Combination of the Two — Partnerships in Information Marketing

Dear Info Marketers,

Well after a sunny weekend it’s raining hard outside now. This is a bit hard to digest after a very nice weekend, but to be optimistic I guess it leads to the inevitable “April showers = May flowers” saying. Something to look forward to.

And speaking of which, I got an e-mail from a friend who was offered a partnership with a fellow info marketer who deals in the same type of information as him. I was very happy for this friend but he ended his message in a sort of blue mood by saying: “I don’t think I’ll do it. I am just not that optimistic, Burt. These things never pan out.”

“Not true”, I told him. My colleagues Michael Lombardi and Adrian Newman have succeeded for many, many years thanks to several carefully established professional and profitable partnerships. While they are not necessarily easy, they are born and nurtured out of a mutual need for both parties wanting to do the best.

The things you should consider that are the most important in information marketing partnerships are:

--Who can provide what: Just like planning a fishing trip or party with friends, you have to sit down and carefully divvy up each party’s responsibilities. Make a list of what goals you want to achieve and who can provide the necessary information to achieve that goal. Be as fair as possible and try to balance the scale so everyone is carrying their weight.

--What schedule to create: You might form a partnership with someone located a large distance away, and thus you can’t work side-by-side, in the same time zone, with the same release dates. Correspond regularly and create a schedule of when you are going to release your products and on what basis i.e. daily, weekly, monthly, etc. Consider where both partners’ clients reside and what release dates have worked best in the past.

--What compensation to provide: This is always tough as we always hear bad press about disputes over money. Whether it’s between big corporations or small businesses, these matters can get bad, especially if courts are involved. Thankfully they can be avoided. Here’s how: think about starting the partnership for free. That’s right, for free. No fees, just “You create this, I’ll do that, and we will put it out and see what happens.”. I know that this sounds odd, but it works. If things do not work off the bat, start again. When you are successful and see profits, start dividing them up in an equal fashion.

**This is no joke. Many of my colleague’s most successful partnerships started this way. They wanted to “test the waters” to make sure things would work. Thankfully they did, and both parties ended up with significant profits.

--Who gets the credit: Again, this is another matter that can get pretty sticky if not done correctly. Basically, remember the old adage that credit is due where credit is due. Whatever content is created, that person should get the credit for creating it. Crediting yourself of having the other party crediting themselves for something they had no hand in is wrong and, more importantly, illegal, with plagiarism being a frequently tried court case. You have to keep things balanced so each party is pulling there weight equally. If this scale begins to fall to a heavier side, then you have to stop and rework your plan so it is partnership workload is balanced.

--What to do if it does not work out: I am not one to tell people what they want to hear and should address the possible fact that you may or may not have a good long term partnership. But if you don’t, that’s ok. Provided you held up your end of the bargain in the most professional manner possible, you can, in the worst case scenario, walk away to form another partnership with a newly created portfolio of work. BUT hopefully it will never come to this. Partnerships are great and can help your business succeed to unprecedented heights.

Information marketing is great if you are very independent and enjoy working by yourself. But if the opportunity of becoming more successful with a partner presents itself, it is always worth considering. Find the right one, do your homework with them, go work on the common goal of success.

You will not be sorry.

More to come so stay tuned and have a good week.

Best,

J.