I’ve been lucky enough to have worked with some incredible people over the years. I’ve interacted with wonderful business partners, JV partners, affiliates, friends, outsourcers, clients, students, forum members, and more. Each of the people in my life has had some kind of impact on my business, whether large or small.
My relationships are very important to me. Sometimes, I’ve had to pinch myself from the excitement of working with certain people and putting our assets together to achieve even more. These partnerships and opportunities have helped put hundreds of thousands of dollars in my pocket.
It might be easy to assume that my success in working with others is because I’ve been around for a while and have had a great deal of luck. Well, that’s true— but there’s a lot more to it.
I make a conscious effort to work with and get to know people who are a good fit for my customers and brand. I evaluate and recommend their products, run and attend webinars and seminars with them, and propose mutually beneficial deals and affiliate relationships.
You should do the same. You should get to know and rub elbows with people who are well known in your niche. You should brainstorm ideas and promotions that will benefit both of you. Become known among those who are already successful and you’ll be way ahead of the game.
Let’s say you’re new to business— what then? You may not have the connections someone who’s been doing this for years has. I didn’t when I started either. It’s still important to get to know people. Network with others on their blogs, via social media, and whenever it makes sense to personally contact them.
Who do you know that you can partner up with? Who do you know who might be willing to promote your products as an affiliate? Who do you know who might work together with you to combine resources to launch a groundbreaking product or business? Figure it out and put a plan in motion. The seeds are there already.
Put a Lot of Your Effort into Gathering Affiliates and JV’s
It’s great to have a ton of products for sale, but it’s hell to try to promote it all yourself. Sure, your list members will snap your products up every single time. But what happens after that?
You want to have an army of active affiliates who will promote for you now and for years to come. You want to open your seller account and see the dozens of affiliate sales that have come in overnight with no added effort from you.
Treat your affiliates like gold and they should come flocking to you. I’ve become pretty well known for my affiliate program over the years.
I run it on Nanacast for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that it allows me to give my affiliates lifetime cookies. If they send someone to one of my products they are tagged on subsequent sales also, even when they don’t promote those subsequent products. This gives many of my most active and successful affiliates a great, hands-off monthly income since I regularly release incredible and groundbreaking products.
Evaluate your business. Are you currently pouring enough of your energy into recruiting affiliates and keeping them happy? If not, think of 4 additional ways you can recruit affiliates and keep them active. This simple piece of advice will dramatically improve the number of sales your business makes. Tending to affiliates is vital for any business.
Consider JV Partnerships
Whether you work on several projects, start a business together, or combine products you already have ready, working with others and pooling your resources is the fast track to success.
There are bound to be tons of people in your area of focus that have responsive customer lists and a lot of respect in the industry. Earlier, we talked about borrowing authority by being “seen” with people others trust. This is part of that.
Who comes to mind when you consider working with someone? Start to brainstorm a potential plan for what you can bring to the table and what you might do that will benefit both of you.
Working with others is one of the best ways to squeeze even more money out of your marketing. Whether you work with a partner or concentrate on affiliates or both, you’ll be earning more money without doing a lot of extra work.
Few marketers truly focus on the benefits of working with others. It’s to your advantage to turn this idea around in your mind and put it to use as soon as possible. It’s a simple idea that can literally turn your business around for the better.
Consider What Others Want
Just like you have to consider what your customers really want, you have to consider what your partners really want. People are great, but they really care about themselves the most. Don’t approach people with canned requests. Get to know who they are and focus on what you can bring to the table to make their lives easier and more profitable. That’s the key to a marketer’s heart.
I don’t mean to make it sound impersonal or all about the money— that’s not it at all. In fact, your best and most profitable partnerships and affiliates will likely be those you feel most connected with. There are some amazing people in this industry and you can work together to do more.
If you consider what others want, you’ll be able to also get more of what you want. You’ll be able to reach your goals much more quickly. You can earn more and achieve a better hold in your niche much more quickly than you could on your own.