Internet Marketing Q&A - Issue 7

It’s time to answer another set of questions from my readers. You’re in that group, so you get the benefit of the great questions your peers ask me.

A lot of people wonder why I do this. There are really three big reasons…

First, I care about whether you succeed or not. Internet marketing really isn’t rocket science…once you know what you’re doing. Before you "get it", though, it helps a ton to have somebody actually answer real questions that real people ask along the way.

Second, even after you’re an "expert", it’s great to get new ideas from other people. You never know when an answer to a question will press just right button in your brain…and boost your profits.

Third, I get literally thousands of emails every week, and it’s impossible to answer them all. So I set up this system to help me manage email better, while still giving you the information you need.

So read on, and I hope you enjoy the learning.

————- CURRENT ISSUE ————-

If you’ve been around Internet marketing for any period of time, you’ve probably heard of joint ventures, or JVs. These are partnerships where all parties (usually two, but it can be more) profit from the deal.

But if you’ve been around a while, you’ve probably also heard that JVs are difficult to get, especially if you’re brand new. I get questions about JVs all the time. This email answers some of the most common ones.

1) I’ve sent out probably 50 JV proposal emails in the past three months, and haven’t gotten ONE response. How can I get somebody to say yes? (asked by Clinton Beehler)

ANSWER: Excellent question, and it’s probably the most common one I get on this topic.

Fortunately, the answer is pretty easy, although it takes a little work to do what I’m going to tell you to do.

I get several hundred JV proposal emails every single week. Imagine getting over 1,000 proposal emails a month. What would you do with email 1,001? Yep, you’d probably ignore it. I just don’t have the time to read them all, much less respond.

So if you want to get your JV proposal read, regardless of who you’re proposing to, you need to do three things:

* Make your email subject grab their attention. A generic “JV Proposal” subject line probably won’t get read. But a subject like “PERSONAL: May I promote [his product]?” might. No guarantees, but remember, your subject has to compel somebody to open your email or the rest of your email doesn’t matter.

* Lead with what you bring to the table. If your entire email is about how your partner should promote your product to make you money, that’s no good. Instead, emphasize how HE can make more money along with you, so it’s a win-win deal. That’s a better pitch.

* Make the strongest case by dropping names of well known people you’ve worked with before, or people you already have on board for the JV already. If any of those people have given you testimonials about how good it was to work with you, it’s definitely smart to include those in your proposal.

* Be creative. Overwhelm him with profit opportunity, and really go out of your way to make it painless for your prospect to say yes. For example, if you’ll write all the sales copy and the email templates for the promotion, and all he has to do it load stuff up to his server or autoresponder account, that removes most of the work for him.

Even if you follow those guidelines, you still won’t get a yes every time, but you’ll put the odds in your favor. That’s the best you can do, and it might just pay off big.

How can I get a JV with a big name guru that will get me four- and five-figure paydays I’ve heard about? (asked by Roxie Barletta)

ANSWER: This might literally be the $64,000 question.

People want JVs with the big names because that usually means more profits. But remember what I told you in my answer to the previous question…I get several hundred proposals a WEEK. That reduces your odds.

There are really three main ways to get a JV going with a big name.

First, you can start by promoting their products and making them money. This proves you actually bring some profit potential to the table.

You don’t have to win their affiliate contest, or make them millions. But saying you’ve already made them some money helps your case.

Second, get an introduction. You can’t force this, so all you can do is increase your exposure to the big names and try to develop relationships that might grow into JVs.

That might mean hanging out in marketing forums and commenting on their posts. It might mean going to live events and introducing yourself. It might mean offering to help them by doing some free work on a product or launch.

Anything that will help you get to know people is something worth considering. Out of that could come partnerships with those people, or perhaps with people they know…and that might include a big name.

Third, you can shoot for a level below the big names. This might sound strange, but sometimes it’s best NOT to target the big names. Instead, target the up and coming marketers.

When you see a name you don’t recognize in the second or third spot in somebody’s affiliate contest, that might be a good person to try.

For example, I did a couple JVs with Mike Filsaime before he was a big name. Several of them made solid profits for both of us, but that’s nothing compared to what our partnerships bring in now.

