One of the biggest questions we get on a regular basis from students all over the country is “how do I get started driving traffic FAST, without spending a ton of money?”

Well, as we all know in life and business everything we want to do comes down to having the time or the money to do it. So, today I want to share with you one of the best traffic strategies we use today and show you how a few simple contacts can help you change the face of your business forever.

I’m talking about Joint Ventures. A joint venture is simply a business transaction between two like minded individuals for the betterment of both parties. So basically, if you d something to help me, I’ll do something to help you. It’s simple – and using joint ventures to build your list is simple too, if you do it right!

There are many different ways to pull off a JV (joint venture) and quite honestly the possibilities are endless for you as an entrepreneur. The more creative you get the more opportunities you’ll see become available, but doing a joint venture always boils down to a few simple tasks.

Step 1 – “The Find”

Before you can pull of a reap the benefits of a JV relations hip you must first FIND a person or company to joint venture with. This part is really the easiest for everyone, all you need to ask yourself is…”where can I find likeminded folks who are also in my business?” For real estate investors there are a few places where you can tap into a goldmine of possible JV partners.

1. REIA’s – Real Estate Investor Associations. If you’re not currently a member of yours, you need to be! www.NationalREIA.org has a listing of all the reia’s in every state nationwide. Think about who attends those reia meeting each and every month. It’s people just like YOU! It’s a gathering of real estate investors from your area and it’s the perfect place to find ‘like minded’ individuals in your business!!!!
   
2. The internet – one of the fastest and easy ways to find JV partners is using the internet to search for business owners and marketers just like yourself. I call this fishing for JV’s and in essence that is exactly what you are doing. However, there are a few pluses and minuses to the internet ‘fishing’ strategy.  Biggest Pro – It’s easy, cheap, and can be done in your underwear from your apartment at your mother-in-laws basement. Biggest Con – You’ll always get a better response and build better rapport when you can pick up the phone and actually talk to a human (yes, I said talk J) Hint: Use the internet fishing strategy to build a contact list and then send both emails and place a call to the contact regarding your JV proposal.

Step 2 – “The Approach”

The 2^nd piece  to the JV puzzle is “The Approach”. Most people kick themselves in the butt here and totally ruin any chance at success because of a fault in their approach.  Most people go into a Jv approach thinking one thing and one thing only…

“How Can I USE This Contact To Make MYSELF Money?”

…and if you’ve tried this approach before and never gotten a call or email back it’s because you started our relationship off on the wrong foot. The first contact you made with me was all about YOU and how I could help YOU, but the problem is…

…I don’t care about you yet and at the moment ALL I CAN THINK ABOUT IS ME!

So unless you’re going to tell me how you can help ME…I really don’t care.

If you approach your business (and most personal) relationships this way you’ll find you have  a ton more opportunities open up for yourself.

So here’s what every JV approach letter or conversation needs to have:

1. Introduction – Introduce yourself and who you are and quickly get to why you are emailing/calling them (should be benefit focused for the JV contact)
2. Your Idea – Explain how you were hoping the two of you could work together
3. Next steps – always get a commitment of some sort and layout the next steps so that the joint venture actually come to fruition
4. Pleasant Follow up – There is a VERY fine line between persistence and annoyance so be careful not to be too pushy, but sending a follow up email a day or two after your initial contact to thank them for their time and review what you’ll be doing together is always nice. Plus, it shows your JV you have your stuff together.

Step 3 – “The Follow through”

Once the Jv has been setup, you will continue to keep finding more joint ventures. As the date approaches for your joint venture to actually take place you’ll wan to make sure you:

1. Write/call the Jv a week to 10 days ahead of the scheduled JV date to just make sure they have everything they need and see fit here is anything you can help them with.
2. Send the email or promo materials you’ll want your Jv partner to be sending to them at least 1 or 2 days before the date so they have everything right in front of them and it’s fresh on their mind.

Hint: Do anything and EVERYTHING you can for your JV partner, the less they have to do, the better chance that they’ll do it when they are supposed to. (this is a human trait not necessarily tied to JV partner sonly 😉

Joint ventures are a great (FREE) way to started getting traffic to your sites and dollars in your  pocket fast. Just always be sure to follow these simple steps and you’ll do just fine. O’ yeah and remember: If you treat your business as a hobby you’ll get paid like it’s a hobby. If you treat it as a business you’ll get paid like it’s a business. (Ho much money has that train collection made you lately)

P.S. Read the article and leave a comment. The person with the most informative or creative comment will win a 30  minute business building consultation with me next week!