If you're not familiar with the term ‘JV', it stands for ‘joint venture', and basically it's affiliate marketing on steroids.
Joint ventures always have a personal component, ie. the merchant contacts a potential affiliate with a ‘beefed up' commission offer, or the affiliate contacts the merchant with a proposal to market their product in a ‘special way' … also for an improved commission rate.
I receive JV proposals each and every day.
Somebody somewhere told someone else that I know ‘something' about affiliate marketing. 🙂
Fair enough.
But how those JV offers are presented is almost as important as the JV itself, and in many cases the presentation will make or break the deal.
For example, I recently received a snail mail letter that went something like this:
Dear Rosalind,
My friend, So-and-So, doesn't believe that affiliate marketing works.
I told him that I know a Super Affiliate (you) and that you would prove to him that it works.
Anyway, my friend wrote the ‘Blah-Blah' book (which had nothing to do with any category in which I presently work) and I told him that you could sell it on the Internet for him.
If you're interested in seeing a copy of the ‘Blah-Blah' book, please contact me at the following (snail mail) address.
Signed,
Not-a-Clue about Joint Venture Marketing
(OK, so I made her name up.)
Egads.
If you have a product and want to do a joint venture with top-level marketers, please don't send a letter that looks anything like the one above.
Here are 6 basic points to learn about joint venturing from Not-a-Clue's letter above:
- Don't insult their business model, not even by proxy.
- Don't assume anything – ‘you would prove to him that it works'.
- Make sure that the product is relevant to your potential joint venture partner's business.
- Send them a copy of the material you want them to review.
- Include affiliate signup details.
- Provide e-contact details, not snail mail addresses.
Follow the guidelines above to create your own successful joint ventures.
Cheers,
Ros