text: joint venture marketing
  You know that JV marketing is a good way to build your customer base. You have even gone so far as to make a list of potential partners that could have a positive impact on your business. Now what? The next step is to approach some of those potential partners to see if you could move forward with a business relationship.
  If your hands are getting clammy at the mere mention of professional networking and selling yourself to other businesses, you are not alone. Check out these four tips to approaching JV partners to make the process go as smoothly and successfully as possible.
  No matter how you contact your JV partners, whether it is by phone, email or traditional post, professionalism is something that should always be at the forefront of your mind. The written word should be formatted and composed in a business style, with the use of Mr. and Mrs. and common niceties like please and thank you littered throughout.
  Do not be too obvious in your sales pitch; instead, outline your company, product and benefits of working with you clearly and succinctly. A potential partner will always appreciate your professionalism, even if the partnership does not work out.
  Make it Personal
  Templates, both in letters and emails, are never the way to get noticed. In fact, sending correspondence to total strangers is rarely going to elicit a response. This is where professional relationships come in very handy, and you can build those relationships through trade shows, conferences and other modes of professional networking.
  Keep your business cards handy to exchange with the associates you meet at the venues. By making that personal connection first, you are more likely to inspire at least some consideration when you approach a business with a JV marketing proposal.
  Show the Benefits
  In a world of “what’s in it for me?” it is very important to show the benefits of working with you to any potential partner, first and foremost. While you may reap most of the rewards from the relationship at first, your JV partner can also see advantages in terms of commissions on your sales or mutual advertising. Begin with the benefits, and you may at least get your prospective partner to read your email or letter through to the end. This is the first step in obtaining a positive response for an official JV partnership.
  Your first email or letter may not get read. Your initial phone call may not get returned. Persistence is the key in any successful JV partnership. While you don’t want to drive your potential partner crazy with daily phone calls or regular sales pitches, a polite follow-up to see if the person has read your proposal is certainly appropriate. Some JV marketers suggest correspondence once a week for a month to six weeks at a time. If a response is not received within this time frame, it is probably a good indication that it is time to move onto another prospect.
  Finding JV partners and landing them can be easier said than done. Once you have a list of prospective partners, keep these tips in mind to help you successfully establish good JV partnerships that will benefit both businesses in the long run.
  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.