by Keith Keller | Feb 1, 2016 | GUEST BLOG POSTS: Social Media & SEO
THE POWER OF STRATEGIC ALLIANCES Guest Blog Post By Stephanie Ward One of the most effective ways to market your products or services is to create strategic alliances. Strategic alliances are partnerships with companies who sell to a client base similar to yours but they sell different products and services. The idea is to find partners whose clients may also be interested in your products/services. Many times people will casually agree to spread the word about each other’s products and services. This is the idea of ‘you send me clients and I will send you clients.’ But this approach is rarely effective and here’s why. Why Casual Agreements Don’t Work (1) The agreement is vague and undefined. (2) One or both people may not fully understand what the other does. (3) People are busy and forget. (4) Both people may be waiting to ‘get something’ first before they get into action to help the other. (5) One person may be more interested than the other. (6) There may be a higher value for one person than the other. To eliminate all of these issues, simply create a specific offer for potential strategic alliance partners. Offer to give something to your partners for every person they refer to you who ends up purchasing your products or services. This can be a percentage of your fee or total purchase, some of your products or services, or something else you mutually agree upon. The motivation for partners to send you clients isn’t only about what they will get in return. It is just a way to thank them for their...
