Here's a joint venture proposal that was sent to an email address that I use strictly for my registered domains. As you read through it, you will no doubt note that the author neglected to do some very basic research prior to sending the proposal.
Moreover, I include it here in case you receive something similar and are tempted to give it more attention than a quick click of your Delete button.
Subejct: Joint venture Opportunity
I checked out your site a few days ago and would like to after you a joint venture which is guaranteed to increase YOUR sales with no effort or investment from you.
Let me explain:
I run a free service called the “XYZ Affiliate Marketer Newsletterâ€. In it, I constantly provide my targeted Double Opt-in subscribers with valuable and exclusive information on becoming the owner of PROFITABLE Affiliate Marketing business and other related issues. Additionally, I promote many products like yours through ads in different articles and lessons. I also do individual broadcasts (straight product pitches) to the list, promoting products just like yours.
My joint venture proposal is the following:
I will provide you with my unique content to add to your auto responder. Content such as articles, lessons, and reports. Your double opt-in subscribers are guaranteed to learn valuable and usable lessons from my content, which will in turn increase their response rate to products you promote to them.
In each article, lesson, or report a link to my website will be included. Should your double opt-in subscribers (leads you have acquired through selling your products and/or through a double opt-in pop up/intext box located on your website) click on the link they reach my free subscription page where they can join my service. Since I already work with over 30 vendors my targeted distribution list is growing very quickly.
I will promote your product to my list as an affiliate (which I composed of VERY targeted traffic as you can now understand) once a month as an individual broadcast (i.e. product recommendation).
My interest is to provide you with great content and generate good sales for you. That is what my business is built around. I know that the better I can do this, the more interest you will have in continuing to work with me.
I will be more than happy to send you an example how the promotional article I will create for your product will look. I also would like to have your permission to send you some material you can start providing to your list.
Also please send me an email copy I could use for a future promotion of your product, plus any ads you might have.
If his “I already work with over 30 vendors” statement is true, I want to make sure that you NOT get caught in the ploy.
To recap, the sender is supposedly an affiliate marketer who provides his readers with “valuable and exclusive information on becoming the owner of PROFITABLE Affiliate Marketing business“. So why is he apparently unable to find an obvious link to an information page for affiliates?
He's offering MORE sales with NO effort or investment?
Reading the email took TIME. Considering the request takes TIME. Responding to the request for marketing material (that he couldn't find on the site) would take TIME.
Worse, it would take a HUGE chunk of change out of your wallet if every one of your customers or newsletter subscribers is exposed to a link to an affiliate site that promotes your competition… and in exchange for what? An article?
In a way, I admire the guy's gall for trying this approach but it's fairly obvious that he hasn't read the Super Affiliate Handbook or know how to contact a merchant with a win-win proposal for marketing their products.
To get a vendor's attention and respect, sign up for their affiliate program and prove that you can sell the product. If the product is inexpensive; buy it, use it and get to know it. Write your own product reviews. Do some paid advertising. Tweak until your conversion rates are as high as you can make them. You'll then be in a much better position if you want to request exclusive marketing materials. Not only are merchants happy to give good affiliates exclusive copy, they'll even negotiate higher commissions for their best affiliates.
It's a simple premise really. Give to get (and avoid the absurd). 🙂