Joint ventures (also known as JVs) are partnerships between two or more people, usually with the purpose of cross-promoting products. There are various types of JVs, and what you offer your JV partners will depend on what you have to bring to the table, and what you're looking for in return.



Most JVs are really affiliate relationships. You have a product - your JV partner has a forum, website, or email list. Your JV partner sends an email to his list about your product, or puts an ad on their website, blog, forum, etc.

Then you pay that JV partner a commission for the sales he generates. Although this type of relationship probably shouldn't be called a ?JV,? a lot of people do refer to it as such ? probably because the product owner approached the JV partner to ask for a promotion instead of the product owner just deciding on his own to become an affiliate.

The most common form of true JV is when two parties with email lists or websites exchange ads. Usually, both parties have lists of comparable sizes in the same general niche, and each person agrees to send a mailing out to their list on the other person's behalf. You send their message to your list, and they send your ad out to theirs.

Joint ventures are great, because they allow you to go far beyond what you could accomplish by simply promoting to your own list, or on your own site. If you have a list of 10,000 people, and 200 people buy the product you're advertising, you have a 2% conversion rate.

If you could find ten other people with lists of 10,000 people to send out your ad, and you also experience a 2% conversion, you could make ten times the money you'd have made by sending out a message only to your list of subscribers.

Of course, in many niches, lists will often have duplicates. In the Internet marketing niche, many webmasters are on dozens of different lists. When a major launch goes out, you might get five or ten messages about the exact same product on the same day.

But no two mailing lists will be exact duplicates. Even in the same niche, people can attract different audiences. JVs are a great way of reaching more people than you'd otherwise be able to reach on your own.

If you're interested in doing a JV with someone, you should be well prepared before you write to him or her with your proposal. You must bring something to the table that is of value to the other person. A JV can be a cross promotion or a bartering situation, where each of you offers up a service or skill to jointly create and launch a co-branded product.

Don't expect to write to a well-known marketer with a huge list and get an instant JV when you don't have a list and aren't offering anything special. It could happen, just don't expect it.

You can entice a JV partner with a very generous commission.

Be prepared to pay 70% or more in order to get JV partners unless you're already very well known in the niche or have a very large list of your own (or an amazing, mouth-water product that will blow everything else away).

You'll also probably have to JV with people who have lists that are similar to yours in size. Most people won't be willing to JV with you if their list is over 10,000 people and yours is only 200.

Once you build up a large list of your own, you can start getting bigger JVs. Just don't forget about what it was like when you were new and your list was smaller. You shouldn't automatically pass over someone because his or her list is currently small.

If they're offering you a good commission on a very high-quality product, it might be something you should consider. Plus, you'll be developing a relationship that might be very valuable in the future!

So, what should be done? Should you give up on your grand idea just like that?

Hold your horses, dear friend. There is a way that you could avail of to have your idea see the light of day.

It's called joint venturing, or JV as it has fondly been called in the online marketing scene. Joint ventures are partnerships between two or more online marketers, all of whom pool together their resources to ensure the success of a particular project. Once profit is realized, these partners employ a previously established profit-sharing scheme. Everyone who chipped in would be given his just share. And everyone would go home happy.

If you don't have the resources for the idea you have in mind, you could seek out some online businessmen who would be willing to enter a joint venture with you. Why would they want to partner up with someone like you? Well, there are many benefits that can be had with joint ventures which they will find pretty hard to resist.

? Since several people will pool together their resources for a joint venture, the risks can be minimized. Assuming the worst scenario that the project would fail, the losses would be less since it will be borne by several individuals, compared to the losses that can be incurred by a sole endeavor.

? Joint ventures allow online marketers to compensate for missing components in their portfolios. Don't have a big mailing list? Partner up with someone who has tens and thousands of subscribers. Don't have the cash to fund production? Seek out someone who has some extra money to invest. Don't have an idea that can be profitably pursued? Seek out a creative soul beaming with novel concepts that are begging to be exploited.

? Joint ventures help build your brand in the online marketing community. If you're an intermediate marketer who manages to enter a joint venture with a renowned guru, you'd be able to enjoy an instant boost to your reputation in the industry.

? Joint ventures foster great relationships between marketers. The experience of having worked with each other can blossom into friendship and future partnerships.

There is no reason for an online marketer to refuse whatever helpful contribution you could provide for a project. He may be a well established personality in the industry, and you're just a cub who's starting out, but you may possess something that he does not have, and this would make you a valuable part of the team.

The trick, really, is in knowing where to seek out some joint venture partners. If you have a great idea backed up by an equally amazing business plan, then finding willing partners would be easy, if you're looking for them in the right places.

Here's a tip. Join online business forums and start posting significant messages. Be a helpful member of the community and build your reputation. Then publish a thread the calls for joint venture partners. Explain to your respondents what you have in mind, and chances are, they'll be more than interested to get started at the soonest possible time.

Joint ventures prove that in internet marketing, there is no such thing as lack of resources. What can lead to failure in this field is lack of imagination.