List-Building through Joint Ventures

Welcome Back!

In the last 6 or 7 months you've seen me involved in a number of Joint Ventures - Gary Huynh's 7 Days of Autumn, the 117 Christmas Gifts promo, our own http://www.starttheyearright.com, Cody Moya's RRG, The List Machine, etc. Why? Because we gain an average 1,000 new readers from each, swelling our opt-in list with a constant stream of new signups, in addition to those we get from our regular efforts - e-books, articles, freebies, sales, etc.

And we turn down more JV's than we go into - either because we're too busy at that point (usually) or we just can't see the value to that particular event (less often). We've achieved our best results from those with 8 - 12 partners - fewer and there's not enough momentum, more and the people get barraged with too many e-zines and offers and leave all the lists too soon to really know which ones offer quality content and which don't.

That's all well and fine for us - Teri & I are well known online, have 14 sites and various productive lists, backed by a successful track record of JVs with some of the biggest names online. So JV partners approach us - and already know who we are if we approach them.

But what about those just starting out, or with an opt-in list of only 1,000 or 2,000? Many, many marketers find that even getting 50 new opt-in subscribers a month is tough - possibly impossible, because their sites aren't busy enough yet. What about you? Have you been involved in any Joint Ventures yet?

So what's a marketer to do? First, watch for announcements about big giveaway JV's launching, especially the Christmas ones - often these require no set size of opt-in list from the partners, just that they have something of value you can give away. Some of the resell rights products you've bought may allow you to give them away, or you can grab one like 10 Steps To Google-Friendly Web Sites.

But Christmas is still 8 months away as I write this. So how do you get it all started before that? Until now, you had to be a programmer or hire one, set up the coding to allow co-registration opt-ins, then approach others with similar web site traffic/opt-in list sizes.

You remember co-reg, right? That's where an opt-in form presents 4 - 12 e-zines to sign up for all at once. Think of Gary Baker's leads, or the ListInferno and OptInStorm programs. Even our StartTheYearRight.com is a variation of that principal.

So even if you're current list is 200 or 300 strong, you can jumpstart your opt-in list building by following this pattern:
1) Contact a number of other sites/lists that are about the same size, preferrably in a related field to yours.
2) When you get 8 - 10 interested participants, set up a database with their e-zine title, info and autoresponder signup address.
3) Set up an opt-in list signup form that rotates which e-zines are shown each time, so that each visitor can choose from 4 or 5 of the e-zines in their signup box.
4) Give each partner a copy of the coding for the form to place in a conspicuous spot on their site - usually top-right, just under the header graphic.

Now, when people opt-in at any of the sites, most will pick one or two of the other lists to join as well, and everybody can end up with more incoming subscribers. It's a great win-win for everybody, as long as there's a level playing field - all partners having roughly the same traffic.

Finding and contacting the other sites is easy - search for your keywords at Google, then start contacting the sites from Page 5 of the results on through. (those in the first 4 pages are probably getting more traffic, so they'd be less receptive on average)

So now the question becomes how to set it all up in the first place. It's definitely worth the effort - once the partners all have the forms in place, it's true set and forget technology - without any of you doing anything extra, the results just keep mounting. But it DOES take some effort to put it in place.

There is hope though... Remember my buddy Mike Steup from the StartTheYearRight.com site? Mike's come up with new software to help you out quite a bit - you can use it to simply add an opt-in form to your own site, put together the type of form discussed above, and more - it even has a list of resources to help find your potential JV partners! See JVBuddy at
http://www.marketmy.com/recommends/jvbuddy.php

Of course, I'm going to show you how to make this tool a no-net-cost resource as well, since that's one of the main things I'm known for. First, get your own copy of the program here: http://www.marketmy.com/recommends/jvbuddy.php

Now, join the affiliate program to refer it to others: http://www.marketmy.com/recommends/jvb-affil.php
(Do them in that order - you can't buy your own copy through your own affiliate link)

Then, when you approach other e-zine publishers about joining your joint venture, let them know you're using JVBuddy and add your link. This lets them know the event is being professionally run, and you may even pick up the odd commission from those not joining your JV.

If you have one or more really busy sites, offer to provide co-reg leads for a fee. You could contract with 4 or 5 smaller e-zines to provide them signups from your site, while still getting the signups for your own on that same form.

Either way, it shouldn't take long at all for JVBuddy to pay for itself - leaving you with yet another no-net-cost tool that will contiune to build your opt-in list for years to come! Grab this one right now...
http://www.marketmy.com/recommends/jvbuddy.php

Have a super week - Teri & I are hoping to get some blading in again this week, if the rain ever stops. Time for my workout, so I'll talk to you later in the week, if I don't see you in the Warriors Forum or the List Machine Forum in the meantime!

All the best,

Doug Champigny
Welland, ON, Canada

PS: Be one of the first 25 members of our online family to get your JVBuddy from
http://www.marketmy.com/recommends/jvbuddy.php
and then send me a note with your receipt # - I'll throw in a $50 credit for you at Gary Huynh's DigiBarterSite so you can choose the reward you want from the great stuff available there! You can get in f.ree and see what's available there:
http://www.marketmy.com/recommends/digi.php

Power Users Tip: When you join the DigiBarterClub for free you'll be presented with an opportunity to upgrade to a seller's account for half price - do it. Not only will this give you a new market to sell to, but I'll add another $50 to your account, for a total of $100 DigiBarterBucks if you get JVBuddy as well, or $50 if you just get JVBuddy OR a seller's acount at DBC.

JV Buddy - http://www.marketmy.com/recommends/jvbuddy.php

DigiBarterClub - http://www.marketmy.com/recommends/digi.php

Enjoy! - DC

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