Do you look at other similar sites as direct competition or a possible JV Partner? When you have spent some time in the world of Internet Marketing you come across alot of people who are all doing the same thing. Creating an online business or presence. Are all these people in direct competition with you? Well it is just the same offline. The Internet is not some world that should be divided from the offline world. Use the Internet as an extra advertising board. It is easier once you learn the in’s and outs of marketing on the Internet to utilise the power it can bring you.
It can be funny, you seem to realise this situation more when you start something or do something new. Its the same with anything in life. If you are thinking of buying a new car you do a little research and decide what make, model, colour, price etc….
But then what happens you start noticing the same car everywhere. When did they get that car! Blimey what a common car this is, should I really be buying this vehicle? They where always there it’s just you have never noticed them because you did not need to and now that you did a little research and have this car in the front of your mind your subconscious mind has taken over.
Its the same in business. You want to start a new venture and then bang, you think the market is saturated. Yeah there could be so many people doing the same thing but you need to look at these other people or businesses as a JV Partner not direct competition.
What are they offering to the market can you work together on certain projects. Can the other business help you in some way or you help them. Don’t try and steal their customers as this is when you will become direct competition with them, and work like a horse just to get by. Work together and benefit from each others knowledge, experiences and customers.
Look at the music industry. There are so many artists out there all wanting to make record sales. The record companies and the people behind the artists come up with the bright idea or even the artists themselves to get involved with other people within the industry and start working together. Each artist will have a following if they are already quite established but want to get out to a wider audience.
Lets take Dizzy Rascal who is a rapper and his genre of music ranges from Grime, Hip Hop, House, Dance
and Florence and the Machine who genre of music ranges from Alternative, Indie Rock, Soul, Baroque Pop,
They are both completely different types of artist’s with their own following. Now if you tried to sell records of Florence and the Machine to Dizzy Rascals fans they would not entertain it and vice versa. So they came up with the idea to work together you could say a JV Partnership. This goes on all the time within the music industry and also ,any other types of business. Companies, individuals groups of people work together and do all types of JV Partnerships. Now when you put Florence and Dizzy together, well just take a look below.
Ok it’s not their own song but a cover of the great song “You Got The Love” by Source Featuring Candi Stanton. But it works and they have created a cover version of the song and put there own little twist on it, which if you read my post about Private Label Right vs Original Material, there is nothing wrong with using other peoples material, if of course you have permission to or a licence to do so, just make it your own by changing a few things using your experience’s and knowledge.
So you could call it a new product that Dizzy and Florence have created. Now it will appeal to both fans, ok not all of them that are following each artist but a lot more if you just tried to sell their own material to each set of fans. So if you are creating a product in your niche get in touch with people who have similar products. Ask them if they would be interested to become a JV Partner or an Affiliate. If they have been around for a while or quite established in their niche they will be looked up to be an authority and probably have a good sizes list of subscribers and customers.
If your product appeals to their target audience then you can work together on a commission based project. Also if you like each other and the product then you could in the future work on projects together. Always remember when you approach JV Partners W.I.F.M. (Whats In it For Me) meaning whats in it for your JV Partner. Will it be a good product to promote to their customers, good commission, upsells etc….if it is then they have an instant product they can promote to their customers with out doing much work, well just send an email to their list.
Now if they have a large list that is very targeted and highly responsive you are on too a winner. You are getting all this exposure of your new product to people that are already interested in what you have to offer. Because your product has been provided by the list owner you get a bit of credibility and they look at your product. If you were to try and sell to your JV Partners list/customers on your own they would not entertain you.
Now if you had 40 or 50 JV Partners or Affiliates doing this for you how much exposure do you think you will have for your product??? So don’t look at a JV Partner as competition but people you can work with now and in the future.
Charles (17)
Terry Conti (11)
Danny (9)
Barry@The Newbies... (7)
David Taylor (7)
Sally (6)
Cheolsu (5)
Kathy Dobson (5)
Jacinta D (4)
October 20, 2010 at 3:18 am
Hey Craig
I love Dizzeeeeeeeeeeeeee Rascal, cos I am a bit bonkers ha ha.
