I was asked a great question the other day that I just had to share with you. Here is how it went; "I am looking to setup joint venture partnerships with people that I found off of article directories. There are such a wide variety of people on there. How do I know which of those people are worth pursuing?" Within this article is my response to that person.
He was right to be cautious. The key to successfully dealing with people on article directories is to create your own filtering rules, which can help you sort out the people who you think are worth working with from the people who aren't. As a rule, there are a couple of factors I take into consideration when choosing partners that way. First, does the message of the person send good vibes or not? Second, is he or she suitable for a long-term partner?
Long-term cooperation is what interests me. I don't look for short relationships because I hate when we are together for a few weeks and then everything is over. Long-term cooperation is what matters for me most. Besides, I always dig to see if the people, who I am considering as potential partners have experience - i.e. if they have had past partnerships and if they did - how was it? I sometimes even get in touch with former partners of the people I am interested in doing business with.
For example, recently a very well-known marketer contacted us to do affiliate management for them. One of the first things that I did was I contacted somebody else I knew they worked with and had done work with them in the past and said, "What was your experience like?" And that was eye opening. I learned a lot by asking that question.
The other thing to look for is, "How do they market to their customers?" Jump on their list. How do they communicate with their list? Do you get a good feel by the way they send out emails and write and so forth.
Also, I can offer one more idea. Well, maybe it goes too far but if you want to make a reliable test, become a customer of your potential partner. The experience as a customer is valuable because it tells you a lot about the people whom you are dealing with.
A clever way to judge JV's conversion potential is to join their affiliate program. This test will show you how many people you can forward to their website and how many of them make a purchase. Become an affiliate of them and you will know if their product is a best-seller or not.
He was right to be cautious. The key to successfully dealing with people on article directories is to create your own filtering rules, which can help you sort out the people who you think are worth working with from the people who aren't. As a rule, there are a couple of factors I take into consideration when choosing partners that way. First, does the message of the person send good vibes or not? Second, is he or she suitable for a long-term partner?
Long-term cooperation is what interests me. I don't look for short relationships because I hate when we are together for a few weeks and then everything is over. Long-term cooperation is what matters for me most. Besides, I always dig to see if the people, who I am considering as potential partners have experience - i.e. if they have had past partnerships and if they did - how was it? I sometimes even get in touch with former partners of the people I am interested in doing business with.
For example, recently a very well-known marketer contacted us to do affiliate management for them. One of the first things that I did was I contacted somebody else I knew they worked with and had done work with them in the past and said, "What was your experience like?" And that was eye opening. I learned a lot by asking that question.
The other thing to look for is, "How do they market to their customers?" Jump on their list. How do they communicate with their list? Do you get a good feel by the way they send out emails and write and so forth.
Also, I can offer one more idea. Well, maybe it goes too far but if you want to make a reliable test, become a customer of your potential partner. The experience as a customer is valuable because it tells you a lot about the people whom you are dealing with.
A clever way to judge JV's conversion potential is to join their affiliate program. This test will show you how many people you can forward to their website and how many of them make a purchase. Become an affiliate of them and you will know if their product is a best-seller or not.
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