This is an excerpt from my presentation at Entrepreneur Magazine’s Boost Your Sales With Online Marketing Event in Chicago.

In this cluttered marketplace  it is more important  than ever to keep your message simple. People just don’t have the attention span to work hard at  understanding what you have to offer.   Consider Google’s core message as they sought out venture capital years ago.

“Google provides access to the world’s information in one click” .

Can you do that with your business?

I hope you join us at one of our live events or online programs (stay tuned for a new program)

As you  surely know the downturn in the economy has made times more challenging for the entrepreneur.

However, any savvy marketer knows that developing powerful partnerships can be the key to surviving any economic storm.  So in this post lets look at how you can successfully connect with influential marketing partners in your industry.

Before choosing a JV partner make sure that you:

•  Know exactly what they want most from the venture… It may not be what you assume.

•  Are fully aware of your own goals… and that you’ve communicated them to your would-be partner.

•  Both feel that you can better achieve your objectives working with each other

The Platinum Rule

We’ve all heard of “The Golden Rule” – Treat people the way you would like to be treated.  And while the concept is sound, it becomes problematic because it assumes that everyone has identical desires and perceptions.

Authors Tony Alessandra and Michael J.O’Conner rephrased the tenet and renamed it “The Platinum Rule.” It goes like this, “Do unto others as they’d like done unto them.”  This requires a real understanding of others and what motivates them… and there’s no better way of learning that than by asking them. Otherwise, we risk offending others by incorrectly presupposing the answer based on our own sensibilities.

Following are some quick tips for developing healthy joint venture partnerships…

•  Do your research ahead of time… make sure they’re the type of person you like and their business is healthy and respectable.

•  Approach them with a “what’s-in-it-for-them” stance…  not how great you are.

•  Be specific…don’t leave things “squishy” regarding anything – this is how misunderstandings begin.

•  Respect their time… let them know you value theirs as much as your own.

•  Develop simple deals… especially ones which don’t require either of you  to “look over the others’ shoulders”.

•  Give before you get, particularly if you’re just starting out… people are understandably more leery of opening up their hard-earned business resources before you’ve proven yourself.

•  Avoid using a “sales pitch”… it’s no way to begin a give-and-take partnership.

•  Don’t obsess over who’s getting more out the deal… make your best deal and forget about it.

You will find that solid  partnerships can be the key to thriving in a challenging economy. Go out an find one today!

Mitch Meyerson, author of Mastering Online Marketing and Founder of Guerrilla Marketing Coaching

Become A Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach: www.GMarketingCoach.com

We created this fun little 1 minute video to give you an idea about how Guerrilla Marketing Coaching can boost your bottom line.. Enjoy it– then check out our five Guerrilla Marketing tips for today!

5 Guerrilla Marketing Tips:

1.  Build the Human Bond: Learn To Turn Strangers Into Friends

2.  Develop Fusion Marketing Partners and Know How To Approach Them Correctly

3.  Use Your Imagination and Be Creative

4.  Give away useful free content: Download 101 Free Guerrilla Marketing Coaching Strategies

5.  Action speaks louder than words: Be consistent and lead with your passion!

For a downloadable version of this list–> click here

1. Blog regularly and set up Ping.fm to distribute content to Facebook, Twitter and other sites

2. Create downloadable PDF’s with valuable content and active links back to your site (like the one above)

3. Use signature files on all emails with call to action

4. Approach online partners and retweet each other when appropriate

5. Post in discussion and newsgroups in your industry

6. Write articles and submit (google “article submission”)

7. Set up your own Twitter account and share valuable information

8. Give testimonials to others with your web address

9. Create offline ads with your web address

10. Optimize your site with SEO to get better search rankings

11. Set Up Your Facebook and LinkedIn pages and make connections

12. Host a teleclass and send students to your site for information

13. Create A Trackable Marketing and Traffic Calendar

14. Create a viral offering such a joke or flash movie with your website on You Tube

15. Put your domain on all marketing materials

16. Write a book and put your domain on the cover and inside

17. Be a guest on a radio show and send people to your site

18. Write an article for a magazine or blog with your web address in the resource box

19. Speak in public and give a useful handout link to site

20. Mention your web address every time you are talking business

Commitment is the attribute that divides winners from losers, and keeps some people moving when others stop dead in their tracks. It is the characteristic that keeps successful people optimistic in the midst of crushing disappointments. It is the quality that allows champions to learn from their losses and move on. Commitment keeps victors energized when the newness wears off.

How do you recognize committed souls from others? Simple.

People who are committed keep their promises. They do what they say, long after the moment they said it in has passed.

People who are committed are in it for the long haul. They are willing to exchange short-term luxuries for a brighter future.

People who are committed have their eye on the finish line, but enjoy the ride there.

People who are committed demonstrate a minute-after-minute, day-after-day, month-after-month, and year-after-year attention to ensuring that “mundane” tasks are accomplished, because they know that excellence isn’t in the details, it is the details.

People who are committed don’t build walls, they learn how to surpass them.

Yet, while most businesspeople agree that commitment is an admirable trait, they may not know exactly what it means to put into action – especially as it relates to Internet marketing. If you don’t believe this, go online and take a look. You’ll find gobs of abandoned and/or poorly maintained websites and blogs all over the place. Then, consider how much time, energy, know-how, and money their owners wasted, because neglected websites and blogs do not generate income!

Unfortunately, this is and all-too-common fate for entrepreneurs – who by their very nature, are generally much more action-oriented than others. So, why do some many well-intentioned and intelligent small businesspeople lack the commitment needed to grow and maintain a profitable business? If you’re assuming that the answer to this question is that these folks lack solid work ethics, you couldn’t be more wrong. Rather, it’s usually just the opposite. That is, many entrepreneurs become paralyzed because they’re overworked, over committed, and overwhelmed!

For example:

They’re eager to take advantage of new opportunities, so say “yes” to more than they can handle.

They’re reluctant to delegate tasks to employees or outsource work because they’re convinced that their product or service quality will suffer – or it will cost them a fortune.
They grossly underestimated how much time and energy it would take them to run their businesses smoothly.

They fail to document key processes and systems, which makes it very difficult for them to train others to take over.

And the list goes on… Yet, even if you don’t identify with entrepreneurs who suffer from these, your plate is probably still full and you haven’t a clue where you’ll find the time to add more responsibilities to your burgeoning to-do lists. All of us have times when we want to shout, “Will somebody please help me?!”

That’s just the point. You can’t. And even if you think you can, you shouldn’t try. Yes, guerrillas accomplish many things using only their time, energy, and know-how, but they also know when and how to get help.

Are you a Guerrilla?

The preceding excerpt was from Guerrilla Marketing On The Internet by Jay Conrad Levinson, Mitch Meyerson and Mary Scarborough

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Become a Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach.  Get the full story here:

Mitch Meyerson