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Niche Marketing: Finding JV Partners

Joint Ventures (JVs) are one of the most powerfull techniques you can employ to get your Niche Business up and running.

If they are done right Joint Ventures can help you start making money almost immediately online.

If you're not sure what a joint venture is, let me explain - here's how it works in very simplistic form :

* A has a product which he wants to get to the market

* B has a list which targets just the right market for A's product

* A finds B and sets up a Joint Venture with B

* B promotes A's product to his list

* A and B both share the profits from sales of the product

It's a total win/win arrangement for them both.

But where do you find the people to JV with?

Identifying potential Joint Venture (JV) partners for your Niche Business is relatively easy online as there are so many places to locate them. Here's a few examples :

* keyword search on major search engines e.g. Google

* e-zine directories e.g. The Directory of Ezines

* business directories e.g. Business.com

* topic organized directories e.g. DMOZ.org

To do the job properly you need to take an organised and structured approach to finding your potential JV partners. Set aside a specific amount of time each day to seek them out. Collect as much information as you can on them and collate it in a spreadsheet. The sort of information you should collect is:

* Contact information - name, email, telephone etc.

* Web site URL

* A brief description of their web site

Once you've collected a decent sized list, it's time to make contact.

*Contacting Potential JV Partners*

As you go through your data, you'll see that some sites contain detailed contact information, including a phone number, while others only post their email address.

You should make contact first by phone whenever possible. Not only does this approach show your sincerity, it will cut back on the time you spend waiting for the business owner to wade through all of their emails and respond to yours.

Your first phone call should be direct and personal. Make sure you have your target's website open in your browser to view as you speak to him. Your introduction should be something like this:

"Hi, this is John Doe, owner of xyz.com. Do you have a few moments? I'm looking at your site, abc.com, and really like what I see. It looks like our businesses have a lot in common. I think my customers would love your product, and yours might be interested in mine as well. Would you be willing to consider the possibility of teaming up to create a special offer for your customers?"

At this point back off and let the other party speak.

If they aren't interested, thank them for their time and move on.

If they bite, then you can continue your pitch and provide a run down on what you'd like to offer them and what you're requesting in return:

"I'm ready to offer you 60% commission on all sales in exchange for endorsing my product to your list."

"I'm ready to offer you full access to my existing customer list in exchange for an up sell placement of my product on your order page"

Etc..

You should use this format in your e-mail introductions as well. However, you'll need to provide some very compelling reasons in your first contact message in order to generate a response. Remember, e-mail is less personal than a phone call and this will impact your prospect's psychological response to your offer.

The best way to grab their attention when you contact potetial Joint Venture partners via e-mail is to make it clear from the outset that you want to create a "win-win" situation - in fact, create a "win-win" situation "slanted in their favor". Offer to provide them with a free copy of your product for evaluation. Let them know exactly when, where and how to contact you and suggest a follow up phone call.

*Persistence Will Win The Day*

Like every other sales situation (Yes it "is" a sales situation - you're trying to sell an idea, right?) it's unlikely that you will strike lucky straight away, rejections are inevitable, but keep plugging away at your list. Be Persistent.

It may take a while before you hit on the right JV partner and get the deal you're looking for - don't let yourself get discouraged - keep yourself motivated - keep organised - prioritize your search and make at least two phone calls and send out two or three e-mails every day until you're successfull.

*And Don't Stop There!*

Once you've found a JV partner don't stop there. There's no reason why you shouldn't continue making those phone calls and sending out those e-mail offers.

Why?

Because then you can create multiple JV's for your Niche product with dozens of other businesses, leveraging dozens of customer lists.

In fact, if you're feeling really motivated, you can take this process a step further and create "multi-party" joint ventures - bringing several businesses together to work towards one campaign - remember John Reese and his million dollar sales day not so long ago? - That's power of JVs.

Copyright © 2005, André Anthony Niche Market Know-How

André Anthony owns and operates Niche Market Know-How a resource for beginning Niche Marketers. Visit http://www.nichemarketknowhow.com today to find strategies, tips, tools, products and resources for effective niche marketing. Get his Niche Market Know-how Mini Course here: http://www.nichemarketknowhow.com/course.htm