One of the biggest frustrations I hear from my clients about joint ventures partnerships is disappointment in what their joint venture partners actually DO versus what they agree to do. Next to that is the big light bulb realization that “Oh, I didn’t really outline any expectations”.
You can dramatically increase the success of your joint venture projects by partnering with people who are ready and willing to be “fully on board” and this requires what I call “the stinky shoes conversation”.
Why you must have the “Stinky Shoes” conversation:
Before you finalize your joint venture relationship, ask your potential partners to confirm:
#1) Alignment – Ask them if the mission and purpose of the project is aligned with their mission and purpose.
#2) A clear marketing calendar – Confirm that their marketing calendar can support the co-promotion calendar to avoid a marketing bottle neck.
This conversation is essential to increasing co-promotion participation AND protects the quality of your relationships. It is designed to let your partners know that you are actively seeking partners who will be 100% committed and on board and prevents any “misunderstandings” as the project unfolds if that partner realizes (after saying yes) that they just have too much on their plate.
My best advice here is that you need to become unattached to the outcome of your invitation. The individuals you’ve invited either WILL or WILL NOT partner with you for this project.
Please, don’t let anyone tell you that asking your potential joint venture partners to send a solo email is a no-no or bad joint venture etiquette. This kind of advice is a load of you know what (and designed to avoid the stinky shoe conversation)! Not only that…if you ask ANY of your potential partners if they only send one email when they launch a product or program, what do you think they will say?
If being bold and staking a claim in our marketing is important to standing out and attracting our ideal client, why would we not be bold about attracting ideal partners?
Say this out loud: “Please will you be my joint venture partner (beg, beg, beg)? If you say yes, you can do whatever you want and treat me however you like. Nooooo, you don’t have to respect any boundaries. I was just saying that hee hee. Yes, I know this is my business and my project but really, you can do whatever you like.”
Read it or say it out loud, either way it’s pretty ridiculous, don’t you think? Neither you or joint venture partner is supported by a “door-mat attitude”. Blech!
V-8 Moment: You CAN set your intentions to attracting high quality, motivated joint venture partners who are 100% committed to the success of the project. You do not have to settle for what you get. Your prospective partners will either say yes or no to the specifics of your project. It doesn’t have to be complicated, personal or any of that nonsense – it’s about business (and doing business together).
When I realized I could set the rules of engagement partnering with me in a joint venture, it completely transformed my partnership results. Just as you create an ideal client profile so you attract high quality clients, you should create an ideal joint venture partner profile so that you attract high quality joint venture partners.
Does that profile include partners who don’t participate in the co-promotion part of the project? No…I didn’t think so. If I tell my joint venture partners that it’s okay NOT to send solo emails knowing it’s the method that gets the best response, and then my partners get poor results, no one is happy at the end of the joint venture project. It is in everyone’s best interest to design a co-promotion strategy that gets results.
Exceptions to the Stinky Shoe Rule:
#1 Negotiates with you – If the potential partner can’t follow your original co-promotion strategy, ask them what they can do as an alternative. In some cases, their idea and offer is better than your original co-promotion strategy
#2 Is a “big name” that adds credibility or wow-factor and becomes a magnet to your target audience – In this case, if they didn’t do anything to promote, it’s still beneficial to bring them into the team.
If you have the stinky shoe conversation upfront, you will no doubt avoid even stinkier conversation down the road with disappointed or frustrated joint venture partners who failed to get the expected results from your partner project.
