Knowledge and skills will always come to your rescue.

In a recession, when advertisers are scratching at the door and losing business hand over fist, you can set up a lucrative Joint Venture with them, as well as with your Joint Venture partners.

Advertisers have space to sell, and it’s a perishable commodity; if it’s not sold, it’s lost forever, whether it’s space ads in magazines, newspapers, or billboards, or whether it’s radio or TV time or banner ads on websites or e-zines.

How to Set Up the Deal with the Advertiser

You simply offer to pay them for RESULTS, not promises. It’s called Contingency Advertising.

It doesn’t cost the advertiser anything, since he or she already has the space, and you only pay for converted leads / sales made. Any set-up fee, artwork, or other incidentals will naturally have to be paid for, but it’s a fraction of the cost of the advertising itself.

This way, even if there are no initial sales, you get great exposure and branding, and, when the advertiser sees this concept working, he will never run open space again.

Only EVER Pay for Results

We have done this for more than twenty years in every conceivable kind of media for ourselves and our clients, and it really is “no money, no risk” – it‘s a win/win.

I never pay salaries or for advertising – I pay generously for results, so I’m not easily disappointed by big promises and BS.

Do the Math and Propose it Like This

First ask the advertiser if he believes advertising with him will make sales.  Of course he will say “Yes” and if he doesn’t, it’s easy to show him the door.

When he says “Yes”, propose something like this: If you pay an average of $100 per sale and a $2,000 advertisement generates 40 sales, the advertiser doubles his money.

Ad responses can go via the advertiser for tracking and spot-checking purposes.

Joint Venture Brokers can triangulate this system to earn residual income from other people’s businesses.

Too many people make Joint Ventures too complicated. They “feel overwhelmed” and “don’t know where to start”, when it’s really as simple as ABC.

When you respond to a need and make a referral, which you do every day, simply monetize the transaction and build in residual income wherever possible. And in many cases, the reciprocal value doesn’t have to be money – you can trade anything, as long as the one making the money reciprocates!

Here is an example of a JV:

We all have tons of books, CD’s, educational programs that we paid too much for at overpriced seminars, DVD’s, and audio programs at home, most of which we will never look at again, if we ever did in the first place. Yet we continue to buy new stuff.

How about twenty friends decided to have a little swap meet, get together for pizza, and swap their CD’s., etc? Everyone would get excellent value, at no cost!

Here’s another example:

Marketing is usually confused with selling. Using attraction marketing is a very powerful and effective way to get more customers. Instead of selling stuff, give stuff away! Especially when it doesn’t cost you anything!

Joint Venture with people who want to get their products and services into the market place by giving away their Gift Certificates for courses, consultations, cleanings, evaluations, samples, reports, conference calls, etc., and everyone wins.

Yet another example:

I was in England last week, and a good friend’s wife is very connected in Africa. I thought of another friend of mine in Canada who can almost certainly do business with her, so I e-mailed him to ask exactly what commissions I would receive if I connected him with my African connection. If I like the commission structure, I will send ONE e-mail to make the connection, sit back, and wait for a check. It’s that easy.

One more example:

JV’s can be TRIANGULATED: Those are the best, easiest, and most lucrative. Connect Tom and Peter, and collect an ongoing commission on any business they ever do, as with my African connection illustration above.

I had a fellow distribute someone else’s complimentary report to his database, and it earned me ten thousand dollars.

• Total time invested: 30 minutes.
• Risk: none.
• Cost: nothing.

Be Creative!

You can trade anything in JV’s – people have traded my JV Broker Bootcamp tickets for beef, pots and pans, advertising, hotel rooms, you name it. You can be as creative as you like!

One caveat here:

You should only do business and set up Joint Ventures with good people whom you know, like and trust, or have been referred to you by trusted friends, hence the DollarMakers Joint Venture Club.

Online “JV’s” with anonymous people can hurt you and your reputation more than you can imagine.

With the right training, access, and support, anyone can make money and even retire through the power of Joint Ventures. I have; twice.

Most entrepreneurs have been taught that you have three options with any prospect:

• First, you can sell them something.
• Second, you can sell them more than once.
• And third, they may refer new business to you.

This is a linear, traditional way of thinking.

Use Joint Ventures to Maximize Impact

In today’s world, we have to think in terms of viral marketing and multiple impacts. In order to illustrate a simple Joint Venture scenario, let’s use the example of someone who recently joined the DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum. We’ll call her Carol. She has one thousand clients who know, respect, and trust her. How can she use Joint Ventures to make a serious amount of money, fast?

