The Most Powerful Marketing Strategy Ever

Making Money with Your Friends

Today's article is a classic from Rich Schefren. Not only does he point out my favorite way to make money online - with your friends - but he also brings up another important fact about opportunity. If you read the news, you're bombarded with negativity, but the reality is that the Internet provides you with the ability to create your own economy. As Rich says, it has given entrepreneurs unlimited opportunity. Read what he says below...

Craig Ballantyne

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

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By Rich Schefren

Lots of people ask me what the secret to my success is. And there's really no "one thing" that made it all happen. It's more of a combination of things.

But there is one strategy that's played a MAJOR part in my success... one that's consistently put millions of dollars in my pocket with very little effort.

I'm talking about the joint venture.

But let's back up a little so I can say a few words about the Internet...

Besides providing us with countless sources of entertainment and information (some credible, some less so), the Internet has given entrepreneurs unlimited opportunity. Much of this opportunity is based on the power of the Internet to forge business relationships - relationships that are highly profitable because of synergy between the partners.

What, you ask, is synergy?

The word comes from the Greek "sunergia" - the interaction of two or more cooperative agents or forces in a way that makes their combined effect greater than the sum of their individual effects. A synonym for synergy, at least in the realm of Internet business, could be "joint venture."

I work with hundreds of Internet-based entrepreneurs, and they often ask me about the best way to effectively grow their businesses. My response is always the same: Joint ventures (JVs) are simply the best way not only to grow a business but to make lots of money in the process.

Joint ventures also allow you to do more for your prospects and customers, because you are offering them the combined brilliance of the JV partners. This exponentially increases the value of the product purchased... at what often feels like a remarkably low price.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

A joint venture is a business relationship - hopefully, a mutually advantageous one - between two (or more) parties. It is not a merger, a general partnership, or an ongoing business agreement. It's not you buying someone else's company or them buying yours. It's not an equity sharing or equity position in anybody's company. It's not a private placement.

It is a single-purpose, shared business activity that can create massive profits...

• Without a lot of expenditure on your part
• Without a lot of tooling up in terms of equipment, staff, or facilities
• Without taking all the risk/work on your own shoulders

Simply put, joint ventures are:

• the fastest way to make a fortune
• the easiest way to make a fortune
• the safest low-risk way to make a fortune
• the best way to create and leverage business relationships that will make you a fortune

A joint venture is, by its very nature, short-term. You can try one out for a trial period of a few weeks or months. A new joint venture can then be refined from this initial effort. Any arrangement you make with your JV partner proceeds only if it works to the advantage of both parties. If it doesn't, you terminate the relationship.

Most Internet marketers function through such joint ventures. However, not all of them are as profitable as originally hoped. This is often because sufficient due diligence had not been done by the prospective JV partners, and the "match" was not - to use an old adage - made in heaven.

Even when the partnership has merit, failure often stems from inefficient, ineffective communication between the parties. To be truly successful, any joint venture you take on should be carefully thought out, and the parameters should be spelled out in a signed contract. The plan of action needs to be monitored, as does the income generated.

You usually find suitable JV partners by establishing rapport with other businesspeople you come across while conducting your own business - even those in different industries. At some point, an opportunity arises to combine forces.

Keep in mind that workable deals take time to mature and finalize. So, to give yourself the best chance of arriving at a truly rewarding alliance, it's a good idea to enter into more than one joint venture with more than one partner.

Keep in mind, too, that most joint ventures are unique, and the best ones will be the result of applying your own imagination and creativity to form the best win/win situation for you and your partner.

As I tell my clients, the success of your joint ventures will be limited by only two things: your own creativity and your own sense of what's possible. Make sure your joint ventures are profitable for all involved, meet legal guidelines, and operate in an ethical manner - and the sky is the limit