By targeting somebody who wasn’t a big name yet, I grew a relationship with somebody who’s now a big name. And he can say the same about me.

3) What in the world can I offer a JV partner if I don’t have a list? (asked by Tyrone Hemmenway)

ANSWER: I get this question a lot, and it’s a real challenge for people relatively new to online marketing. Fortunately, you CAN get JV partners even if you don’t have a list.

Having a list is great, but it’s only one of the things you can offer a partner. When you don’t have a list, or if your list is really small, that’s where creativity can make a big difference.

For example, let’s say you don’t have a list, but you want to do a JV with a particular person you’ve read posts from in a marketing forum. Ask yourself what you can offer this person that will make the partnership pretty much equal.

He might have a list, so he might be the one promoting a product to people, but can you contribute in some other way? Probably so. Here are some possibilities:

* If you can write sales copy, you could write some to promote your joint product. That might save a ton of money for both of you.

* If you can create websites, you could do the technical grunt work of getting everything set up so he doesn’t have to worry about it. That’s great if the person you’re partnering with is already very busy.

* If you’re good at creating products, you can take more of the creative load and let the other person concentrate on other things.

You get the point.

Being able to promote a product to your own list is a nice contribution to a JV, but it’s not the only thing that can help a partner. Anything you can contribute that can save time, save money or bring in more profit is usually very attractive to potential partners.

And when you propose your JV with these creative things in there, that has the extra benefit of setting your proposal apart from the others your partner might get.

4) Do JVs work outside the Internet Marketing niche? (asked by Lorrie Lipton)

ANSWER: This is an easy one…YES! In fact, JVs are more common outside of IM than inside. That’s where they started, actually.

Think about when you go to McDonald’s and order a Happy Meal. The toy that comes inside the box is usually from Disney, or Pixar or some other company. That’s a JV.

So if you’re in a niche other than IM, don’t think JVs are off-limits for you.

What makes a JV one of those monsters that
generates huge profits? (asked by Lakisha Facey)

ANSWER: I think people focus too much on the profits sometimes, when JV relationships are more important in the long run, but profits do count. And the most profitable JVs have some things in common.

First, they promote a great product. For example, Steven Clayton & Tim Godfrey released Commission Blueprint earlier this year. It was a fantastic product, and our JV did very well. A great product makes everything easier.

Second, the most successful JVs leverage at least one very responsive list. There’s no way around that. You can make good money without a big list involved, but you have to have some buyers, and that means at least one responsive list.

When I promoted Commission Blueprint, I knew it was a perfect fit for my list, so I was confident that they would respond. That made Steve and Tim more willing to work with me to create a killer bonus for my readers, and it paid off well for both of us.

Third, they’re professional. The websites work, the products are laser targeted at good markets, the graphics for everything look nice, and the promotion efforts hang together well.

If you want a super successful JV, you need to make sure it has a solid foundation of all of those things. If they’re not in place, your chances of success go down.

There are other factors that might make a difference, but those are the biggest three.

Remember, JVs are about profit AND relationships. Not every JV will be a profit gusher, but that’s usually less important in the long run than developing relationships that grow into larger profit engines in the future.

———-

All right, that wraps it up for this time.

If you like getting answers to questions like this, ask your own question! You can submit your question by filling out the simple form at:

http://www.michaelrasmussen.com/questions/

Every couple weeks or so, I’ll go through the questions and pick out 5-6 to answer in an email to people on my lists.

Your questions are what will make this email helpful, so please keep them coming. I can’t guarantee I’ll answer your question, but if the same question gets asked several times, I’ll try to answer that one. So don’t think, "Somebody’s probably asked that already." Maybe so, but it’s worth asking anyway.

All the best,

Michael Rasmussen
CEO, BulletProof Marketing, Inc.

P.S. If you know any Internet marketers who would enjoy this article, just send them an email with this link:
http://www.michaelrasmussen.com/internet-marketing-qa-issue-7

About the Author

Michael Rasmussen is a successful Internet Marketing Consultant and author of many top-selling eBooks. Michael has been marketing online since the early days and he knows what it takes to make money and succeed online. Stop by his Web site and subscribe to his Free monthly newsletter full strategies and techniques for successful web site promotions that can help YOU! Go to http://www.MichaelRasmussen.com

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