Make Real Money with a Replicator Website

I suggested Carol start off by leasing a Replicator Website, which will track all business and pay her up to 50% of all sales, including the sales of audio downloads, training, Memberships, more replicator sites, my book, etc. I would then write a very compelling letter for her to send to her database and friends, inviting them to visit her site and obtain a complimentary audio download, which I would create specially for her clients – applicable to their specific type of business. Carol would send out this email and two follow-up e-mails, which could make her a significant amount of money.

Build Your Back-End with Gift Certificates

Then she would send each of her thousand clients five Gift Certificates as a Thank You Gesture for their loyalty and patronage. Each gift Certificate would offer her clients a complimentary service worth at least $100.  For example, a business consultant might offer a complimentary consultation worth $150.

• Each Gift Certificate would be designed to provide real value and entice the user to buy more of the service.
• The supplier of the service would pay for the printing and postage.

Carol would have negotiated an ongoing percentage of all the business resulting from each of these 5,000 Gift Certificates that she distributes. In other words, when any of her clients started using the business consultant, accountant, lawyer, yoga trainer, spa or coach, Carol would receive a monthly check from that service provider of 20% of the total monthly bill.

This would create ongoing, multiple streams of passive income for her.

Leverage Databases with Prizes

Then, Carol could offer her clients a range of special prizes, all sponsored, which they could win. The way they could win these prizes would be to get everyone they know onto a certain conference call or to attend a seminar, which I would present, and the client who put the most people onto the call or into the seminar, would win the top prize. That way, Carol would use viral marketing to access her clients’ databases with their permission. One of her clients has 10,000 people in her database. Any sales resulting from the Conference Call or Seminar would earn Carol additional income.

Add Value AND Make Money

I could go on all night with different ways in which Carol could continually add value to her clients and make more and more money, in more and more diverse ways, as well as significantly grow her database.

Make $15,000 without Spending a Cent

In the above scenarios, Carol did not spend one cent. She continually gave away valuable information, prizes and services to her clients at every turn, as a thank you gesture for their patronage. She never tried to sell them anything. I would conservatively expect her to make at least $15,000 and an ongoing revenue stream in addition to that. This is all pure profit to her.

This system of accessing databases, giving stuff away at no cost, adding massive unprecedented and unexpected value and continually, exponentially expanding the options and reach, is typical of the atomic power of Joint Ventures.

A lot of people are cutting costs and cutting back during this recession, which can make it harder to recruit the right people. 2009 can be a time of famine, drought, and scarcity in your Network Marketing / Direct Marketing / MLM business, or it can be the year you get stinking rich.

But first, we need to agree on one important thing, and that is that this is not a time to recruit desperate people. They say, “Desperate people do desperate things”, and that is true. You want to be recruiting successful, influential, Centers of Influence.

Recruit Leaders

When you recruit a Center of Influence correctly and manage that relationship, you will be amazed at how you can rocket your Network Marketing through the roof. They can sign up their leaders and use their existing communication and resources to build your business.

Follow Through

Most Network Marketers drop the ball after signing up a Center of Influence because they’re too obsessive, desperate, and self-interested. They follow what they are taught by their company, and they forget about the fact that they are, in fact, involved in a Joint Venture.

This is the difference between what you will learn from DollarMakers and what you will learn from your Network Marketing company. I have been recruited to join Network Marketing companies as a Center of Influence myself, and I have also recruited Centers of Influence, and in most cases I made a lot of money, so I know whereof I speak.

What is a REAL Center of Influence?

Now there is a reason why you haven’t recruited a Center of Influence before, and if you have, why they’re not performing. We’re not going to discuss that here. What I want to discuss is HOW to recruit busy people who have access to many other people who will do what that Center of Influence suggests they do.

• A Center of Influence is someone who influences many people who trust, respect, and like them, and who follow their suggestions.
• A real Center of Influence communicates regularly with his or her people.

Just to be clear, there are a lot of people who SEEM to be Centers of Influence and CLAIM to have large databases, but usually those databases are simply people who once opted into their database to get a free gift, and they don’t even know who the Center of Influence is, much less open his e mails or read them or follow his advice. I’m talking about a real Center of Influence

• who cares about her people and has a relationship with them.

Your Approach Must be Based on a Relationship and Reciprocity.

The Joint Venture Mindset that we teach through DollarMakers is that you should build business based on a relationship and reciprocity. I don’t do business with people I don’t know or respect, and who haven’t built some kind of trust relationship with me. I don’t even consider promoting people or products who have not contributed to DollarMakers or been involved with us. It is dangerous to work with unknown people.

This needs to be remembered when you approach a Center of Influence.

• You have to earn the right to talk with them or pitch them.
• You have to show them that it is in their own best interest.
• First, you have to know what they want, and what their “Hot Button” is.

Remember, Centers of Influence are being pitched almost daily by MLMers who do it all wrong. If you do what everybody else does you’ll have what everybody else has. Using the Joint Venture approach, you can differentiate yourself from all the others.

