5 Quick and Easy Strategies to Get Business Through Alliance Partners

Posted with permission from Rick Cooper, The PDA Pro (See his bio box at the end of this post)

Developing Alliance Partner Relationships:

Anytime you partner with another person, it is an informal joint venture or an alliance partnership. There are a lot of reasons to partner with other people in the business community.

Reasons to Joint Venture:

            • Pass referrals
            • Cross-promotion
            • Share resources
            • Make introductions
            • Encourage people

Approaching someone for a joint venture is easy. Networking is a great way to identify alliance partners. People who network are looking for people to work with. They want people they connect with and have something in common with.

The key is not to blow it out of proportion. When asking someone if they want to joint venture, don’t use the words ”joint venture”. It sounds too intimidating. It sounds like a lot of work.

Instead, ask people if they want to “partner”. Here’s a quick script you can use: “I’m looking for people to partner with. Would you like to get together and talk about ways we can help each other?” It’s low key and non-committal.

What are some of the ways you have partnered with others in the past?

Long-Term Relationships:

The key to building a successful long-term joint venture relationships is to take baby steps. Don’t try to create an elaborate plan on how to work together.

Set a goal to develop 3-5 alliance partner relationships.

Life happens. Some will work. Others will fall through.

Once you have an initial meeting, decide how often you want to chat. Monthly may be often enough. Weekly can be helpful if you set a short term goal for something you want to
accomplish.

Value your time. Keep your calls to about a half hour or less. Stay focused and on task. Decide the primary purpose for working together.

Make a list of 5 people you can partner with.

What value can you offer them?

Partnership Opportunities:

Pass referrals – This is one of the simplest relationships to set up. Look for referral sources. Who has your customer? Look for complementary businesses who work with similar
customers as you do. Exchange referrals if possible. If you are unable to provide them referrals, then do something else to create value for your partner.

Eric Lofholm calls this a reciprocal referral relationship.

Cross-promotion – This can involve develop marketing materials, but it can also involve sending email messages to your list of contacts. Ask your partner for business cards and
marketing collateral to hand out.

Share resources – We live in a knowledge based economy. Information is at a premium. Ask what people need and then send them information that will help.

You have information at your fingertips. Consolidate that information. Keep it handy.

Make introductions – Become a connector of people. When you meet someone new, think about who you can introduce them to. Look for people who would fit together well. Connect with people through social networks and look for ways to help them.

In his famous book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell referred to super connectors.

The average person knows about 250 people. A super connector knows a lot of people. Some may know upwards of 10,000 people or more.

Encourage People - Life is challenging at times. Pick up the phone and share an encouraging word with someone. Send a greeting card just to say hello. Send an email with an
inspirational quote.

I hope you enjoyed this information. 

Rick S. Cooper, MBA, is The Attraction Marketing Expert. He works with entrepreneurs who want to grow their business. He helps them make more money and spend less time doing it. He specializes in working with Coaches, Speakers and Experts. Receive The 7 Steps to Attract your Ideal Clients (complimentary audio program) by visiting http://www.AttractClientsAudio.com

Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum. I Smell the Blood …

I’ve been reading a lot of blogs lately, trying to figure out where I wanted to go with this one. I read a blog post by Stacy Brice, (author of Virtual Moxie) that really got my writing juices flowing. You can read her post here: http://www.virtualmoxie.com/2008/07/if-you-dont-wan.html She talks about discounting your fees for retainer clients and I never thought about it from her perspective before. (Thanks, Stacy!)

When you are setting up your business plan, you need to decide what your fee structure will be, and how much money per hour you need to clear to make it profitable. If you are like me, when I jumped on the scene, I didn’t have much experience with running my own business. When you set your hourly rate you have a lot to consider. (Disclaimer, I am not an accountant or tax consultant, and the laws vary depending on where you live, so always get professional advice.)

What is your cost of doing business? (This is your overhead.)

How much space does your office area take from your living area? You’ll have to do some math to figure the cost of your office space versus the living areas. For example, if you have 3,000 sq. ft. available in your home and your office takes up 75 sq. ft., that means you may be able to deduct that 75 sq. ft. from your mortgage or rent payment and that would be your office rent payment. This only works if you have a dedicated office space that is not used for any other reason. If you work from a laptop anywhere and everywhere in your house, this consideration would not be part of your overhead.

Other things to consider:
•    How much does your ISP charge you?
•    How much should you allow for electricity charges?
•    How much are your business phone & fax line charges?
•    Do you have a cell phone that is used for business purposes?
•    How much do you pay for office supplies?
•    How about your office equipment? (Includes printer supplies & paper.)
•    Do you have business insurance?
•    How much do you pay for continuing education?
•    How much do you pay for subscriptions or membership fees?
•    How much do your promotional items cost you? (Business cards, brochures, etc.)
•    What else should be included in your overhead?