Nice way you showed how a joint venture can be very beneficial for both sets of artists and ultimately their fans.
All my life I wanted a Mini, a blue one, and when I finally got it, like you said, I seen them everywhere!!!
I think the blue minis where always around I just became more observant and aware of them once I got one.
Cool post, always nice to have a different angle on it to keep the reader’s interest, which you certainly achieved.
Sally
Sally Neill recently posted..Day 14 In The Alex Jeffreys ATeam
[Reply]
Craig Reply:
October 21st, 2010 at 3:22 am
How Do Sally,
Good to see you made it over with your busy schedule. Well I suppose at 3:18am you are burning the candle at both ends. Hope you are not late for the ATeam in the morning.
[Reply]
October 23, 2010 at 7:19 pm
Hi Craig,
I like the comparison!
I like the idea of JV’s and affiliates.
I read a comment in one of my favourite books that said something like “No one can become a millionaire alone” Meaning we need to align with people and develop a team etc etc.
JVing is the same. I do believe it is easier to create products with someone that on your own.
My intention in time is to do Jving with people offline. EG they have the product knowledge and I have the online knowledge. The hard part here those is keeping the people motivated!
Hope all is going well.
Cheers
Jacinta
Jacinta D recently posted..Introducing Internet Marketer – Roy Carter – Another Great Audio To Listen To!
[Reply]
Craig Reply:
October 24th, 2010 at 3:15 am
Hi Jacinta,
Thanks for stopping by. We need to make connections and new people all the time as you know its all about the community. If them people become JV Partners or Affiliates it’s all good. You definitely hit the nail smack on the head. “No one can become a millionaire alone” Not even half the money. You always need a good team and the right people around you to become successful.
[Reply]
October 25, 2010 at 2:51 am
It is the same when you do an ad swap. The first time I did one It felt like I would be giving my list of subscribers to somebody else. but of course the reality is that most of us are on several lists.
Working with others is a positive in many ways. When you brainstorm with a fellow marketer it is amazing how sometimes an idea that you thought of ages ago suddenly springs back to life, because someone else has looked at it from a different angle.
All in all, I love creating with other like minded people.
Andy recently posted..Six Powerful Traffic Building Methods that work!
[Reply]
Craig Reply:
October 25th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
Hi Andy,
Thanks for the comment. We all have to work together to reach our goals. If we were all in competition with each other nobody would get anywhere. 2 brains are better than one, you are so right about coming up with good ideas when you work with other like minded people.
[Reply]
October 25, 2010 at 4:12 am
Depends on my relationship with my JV partner. If we personally know each other for several years now, I won’t consider him as a competitor. I’ve known some people who have in this kind of situation who turned out to be successful after their venture. Not really a big deal at all, so long that both of us have same goal and interest as well.
ColeStan recently posted..Be Thoughtful And Give Unique Personalized Wedding Gifts
[Reply]
Craig Reply:
October 25th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
Hi ColeStan,
Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog. You need to build some firm foundations with a possible JV Partner before jumping in the deep end. You both have to benefit from the deal and work together. When they do work well they are great, but when they do not it can be very embarrassing.
[Reply]
November 25, 2010 at 3:06 am
JV is definitely the way to go. Look at the big ring (i think they call it a Syndicate) with Frank Kern and all his buddies. those guys destroy and they do it by using the lists of their “competitors”. If your competitor can make you 10x more money than you can make on your own… why not?
[Reply]
Craig Reply:
November 25th, 2010 at 7:22 am
It’s all about leveraging other peoples success. Especially
When you first start out.
Find the people with most traffic and responsive list
Buil relationships with these marketers and move on
To becoming joint venture partners.
[Reply]
December 14, 2010 at 6:48 pm
Affiliates really are a great way to go. I’m glad to see someone else thinks so too! Cause they can be a hassle to deal with and keep in line. But its worth it!
[Reply]
Craig Reply:
December 17th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
You need a team around you to help with all sorts of promotions. Having a team of affiliates help you reach the masses for very little work. If you have to keep your affiliates in order, you either need a better converting product or new affiliates.
Build a good strong relationship with them. If you treat them right then they will treat you right and want to promote your products.
[Reply]