Tips for Top Notch Recruitment

In a nutshell, here are the simple points to follow in order to recruit a Center of Influence into your Network Marketing business:

1. Earn the right. Create reciprocity. Build a relationship. Contribute. Become known and respected. You have to put wood on the fire before you get the heat.
2. Position yourself. Look and act successful. Dress and groom yourself appropriately. Package yourself for success.
3. Find out what the Center of Influence’s Hot Button is. You need to understand his pain, problems, challenges, hopes, dreams, goals, and secret wishes. This takes work and research, but it’s well worth it. Be clear about what he wants, so that you prepare the bait / prize / incentive correctly.
4. Prepare your offer properly. Customize your presentation and be sure that it’s all about the Center of Influence to show her how she will benefit by joining you.
5. Make your offer in such a way that it is hard to refuse. Remove time, money, risk, inconvenience, and irritation, and add massive value and substance. Push the Hot Button effectively.
6. Close and sign him up.
7. Follow-up and management – this is the most important part. If you stop putting wood on the fire, it will go out, and you will be replaced.

Finally, remember this:

The Center of Influence you are going to recruit is not going to be doing your business on a full time basis – she already has a successful business, and you are simply an add-on. By neglecting this fact and assuming you and your products or services are the center of the universe, you will very quickly lose the relationship and commitment of that Center of Influence.  That’s what DollarMakers teaches.

If you want to acquire the Joint Venture mindset that will make the above possible, I suggest you join DollarMakers, get involved, and learn from about reciprocity, value, commitment, wealth, and Joint Ventures from us.

How many times have you had someone call you up, offering to sell you something, without giving you any reason whatsoever to even talk with them? We are busy people, inundated with 36,000 advertising messages a day, all vying for our attention. We have to be very selective and sophisticated in our approach if we want someone’s attention.

Why not try something like this?

Benjamin’s dog, Vicious, is a fluffy, white Toy Pomeranian that wears a powder blue T-shirt on his walks around the lake of a sunny afternoon. Benjamin thinks the sun rises and sets on young Vicious and he spends a fortune on high-end dog food. He has even imported a special dog bed for his furry child.

Lucy sells insurance. She mails Benjamin a hand addressed letter, offering him a complimentary dog walking and dog sitting session with her client. Benjamin is asked to collect the Gift Certificates at Lucy’s office.  By doing so she creates value for both parties and can earn money off the back end at the same time.

Give people what they want.

Give them a good reason to contact you, listen to you and buy from you. Talk in the interest of the OTHER person because nobody cares what you want. Earn the right. Create massive, unprecedented, differentiated and visible value. We all have thousands of options.

Answer These Unspoken Questions:

• Why should I listen to you, talk with you, buy from you or even notice you?
• What makes you so different?
• How do I know you care about me?
• How much do you even know about me?

Do your homework, find the Hot Button and customize/ personalize your product or service to fit the needs of your prospect. Hand addressed envelopes, for example, pull a much better response than printed addresses.

Get personal and get results.

When Gwen sets up her seminars of 150 people, how much would you have to pay to have her introduce you to all of them from the front of the room? How about $20?

How can I get radio time for pennies on the dollar, with ten times more credibility than a high-priced advertisement? It’s easy if you give stuff away.

How can you make money by giving away $100 to each of a thousand people? I’ll tell you…

People Want Something for Nothing

People don’t want to get sold stuff. They want stuff for nothing. And they want to be able to choose to buy – they don’t like being manipulated by a slavering salesperson. That’s why you love the cake samples in Safeway and often end up buying something fattening. When you stand in Starbucks munching on a tiny piece of chocolate brownie, which is generously offered as a sample on a paper plate, did you know that many people end up buying brownies because of that tantalizing taste?

The Old Vacuum Cleaner Salesman Trick… That Works.

Remember the vacuum cleaner salesman who showed up at your door with a five dollar set of steak knives and a three-dollar flashlight? He told that you his manager insisted he give away one of these precious and highly coveted gifts to some lucky homeowner who agreed to watch a riveting, sensational, thirty minute vacuum demonstration as he sucked minute bugs from a mattress, and which one of these two priceless offerings which you like? You chose the steak knives and two hours later you gratefully bought an overpriced vacuum cleaner.

Here’s How You Make Money Giving Stuff Away

• You offer Gwen two of your books and a complimentary consultation worth $100 as door prizes and you get exposed to 150 people in the room.
• You give away your CD’s or a gift certificate to clean the carpets in a house as a radio give-away. And if you’re not into carpet cleaning, could you set it up for a carpet cleaner, have him do the work and take 20% of all the resulting business? Of course, you could.
• You could have Jimbo distribute 1,000 gift certificates to his indebted clients, entitling them all to a complimentary Yoga class with Yippee Yoga. The certificates are printed and paid for by Yippee herself, Jim and his clients are ecstatic and when Yippee gets business out of this joint venture transaction, you obediently collect 20% of all the resulting income.
• Or you could kindly introduce Bob’s money to Sally[‘s project and make $25,000 for the effort as I did very recently.

