Joint venturing is one of the fastest ways to grow your community and your revenue.   It would seem a no-brainer that to hire a joint venture broker is a smart business decision.  The task of identifying, connecting with (emails, dm’s, phone calls, etc), qualifying (Are they really a good fit?), and finally crafting a win/win joint venture relationship is one of the essential tasks that can bring significantly better results if done by someone who is an expert in the joint venture process – if (and it’s a BIG if), if you are ready.

If you are not ready you risk over promising, under converting and burning key relationships that you may never have the opportunity to cultivate again.

How do you know if you are ready?  Take the Joint Venture Readiness Quiz to find out:

1) Do you currently have an affiliate program in place? Score 1 for yes; 0 for no

2) Do you have a proven system for converting visitors to your list such as an opt-in box on your home page and/or a squeeze page? Score 1 for yes; 0 for no

3) Do you have metrics set up on the above page or pages to measure traffic and conversions? Score 1 for yes; 0 for no (If you actually know your conversion rate give yourself 2 bonus points!)

4) Do you have a proven concept (product, service, event) you would like to engage joint venture partners with – a product or service you have successfully tested on your own list for example.  If the concept is completely new then YOU and your business must have a proven track record of successfully marketing similar concepts. Score 2 for yes; 0 for no

5) Have you clearing identified your “ideal” joint venture partner? Score 1 for yes; 0 for no

6) Have you identified the specific benefits (in addition to revenue) this joint venture opportunity will bring to your potential joint venture partner? Do you really know what you bring to the table in this relationship? Score 2 for yes; -1 for no.

7) Do you have a team and systems in place for the customer and technical support you will need to accommodate the increased traffic and business? Score 1 for yes; -1 for no.

Score 8 – 10 points: Way to go!! You are a rock star entrepreneur and marketer and ready to shift the responsibility of building and nurturing your joint venture relationships to a qualified Joint Venture broker or manager.  AWP may be your ideal partner!

Score 5 – 7 points: You are moving in the right direction.  You can begin right away shifting the questions you did not score well on.  Expedite your readiness by consulting with the experts at AWP.

Score 4 or below: Your focus for the short term must be on creating a marketing message that connects with your target market and on developing your systems and team.  It is highly advisable that at this point you begin to actively promote as an affiliate.  Becoming an affiliate member of AWP will connect you with everything you need to begin to generate revenue and credibility as an affiliate.

Mary Kay Morgan is founder of AffiliateWealthPartners.com the only affiliate and joint venture resource exclusively serving the needs of the conscious business community.  Sign up now for our FREE membership into our Affiliate Community and gain access to our library of affiliate tutorials and to our approved list of high integrity, proven affiliate opportunities.

We all know and hopefully do our best to practice The Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It is simple even for the youngest child to understand, and when followed, creates a special kind of lubricant that allows relationships to flow easily with minimal grinding.

What happens however when in our minds this Golden Rule goes something like this: “Do unto others only if they do unto you as you would expect them to do based on all the doing you have already done for them.” <Insert crossed arms and defiant posture here.>    And before you begin thinking that this could not possibly be you, think again because this is the not so golden attitude I hear on a regular basis from disgruntled business owners who genuinely believe they have given more than they have received in their affiliate and joint venture relationships.

These business owners genuinely feel entitled to the promotional support of those they have promoted previously. Perhaps you would agree – after all, if you mailed for me, shouldn’t I mail for you?  Maybe. Maybe not.  There is more to consider and that is why I have established the 4 Golden Rules of Affiliate and Joint Venture Relationships:

Golden Rule #1: Say “yes” to mailing for a friend, colleague, or new business associate when and only when your “yes” can be unconditional. An unconditional “yes” reflects your belief that the product or service you are being asked to promote is rock solid and in alignment with the purpose and mission of your business.  You are excited to be a part of the promotion and you WANT your list to have access to it.  The only reason to say “yes” to promoting is you believe the product to be highly valuable and in service to your peeps.

Golden Rule #2: Respect the “no”. In order to receive the kind of big “YES” that will provide your campaign with the enthusiastic boost that will significantly up levels sales, you must be respectful when someone says,”no”.  No one owes you promotional support – not your good friend with the big list, not your coach, and not the business you mailed for so enthusiastically last month.  The reason for the “no” is none of your business and it likely has nothing to do with you or your product.  Accept it with an open heart knowing the “no” to be in your best interest and move on to the next potential partner.

Golden Rule #3: Know the difference between an “affiliate” relationship and a “joint venture”. Put simply, in an affiliate relationship there is no obligation for the  affiliate to do anything for the business.  If the affiliate chooses to promote and their promotion results in a sale, the business sends the affiliate a check.  Happy end of story.  Anything over and above a simple affiliate relationship, including reciprocal mailings, moves the relationship into joint venture territory (stay tuned for much more on joint ventures in future posts).   Which brings us to Golden Rule #4

Golden Rule #4: Never assume! I’m going to say that one more time: NEVER ASSUME.  It seems so simple yet over and over the conversations I hear behind the scenes where an business owner is peeved because so and so did not reciprocate could have been avoid if the parties involved had treated their business relationships as business relationships instead of star struck new lovers.  You honor your friendship and your business when you communicate appropriately to the situation and then put that communication in writing.

How does this look in action?  Consider:  if you agree to promote for a colleague (see Rule #1), and you choose to ask them to promote for you (see Rule #2 and Rule #3), and both parties say “YES!”, there must be absolute clarity on what each party will do.  Mail to their list 3 times in February for your Live Event Launch? Put it in writing.  Host a call with you to their list in December?  Put it in writing.   Put every detail including number of mailings for each party, dates and other seemingly minor details (Will you tweet for each other? How frequently?) put all these seemingly obvious, even “silly” details in writing (Rule #4), in an agreement, and have each party sign it.

If you adopt and follow these 4 Golden Rules, I can promise a significant improvement in your results both subjection (like how I feel about my relationship with Sue) and objective (how many sales Sue referred in my last launch).   It can also go a long way towards keeping your business legal fees to a bare minimum – and THAT is a good thing.

Mary Kay Morgan is founder of AffiliateWealthPartners.com the only affiliate and joint venture resource exclusively serving the needs of the conscious business community.  Sign up now for our FREE membership into our Affiliate Community and gain access to our library of affiliate tutorials and to our approved list of high integrity, proven affiliate opportunities.