In this month’s audio, Stefany Burrowes and I, have an in depth conversation about joint ventures.

Stefany is a CMC and PCC who has been coaching since 2001. She currently teaches acting at the Santa Fe Community College and Northern NM College, owns Sensational Wisdom: Creative Coaching & Collaboration, and publishes ‘The Theater Salon’, an e-newsletter and website about theater and film in New Mexico and the Southwest.

Coaching creatives Of all kinds – artists, actors, entrepreneurs, seekers, and anyone seeking to enhance and maintain their connection to the creative source and their passion for life. Her Website is: http://theatersalon.com/.

Here are some of the aspects of joint ventures that we explored:

• What is a Joint Venture?
• How does it differ from a collaboration, trade, alliance, partnership…..?
• What are the key elements of a successful Joint Venture?
• Does this work in any industry or field of work?
• Why do I want to do this?
• What are the benefits?
• What are the drawbacks?
• Who should I work with?

Joint Ventures can be an extremely powerful (and very fun) way to grow your business. In my opinion, the best part about joint ventures is their win-win component.

Stefany ask many very specific questions around this subject, making this an extremely informative interview. If you’re thinking about pursuing joint ventures but still have questions,
you’ll definitely want to listen.

Thank you Stefany, for all the fantastic questions. I know that this information will help so many other coaches who want to know more about joint ventures.

The best joint ventures benefit everyone involved: your business, you joint venture partner’s business, and the clients of both businesses. So how do you create this three-way win?

The easiest way is to think of your clients first. What do they want and need that you can only provide with the help of someone else? For example, let’s say you are a virtual assistant who has several clients that need a higher level of web design services than you can provide. You could find a web designer who has clients that could really use your services to help maintain the websites this designer creates. The two of you can now create a partnership where you both grow your business, while providing superior service to both your business’ clients!

Once you have an idea of what your clients want and need. You then, like the example above, want to find a fellow entrepreneur who not only can help you provide those services, but also has a client base who could use yours.

Once you have these two elements in place, it is simple to create synergistic joint ventures that benefit everyone involved. Your partnership creates something that is much greater than the sum of the parts.

Just because someone asks you to partner with them, doesn’t mean you have to say yes. You should keep these questions in mind when evaluating potential joint venture partners.

* Would your subscribers be interested in their offerings?
You don’t want to promote things to your list that they would not be interested in. This will just cause them to unsubscribe.

* Would their subscribers be interested in your offerings?
Not only would you be doing a disservice to the person offering the joint venture, but you wouldn’t get anything out of it either.

* Does the JV proposal benefit everyone involved?
The best joint venture grow both businesses and serve the prospects, clients and customers of both.

* Do you have time to meet your obligations in the partnership?
You don’t want to be so rushed to get things done, that you do them poorly. Worse, you don’t want this partnership to cause you to screw up anything in your business, either.

* Does the proposed timing fit with your current schedule?
You don’t want to “fatigue” your list with too many offers in too short a time.

If you take your answers to these five questions in mind when evaluating a proposed joint venture, you’ll make better decisions for both your business and theirs! Not only that, but these questions can help you develop better joint venture proposals, as well.

You know you want to partner with someone to help you grow your business. But how do you find this someone? Here are my top tips for finding joint venture partners that are compatible with your business, so you can form win-win-win promotions with them.

1. What newsletters do you read and respect? The creator of that publication might be a good candidate if your fellow readers would be interested in your services or products.

2. Who manages the groups your belong to on Facebook? The administrator of these groups might be good candidates if your fellow members would be interested in your services or products.

3. Who is writing about topics within your niche in the article directories? These authors might be good candidates.

4. Who have you met at live events that you really felt a synergistic match with? These entrepreneurs might be good candidates.

5. Who are the experts in your niche forums? These knowledgeable posters might be good candidates.

6. Who is selling compatible products and services to yours? You can find these people in affiliate product directories such as Clickbank.com and PayDotCom.com and they can make good candidates, as well.

Joint ventures are a powerful way to grow your business — whether on or off line. But, you need to come to the with the right mindset: A joint venture is not all about you. It is about creating value to all of those involved: your JV partner, your clients and customers, and your business.

So, to help you get started with creating — and benefiting — wildly successful joint ventures, here are some guidelines you should follow.

Thou Shalt Look Out for the Interest of Both Parties

Remember, the key word here is “joint.” This is a venture that will benefit both you and your JV partner. Always keep this in mind. “When you present your JV idea, you must be able to show your potential JV partner what the benefits for them are going to be,” writes Vickie Jimenez, personal and business development expert and author of Champagne Thoughts and Caviar Power the Science of Results Oriented Thinking. You must be crystal clear on what benefits your JV partner will gain by being a part of this alliance.

Thou Shalt Keep Your Promises

If you say you will deliver X on Y date, then you must deliver X on Y date. If you don’t do this, you will damage your credibility and your ability to develop JV relationships in the future. So, be sure that you can deliver what you promise, and be careful to promise only what you can actually deliver.

Thou Shalt Nurture an Attitude of Service

Be of service and you will prosper. Be of service to your JV partner. Listen to what their needs are and see if you can help. Be of service to your clients by bringing them value through your joint ventures. There is a difference between being a servant and being of service. The latter has much more power and abundance.

Thou Shalt Be Fair and Reasonable with Profits

Be equitable in your dealings with profits. There is plenty to go around and being greedy will only undercut any good you may have created through the joint venture.

Thou Shalt Hold Your Prospects, Clients and Customers Needs Above All Others

Creating a joint venture is all about growing your business. To do that, you must keep the needs of your ideal clients in the forefront of your mind. Be sure that any joint venture you enter or develop will, ultimately, benefit your ideal clients. Otherwise, it is just a waste of your time.

Be sure to attend the third and final series of Turbo-Charge Your Marketing calls, happening April 13-16, 2009. One of the guest speakers, Reed Floren, will be discussing how you can leverage the power of joint ventures to grow your business.