Once you figure out the cost of doing business, then you need to decide how much money you want for your own paycheck. For example, $50.00 an hour sounds like a great wage to most starting out, but how much of that is actually going into your pocket as profit?

After you decide how much your hourly rate is, your next question should be how much can I discount my fees for retainer clients and still be profitable? Nina Feldman has a worksheet you can use on her website: http://ninafeldman.com/pricing-worksheet.htm One other thing to decide is, how much will I pay subcontractors? You need to have your rate set before you advertise your availabilty or make an offer to another VA.

For retainer clients, I did have a discounted plan depending on how many hours the client purchased. A lot of VA’s do this, but after reading Stacy’s blog (link above) I decided to listen to the voice of experience. Besides, it makes perfect sense. I am restructuring my fee schedule today and no longer discounting my rates for retainer clients! I am also making changes to my website, to reflect this change. I am not saying this is the only way to do business. I am saying it makes perfect sense to me; I’m the boss, so I am instituting the change for my own business model.

One big mistake I made when creating my business model, was offering a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Unfortunately, I didn’t think about a less-than-ethical client actually taking me up on this offer and demanding the money back. I had no choice but to refund the money, even though the client is using my intellectual property, because my website and scope of services proudly boasted my guarantee. I had no wording to the effect that retainer fees were not refundable. If you decide to offer a guarantee, make sure you can live with your decision and be prepared to return money whether it was earned or not. Oh well, live and learn! It was a costly lesson and it won’t happen again. Do your research and try to come up with all the possibilities for your fee structure. You won’t hit all the possible issues, but it’s better to be informed.

From Employee to Small Business Owner

Dateline: June 13, 2007.

When I began a virtual training course to become a virtual assistant, it was a day that changed my professional life forever. I had previously been exposed to the title “Virtual Assistant” through my friend and mentor, Patty Benton of JERPAT Training and Coaching. <www.virtualvacoach.com>

Coming from an education background, I felt the need to learn all about the industry. Patty was right there with a contract faxed to me for signature and I was on my way. Patty’s “Failure is NOT an Option” course was an eye-opening experience to say the least! She helped me find my way into the industry and cracked the whip when I needed it. It took me four months before I signed my first client. (I even copied my first check and filed it in my VA Portfolio!)

I knew, after taking Patty’s course that I needed to learn so much more. I decided that since I didn’t have many clients, I would spend my working hours at my desk and learn, learn, learn! I began attending teleseminars (about 3-4 a week) and signed up for a volunteer position with the Virtual Business Group <www.virtualbizgroup.com> as the assistant editor of the quarterly newsletter. I also joined some Virtual Assistant Organizations and began following the Yahoo Groups, participating whenever I could. I knew I had to get my name and abilities out there, and was looking for the least expensive ways to accomplish that.

I’m not going to say I had instant success, (I didn’t) or that I didn’t have days where I wanted to give up and just be an employee again. I wound up supplementing my loss of regular income by substituting as an Elementary Teacher 4-6 days a month. Once I’m in the classroom, I have a blast with the students. The teaching community and camaraderie I miss tremendously. I was on the fence half the year trying to decide if I wanted to go back to the classroom full-time, or continue the challenge of building my own business.

I felt overwhelmed, frustrated, and the bills kept coming. Not only did I have to change my persona from employee to business owner, but I had to keep reminding my family that just because I was home, didn’t mean I wasn’t working. I sat at my computer from 7:00 AM until 11:00 PM almost every night. On Saturdays, I devoted half the day to learning a new skill. I did manage to stop on Saturday evenings and Sundays, as those were devoted to me and my family.

The hardest part of starting my own business was learning discipline and self-motivation. I had to schedule my time and motivate myself stick to it. I was awed by some of the well-known names in the industry and wondered how they managed to get so much done while I was floundering in nowhere land. I thought, by my being home that my laundry would never get backed up and the dishes would always be done, but I had a lot to learn. (Don’t bring your white gloves to my house!) I thought I would be able to grow a vegetable garden, (it failed) all I managed was half-eaten shoots and weeds. We have wild rabbits and they loved my gardening efforts. I began to feel like a failure.

That was almost a year ago, and I must say, a few things have changed. I have increased my skill set, become confident in my new skin, and am on my way to a successful practice. I absolutely love it when VAs, who are even newer than me, want my advice, which I am always happy to provide. Opening my business taught me that it takes more than a computer and a dream to become successful. It takes a lot of hard work, brainstorming new ideas, learning new tools, and help from others who are farther down the road than you to help.