Hello.
No, I can't guarantee any of these methods will work, but they will ALL improve your chances of securing that all-important agreement from a major marketer to promote YOUR product.
You see, the main problem you'll have with your jv proposition, once you've got a great product and a good conversion rate and a great 'fit' to your target's list, is getting your jv target to listen to it.
So, keeping the promise I made to you yesterday, here are five ideas you might try:
- Email them personally. I've started with the method least likely to succeed, so you can see that even this can be done well or badly. Emailing these days will often get you nowhere. I get dozens of emails every day, and I expect you do too, and most of them are junk. Of those that aren't, I probably read about ten percent (unless I'm very bored, which isn't often these days), the rest I save for 'later' - which never comes. An email addressed to me by name, that looks like it might be a personal message, will at least get read promptly, so think of an original and personal-sounding subject line. Maybe try a topic you know they're interested in away from work - but it must tie in with the subject of the mail, even if a little tenuously.
- Write to them. A real letter, that is, with a hand-written envelope, addressed to them personally. We hardly get any personal mail these days, so a brief letter, again hand-written if possible, that speaks to them, might just sway them. Maybe tell them you'll follow up with a phone call, or invite them to phone you - don't forget to leave your number! Remember to make a strong sales pitch within your friendly little note.
- Join the forums on their membership sites and read and post regularly on their blogs. Get yourself known by name, at least. You'll have your email and website address in your profile. Then you can contact them through their site or by email or letter, or...
- Phone them. Some people are genuinely too busy to answer their own telephone, but not always the people you might expect. Speaking with them directly is much more likely to give you the results you're after and much more likely to get you off on a friendly footing, too. Even if the answer is 'no' this time, you're more likely to be remembered if you've actually spoken, and a good impression now may well pay dividends next time - in the form of a 'yes'. We all like working with people we know and like - it's simple human nature.
- Meet them face to face. Network, in other words, and try to get to the events where your targets are most likely to be - often as speakers. That doesn't make them untouchable or out of bounds. Networking like this also throws up other opportunities for joint ventures that you probably haven't considered. At the very least, you can speak to several different potential jv partners in the course of one networking day. Know what you're offering and be prepared to think on your feet, because there will probably be other deals on offer that you should consider.
That's my five for today. I've assumed you've done your homework on your 'targets', found or created a great product, demonstrated that it will sell, and that you are the kind of person a successful marketer will be happy to work with.
And I'm sure there are plenty more ways to get the attention of the big guns in Internet marketing - let me know about any you've had success with!
Jacqui
PS. Never forget, we're dealing with human beings here, so what works with one target might be exactly the wrong way to approach another. Trust your instincts, listen to their advice about what works (because that's probably what works with them), but most of all, TAKE ACTION. When you have a good product to promote, for goodness' sake PROMOTE IT!
(Copyright Jacqui Carrel 2007)
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