and Twitter contact there is probably at least one blogger, list owner or guru that you’ve been in touch with.

Maybe you’ve studied under him.  Maybe you’ve purchased one of her products.  Perhaps you’ve written a guest post for their blog (or they wrote one for yours).  

The bottom line is this.  Map out your existing relationships. People who already know you, like you, and trust you.

Approach them first.  It’s ten times easier to get a response from these existing contacts. And if they aren’t amenable to promoting, they might give you a referral to someone who will be.

Plus, they’ll help you find the bugs in your offer, and should be a lot more tolerant when (not if) you make a mistake.

Creating joint ventures with people you already know helps you hit the ground running.  It makes it possible to enter the JV world with a lot less friction.

And the ‘evergreen’ principles we teach in Joint Venture Fast Track help you turn these friendly first JVs into perpetual money streams… which give you the moral boost and extra financial security you need to go after bigger JV deals.

Onwards and Upwards ,

The Glenn 🙂

P.S.  Make sure to get JV Fast track before the deadline on Friday.  Right now it truly is a fantastic deal.  But the price goes up substantially at midnight on Friday.  And even before that you’ll risk missing out on the “Fast Action” Bonus.

How I Won Over Perry Marshall’s Audience

As we roll out Joint Venture Fast Track this week I wanted to make one VERY important point clear to everyone considering building their own joint venture channel:  Winning the JV game involves more than just getting a big mailer to promote for you.  You’ve got to win over the hearts and minds of their audience too…

Of course, your partner’s endorsement goes a long way, but do you know what goes MUCH further?

TO WIN THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF YOUR JV PARTNER’S AUDIENCE — GET NAKED!!!

No, I’m not advocating you ask your JV partner to send one of your “Selfies” via their Twitter account!  I’m talking about bearing your soul and telling the most painful part of your own journey.  Show them that you’ve been someplace much worse than they have, but emerged realistically and believably victorious.

Once you do THAT–provided you do it thoroughly and with 100% honesty–you’re no longer part of some “big boy’s club” who’s trying to siphon cash from them.  You’re ONE of them and they want to connect with you.

And it’s from this perspective that I’m re-presenting an extremely powerful interview Perry Marshall and I did many years back as we were first starting to JV together.  See, most entrepreneurs believe they should bombard a JV partner’s list with “Benefit Heavy” offers in order to squeeze out the maximum amount of cash…

But Perry knew we wouldn’t really win over his best customers that way…even with my strongest offers.  (This was particularly true since I was selling a “how to do your market research” system… and no matter how you slice it, research isn’t sexy!)

So he asked me to get on a teleseminar–which wound up being attended by more than 2,000 people!–and share my most intimate, embarrassing business story (ever).  If that wasn’t enough, I was to have my wife Sharon join us to discuss the total financial meltdown and near bankruptcy we went through from 2001 to 2003!

This was certainly enough to require a double dose of Kaopectate for even the most confident entrepreneur… but I really respected Perry’s instincts so I agreed without hesitation.

It turned out to be extremely valuable on many, many fronts. Listening to it you can’t help but absorb tools to better manage your most serious financial problems.

In fact, since the time of this one hour spontaneous call–which was recorded and distributed to literally hundreds of thousands of people–dozens of people have approached me in conferences, seminars, and other meetings to tell me the recording “saved their lives” and helped them get through some very serious financial downturns.  Strangers have hugged me.  People have come up to me in grateful tears.

In fact, this might have been the first time where I understood the notion of capturing emotion in an interview and distributing it’s power far and wide…

It’s also very entertaining – in a train wreck sort of way. (I don’t cringe quite as much when I hear it anymore)

But…

While you’re listening, I want you to put your JV hat on and think about the business impact the interview had on Perry’s customers (and mine). Take a step back and think about how this interview effected people who’d never heard of me yet and had no idea what I was selling.  Think about the bonding impact it had with Perry’s audience…and then think about what story in your own past YOU could tell with 100% honesty, humility, and a little bit of shame to bond with YOUR prospective JV partner’s audience.

In under 60 minutes, two thousands of Perry’s customers and prospects got to KNOW, LIKE and TRUST me… and within a few weeks hundreds of thousands more!

Even though we sold nothing on this call, we laid down a VERY strong foundation for Perry’s audience to purchase my products and services in the future.  We sewed the seeds for a powerful, long term JV.

Listen soon, while you’re in the “learn how to JV” mindset. And then…build on this template to win the hearts of new customers for whatever JV partnership you set up.

And whatever you do, be sure to get in on the introductory price for Joint Venture Fast Track.  Because if you miss it, you’re going to want to smack yourself in the head with a spatula.  And that’s something none of us wants to see!  (Intro price good only for a few more days)

Onwards,

The Good Dr. Glenn 🙂