Do Small Guys Stand A Chance To Do Joint Ventures With The Top Guns?

Last week, I talked about the 10 most common mistakes people make in a Joint Venture approach.

Coupled with the fear of rejection (like I’ve said before, who likes to be rejected?), I believe this is the reason why many beginning marketers look for other marketing and traffic driving methods. Pay-Per-Click, Article Marketing, buying ads off site spaces… anything but the dreaded JV. Because most other marketing methods don’t have the need for dealing with people, they have the highest appeal. And why not? You don’t need to face another rejection.

These other marketing methods work splendid too, but just not as splendid as Joint Ventures. And if you don’t do JVs this often means leaving a bigger pile of money on the table which otherwise can be yours.

The top Internet Marketers work with one another and bring in 10 times more money than the average marketer.

Look at conventional businesses. The bigger players are bigger than the small timers because they not only know the right people, they also know how to talk to them. Big companies do ventures with other companies to bring in exponential sales revenue.

If big businesses do it, why not you?

So the bigger question is: Do Small Guys Stand A Chance To Do Joint Ventures With The Top Guns?

This isn’t a straight YES or NO answer you’re expecting. Quite simply, however way you answer it, it will be right. Always. If you think small guys don’t stand a chance at all, you’re right. If you have strong reason to believe that your current circumstances won’t prevent you from working with the best people in the field, you’re just as right. And I hope this is where your conviction is.

The first step is to stop thinking like a small guy. Also, stop calling yourself “small guy” or thinking of yourself that way. You are a big guy, just waiting to prove himself. That’s just it. So the next step is to strive to be a big player. If you want to work with the best people, you have to be the best at what you do too.

Build your business foundation until it’s rock solid first. Have a line of products to start and sell. Be an expert and major at something that will be of big benefits to the people you are going to work with.

Just doing these gives you tremendous advantage over other wanna-be’s and lets you put a foot in the door much, much easier because you have something valuable to offer when you approach other people for Joint Ventures.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you can get the top guns right away but you can always work your way up. Make escalating to ‘guru’ level your ultimate goal. I had that resolution set years back when I started out because I know it would definitely change the fortunes of my business warfare. And it can for you too.

Joint Ventures: Avoiding 10 Most Common Mistakes

A big part of the success of my business, sales and network is owed to the Joint Venture partners that I work with. Without them, my business and I wouldn’t come a long way. I suspect it would have died and fizzled if not for these wonderful people around me to work with.

It wasn’t a bed of roses when I started out, of course. I kept hearing ‘no’ every time I tried to strike a JV deal. Nobody wanted to work with a nobody like me back then. I hate rejections (who doesn’t?) and above all, I was afraid of rejections. Terribly afraid.

Previously, I had failed at Network Marketing. And here I was, getting pounded by ‘no’ replies. I also took no reply as a ‘no’.

However I was very, very convinced that doing Joint Ventures successfully will mean a big difference to my business. And if I didn’t stay and crack the code my business will never have thrived. And I would have never survived.

I’m glad I didn’t give up even when it seemed like the best and most comfortable thing to do. And the rewards were finally revealed and reaped.

Today I have many of the top Internet Marketers in the world promoting my products and the latest launches - Jeremy Gislason, Simon Hodgkinson, John Delavera, Ian del Carmen, Michael Rasmussen, Calvin Woon (who is doing a remarkably great job rising fast from Singapore), and too many more to name.

While I occasionally hear a ‘no’ I have overcome my mental barrier in networking with other business people, and I know it’s a business sport I can keep getting better at.

If you have been facing constant rejection in your Joint Venture approaches - like it happened to me many times when I started out - you will do well to take a serious look at yourself and your approach from a third person perspective.

I get a lot of JV requests (which is what usually happens when people know you’ve got the money and mailing list) and to treat you to some straight talk: I get a big share of them which I found… downright dumb. So dumb even I didn’t think of making those mistakes.

Here are 10 most common mistakes I see often recur in a JV approach. If you are doing any of this right now in your JV approaches, stop it now!