A Great Idea You Can Use Too!

I spoke to a group of Newcomers in Toronto who were enjoying a Government-sponsored job finding program. The government spends many thousands advertising this course. The lecturer realized that he could save the civil servants tens of thousands of dollars by simply offering two movie tickets to any student who introduced a new student. It’s doubtful, though, that the government will accept his wise suggestion. Seriously, Joint Ventures opens our minds to many new opportunities, and the power of giving away stuff is only one of many simple yet powerful concepts.

A man’s daughter told him there were ripe apples on the tree in their yard. He went out with an axe and a bucket, picked the five apples that were ripe, put them in the bucket, and then chopped down the tree, laden with green apples. He wouldn’t wait for them to ripen, and so he missed out on much good fruit.

The Moral to the Story

We need to continually brand ourselves so that when prospective customers “ripen”, you’re their natural choice – top of mind. We want to position ourselves in their mind by creating a category and then owning it.

Getting the Most from Marketing and Advertising

We know that advertising works very much better when you’re well branded. You get a much better ROI for marketing and advertising when people recognize you. How do you know how well you’re branded? I look at my site on Alexa.com, I Google Robin J. Elliott and DollarMakers and I see how many times the phone rings. But the best test is your bottom line, right?

Using Joint Ventures to Brand Easily & Effectively

Branding is essential for business success. But isn’t it very expensive? And with the cost of advertising and the mass of information out there, isn’t it difficult to stand out and be recognized? It is difficult if you use conventional methods. They’re risky and expensive. Hit and miss. That’s why we use Joint Ventures to build our brand effectively.

In order to brand Robin J. Elliott and JVWisdom.com I use the following:

• Blog my website a JV with another website
• Seminars and teleclasses
• Articles in other peoples’ e-zines
• Public speaking
• Keynote speeches
• E-books and audio books

… and on and on – all Joint Ventures.

I also use:

• Contingency Advertising
• Host Beneficiary Relationships
• Bundling

… all Joint Ventures as well. No cost or risk and very little time, with maximum effect and reach. I could go on all day. Bottom line, it works for my bottom line! And my JV Partners benefit just as much. Win/win.

Take a Multifaceted Approach

We discovered a long time ago that branding is a multifaceted thing. Many different baits on many different hooks. Get the public’s attention continually, on many different levels. Reinforce their awareness of you and your business. Donald Trump said that there is no such thing as overexposure. I agree with him.

The Value of Branding Your Business

Branding creates massive equity for you, as long as it translates into business. Branding on its own is ego. We need to convert that branding into after tax profit. Again, multidimensional approaches and income streams can be developed fast and with little cost or time and no risk, using Joint Ventures. When our income is not restricted to our own products and services, we’re doing real business and making real money, real fast.

The fact is, times change. If we don’t continually seek ways to add value, initiate new directions, woo our clients and update our technology, we will be left choking in our competitors’ collective dust.

Our customers and prospects are inundated with offers, bribes and shiny choices. They face a daily barrage of exciting options. Our competitors are constantly finding new ways to lure, entice and tempt our clients away. They become more sophisticated by the day. They spend tons of money to attract our patrons.

“If you don’t look after your wife, somebody else will!”

The same applies to your clientele. Watch television. See how many times the screen changes? People get bored really fast, these days. Watch an old movie and see how fast you lose interest. We’re used to constant stimulation, and we demand more and more for less and less. We become more and more sophisticated. We expect more. We want to be wooed and romanced by our vendors, don’t we? We take so much for granted these days, and here’s a wake-up call: “Customer loyalty” is a thing of the past.

Better Bang for Your Buck

Word of mouth advertising and viral marketing are based on massive, unprecedented value. Instead of wasting your precious marketing budget on advertising that doesn’t work, why not spend it on adding value to your existing customers and paying them for bringing you more business? Innovate. Initiate.

Don’t Get Lazy

You snooze, you lose! Don’t fall asleep at the wheel. The shepherd who falls asleep will awake to find that the wolf has eaten his sheep. Don’t underestimate your competition. He is spending money, attending seminars, reading books and finding ways to grab market share from you. He will steal your ideas. You have to constantly be five steps ahead of him.

Watch A Winner

Look at the most successful companies today: they are constantly initiating new value and inventing new benefits. Look at Google. Follow the winners. Reinvest into your business and your education. Align yourself with the top entrepreneurs. And you will lead the field.