Do you know that one of the best ways to build a successful online business quickly is through joint ventures?

I know this concept can be a bit hard to grasp to those of us who like being a lone ranger (one of the common traits of being an entrepreneur, right?). But what I know is that since I’ve embraced the “no one reaches success alone” philosophy myself, I’ve enjoyed a huge increase in my business, in terms of clients, customers, revenues and fantastic opportunities that would not have happened otherwise.

To begin, what exactly is a joint venture?

Simple: a joint venture happens when two or more business owners decide to do something together that benefits all parties.

For example, when two authors write a book together. Or when three colleagues produce a live event together. Or when twelve experts come together to hold a telesummit.

The purpose is for each of the business owners to promote the others’ wares. In other words, you tell your list about my stuff and I’ll tell mine about yours. 🙂

Besides the obvious benefit of helping each other build your email list of potential clients and customers, there’s also the added value you give to your own list by introducing them to something that can benefit them in addition to your own offerings.

And you simply make more money!

How? Well, if you’ve been following along with me for awhile, you know that the way to build a successful and sustainable business online is to 1) find out what your niche wants; 2) create it; 3) offer it to them via the list you’ve been building all along.

Because it’s those people on your list who have raised their hand to tell you that they want more information from you. They are the people who will tell you what they want and then buy it from you when you offer it.

Joint venturing can also make the work you do easier, more creative, and more fun simply by sharing the idea and tasks involved.

To get you started, here are some things you should do when considering a joint venture:

1. Get to know your potential partner first.

Sign up for their Free Taste and/or ezine. Do some research and reading to see what they are about and how you can potentially complement each other.

2. Partner with someone who shares the same audience as you.

A great potential joint venture partner is someone who already has an email list whom they’ve developed a relationship with and to whom they can and do make offers to periodically.

3. Pick 1 or 2 potential partners to approach first.

Create a list of 5 or so potential joint venture partners, and pick your top 1 or 2 to approach with an initial “I had an idea of something we could do together that would benefit us both as well as our audiences” email. Be sure to tell them what’s in it for them, but keep this first contact simple and somewhat casual (yet professional) in tone.

Once you do your first successful joint venture, you might find that it was so easy and enjoyable that you’ll start doing more and more of them. I know I will!

Do you want to learn how to “Collaborate, Don’t Compete”?

If you’ve been around me for awhile, you know that I don’t believe in competition, and since this seems to be a bit of a mind-stretch for many entrepreneurs (and a barrier to reaching the next level in income in their business), I felt it was very important to cover the topic of collaborating with your colleagues – and how to do it with integrity and authenticity – in my brand-new L.E.A.P.™ GOLD program.

I can tell you that a major factor in the dramatic increase in my revenues over the last few years has come from joint ventures that I’ve done with people I admire and trust, who also serve my market.

Learn how to approach a potential joint venture partner, what to say, how to discuss who does what, how to split the money – every critical factor you need to know in order to come across as a professional and be invited to do more lucrative ventures in the future.

Interested? Reserve one of the *very* limited seats TODAY

I’d love to hear about successful joint ventures you’ve done already, and/or your comments or thoughts about teaming up with other like-minded colleagues. Feel free to share them with me below.