1. Approaching a potential JV Partner when he’s busy. REAL busy. He could be prepping for his next product launch, getting ready for another vacation, or something suddenly happened in his life and it matters to him most. This is through no fault of your own. However you can avoid making this mistake by taking a serious interest in the people you aspire to work with, keep tabs with their schedules on your calendar and approach them when they are least busy.

2. Inviting the potential JV Partner on a short notice. People in general are more busy than ever compared to just 10 to 20 years ago. If you have a product launch coming up, it is courteous of you to give the potential JV Partner a heads up notice at least two to four weeks in advance before the date of your launch.

3. Nothing valuable to offer. This rarely goes spoken and runs in the potential JV Partner’s sub conscious mind. If he sees that you don’t have reciprocal value, or have a history of not reciprocating equally or better in promotions, there’s seldom any reason for him to promote your product first.

4. Not in same niche. I’ve got ridiculous JV requests from people who wanted me to push their products from Mandarin lessons, Cashback SMS and even gardening… to a list of Private Label Rights buyers. It’s absolutely foolish to push the wrong product to an un-targeted group of audience. Would you place an ad for paintball in a women magazine? I rest my case.

5. The ‘me first’ approach. This is by far the most common type of JV approach I have seen. And also the most ineffective. The reality of the situation is that you need the potential JV Partner more than he needs you. And he’s more interested in what’s in it for him, not for you. Instead of what your company is all about coupled with the average commission payout, tell him what he wants to hear and that’s a good start.

6. You’re a nobody. A lot of Internet newbies hate to hear this. But it needs to be said. If you haven’t set out to make a name for yourself or proved yourself yet it’s going to be extremely difficult to settle for a good deal with a potential JV Partner. Sure, you may be lucky to be given a first chance but if you want to truly win the JV game, go prove your worth first and make a name for yourself. Then attracting the best people in your line of business is going to be as easy as running down the hill.

7. Showing signs of desperation and use of guilt. This is the second most popular JV approach I have seen to date, and also the one I hate the most. I have received a fair amount of JV emails along the lines of “Please help me promote my product. I’m broke and down to my last dollar so will you please help promote this product that teaches people how to make $20,000 a month using a proven system… etc.” Ironic and stupid, I know. But it’s amazing how many people actually think this is a valid way of getting JVs. Emails like that deserve to be in the trash can, together with the guilt traps. I have been in huge financial predicaments myself when I started out, but I had never once used my desperate situation as a means to secure a venture with anyone. NEVER EVER talk about your personal and financial predicaments when approaching potential JV Partners, no matter how pressing it is. It’s not for your potential business friends to hear but the mess is for you to solve on your own.

8. Back end? One Time Offer? Having a sales funnel that also credits your JV Partner can be a big influence in their decision as to whether they will work with you or not. If you are in a competitive industry like Internet Marketing itself, professional marketers are already half expecting you to have a sales funnel in place and still credit them for the same customers buying your products throughout the funnel process.

9. Lousy sales letter and poor or no promotion materials. Ruling product quality out (because it’s obvious that your product must meet demand and buyer expectations) you must have a proven sales letter. If it doesn’t convert well even for targeted traffic potential JV Partners will be reluctant to promote for you. And if you don’t have promotion materials comprehensive enough to save their time and effort, this can easily thwart their decision to promote your product and go for a competitor who has more to offer for less promotion work. So make things easy for your JV Partners and offer to do all the work so all they need to do is just focus on what they do best: bringing in sales for you.

10. Poor leadership. If you show signs of poor leadership and keep reverting to ask too many questions from your potential JV Partner, taking his status as an expert marketer for granted, you will give away that you’re an amateur in this business. Some of them can be patient. But most are not. Don’t give unnecessary trouble to your JV Partners and if you’re not confident in your own product or doing a launch, you have to carry out your own marketing campaigns, make and learn from your mistakes, and carry out thorough tweaks before proposing any venture to your potential promotion partners.