The world’s quickest fortunes are achieved almost entirely by joint ventures and are responsible for trillions of dollars just in the United States A joint venture is a partnership that equally benefits two or more parties who share their resources or expertise. Joint ventures can be long-term, such as promoting a product or companion products together, or they can be short-term, such as trading products and services.

For example, I have new software for text to speech but no customers. You have a headset manufacturing company with a customer base. We then agree that you will promote my software with every headset you ship. This promotion can be by shipping a trial version of it, endorsements or any other way to refer customers to it. I can then agree to promote your headsets or possibly agree to monetary compensation.

What are some of the other benefits of a joint venture?

A joint venture can offer introduction to new geographical markets and new distribution outlets.

An extreme and exceptional example of this is a little company called Microsoft. The head of this small company had some software called MS-DOS and no customers. He reached a deal with a company called IBM who made computers and was already a known and respected company in the computer industry. They also had a large number of customers. The deal was for every computer sold, it would have MS-DOS already installed with the agreement that this little company called Microsoft would give lifetime upgrades for its software. Well, the rest is history and it made the head of that small time company a billionaire by the time he was 31 years old.

Another benefit would be the mutual use of experts in other areas of expertise and or technology. By using the above example for this point, the computer company has a great writer and the software company’s programmers are not good at explaining how this software works or what it can do. The computer company’s writer can then be used for a tutorial on how to use the software along with the tutorial on how to operate the computer. This then will make using the computer and software much easier for the customer. This promotes brand loyalty for both the software company and the computer company.

Marketing expenses are shared. You now have more exposure but your marketing budget is the same as before. You are getting twice as much for the same cost.

You can now offer your customers new products or services and also increase your credibility by being partnered with an already reputable and branded company.

You gain from learning other valuable skills and knowledge.

The ability to find and target new markets is simplified. These are just a few of the benefits, the list is endless. As you think about doing a joint venture you will come across many more and some may be unique to your business.

So just how do you go about setting up a joint venture? It would be possible to go through trade magazines, yellow pages or web site search for businesses that are in your targeted market. Research these businesses and then contact them with a proposal.

We suggest you first find out who has the necessary reputation and the credibility needed in your target market. This can very well be contacts that you already have. This is a faster way to start because someone you know and have a relationship with would be easier to speak with about a joint venture.

There are some other excellent places to find a willing joint venture partner.

Seminars or Workshops

People who are serious about expanding and growing their business will spend money to get information from this type of activity.

Business suppliers or other business contacts

If a mutual friend who is respected by both parties makes the introduction, part of the process is done. It is almost like an endorsement from a third party. It can go along way to building trust with your potential partner.

Join online discussion groups and forums

This approach has a double benefit. It will not only expose you to experts in your target market, but you have a chance to evaluate them to decide if there is someone you want to be associated with. It also will give you an idea of what the market’s general opinion is of the potential partner’s credibility and reputation.

You may also want to join a membership association. These associations will normally provide a member list that would give you the contact information, web site, if any, and also the business name. It may even send out regular newsletters or host monthly events that could lead to some meetings face to face with potential partners.

What are some incentives you can use to promote a joint venture?

If you have an e-book, offer a chapter for free and ask for a free chapter for his or her e-book. You then advertise his or her free chapter and he or she does the same for you. This type of proposal would also work with membership sites. Offer a free seven-day trial. Advertise other membership sites that will give a free trial and have them advertise your free trial.

Contests are another good incentive. Ask an e-zine publisher to advertise for you and in return you will furnish a prize for a contest that he or she can hold. If the contest is really good, ask for a prominent place on their web site. You could also do a contest swap. You would advertise his or her contest and he or she would advertise yours. The prizes do not need to be expensive but they do need to be practical. By practical, we mean something that would be beneficial to use.

Write an article related to your product or service and offer this for free to website owners and e-zine publishers in exchange for free advertising. If using this form of incentive, write a unique article for each website or e-zine publisher. Another article idea is to swap articles. You use their articles and they use yours.

Thank you ads, swapping business cards electronically, offering a discount to your partner’s customers are all other incentives that you can explore.

Ultimately, the sky is the limit with the benefits of a joint venture, your growth will be much faster and profits will be higher. The object is to find a reputable partner who has the same vision for his or her business as you do. Not only make it worthwhile for him or her to join you, but make the time and effort advantageous for yourself.