Chisina.Com

"Our success has really been based on partnerships from the very beginning."
- Bill Gates

By Paul Lawrence

A few months ago I knew no one at the top levels of the entertainment world. Then I signed one piece of paper, and bam! Vice presidents were returning my calls. I went on to produce a live entertainment event (the International Sketch Comedy Competition) on Sunset Boulevard. It was covered by virtually every major network in town!

I was able to do it because I aligned myself with a very powerful partner in the entertainment business. It was a prominent comedy club and production company. By partnering with this company, my International Sketch Comedy Competition suddenly became a "must attend" event within the industry.

Making deals with powerful partners is one of the best ways to "leapfrog"
your way to profitability in the blink of an eye. And not only in the entertainment world. I've made many lucrative partnership deals.

You, too, can take advantage of this idea to build your own income. One strategy I've used time and again is what I call "Incremental Relationship Building".

First you need to come to terms with the cold, hard truth: Your potential power partner probably doesn't need you at all. So if you simply approach him with a proposition, he isn't likely to be interested in it. Why?
Because there's no relationship. And powerful people generally do business only with people they have relationships with.

That's where my Incremental Relationship Building strategy comes in. This technique will help you initiate a relationship and then widen it until it's strong enough for your partner to feel confident about working with you.

Here's how you do it...

Step 1: CHOOSE A POTENTIAL PARTNER
Let's say you sell herbal toothpaste (primarily via your website). You realise if you connect with an e-zine publisher who has a huge subscription base, you could increase your sales. So you identify a few publishers to build a relationship with.

Step 2: PROPOSE A DEAL YOUR POTENTIAL PARTNER CAN'T REFUSE As I said earlier, your potential partner probably doesn't need you. But if you make an offer that's enticing, he might just say "yes".

I've made this work in my own information publishing business by contacting some major Internet publishers and offering to sell their products to my relatively small customer list. Agreeing to work with me in this way would require no investment or effort on their part, but they'd get a share of my profits.

How could they say no? There was no downside for them. And eventually, these relationships grew to the point where I was able to approach them about marketing some of my products to their customer lists.

Step 3: MAKE SURE THE INITIAL DEAL WORKS OUT WELL FOR YOUR POTENTIAL PARTNER When the initial deal that you make with a potential partner works out well for him, he'll trust and respect you. At the same time, he'll see you know what you're doing. And that's the kind of person successful businesspeople want to work with.

Step 4: OFFER TO EXPAND THE RELATIONSHIP Once you've worked together on a deal that has been mutually rewarding, you're no longer a stranger but a trusted colleague. And with this new status, you're more likely to get a "yes" when you propose a bigger deal.

I don't know of a better way for a small-businessperson to increase his ability to make moneymaking deals with people in powerful positions.

[Ed. Note: Paul Lawrence is a produced screenwriter, direct-mail copywriter, and business author. He is also the creator of the Quick and Easy Microbusiness System.]