Few people would argue that getting the word out is one of the keys to business success.

However, marketing and advertising can be quite costly.

And with so many choices available today, it can be quite a challenge deciding which options are best for your business.

So, before you spend another dollar—or hour—on marketing, take a step back and assess where you are, where you want to go and who can help you get there.

Think about this for a moment.

With the popularity of social media, you’re likely connected to more people than ever before. And there’s a good chance some of those people are business owners you can collaborate with.

So, check your phone

Leveraging key relationships and creating partnerships is a smart and efficient way to market your products or services. It allows you to bring in people who can help you do something the two of you cannot do alone.

So, go through the contacts in your phone to see who you may be able to work with.

Of course, some people will seem like a better fit than others. That’s okay because there are many ways to structure a partnership. Here are the three most popular ways to do it.

Affiliate Marketing

An affiliate is a person or company that sells your product or service in exchange for a commission. This is the most popular type of partnership.

The right affiliate allows you to reach people you wouldn’t have reached otherwise, so you should feel good about paying them a good commission on their sales. Plus, by casting a wider net, you can expand your brand recognition.

Even though affiliate marketing isn’t a complicated undertaking, don’t enter an agreement blindly. Make sure that you choose affiliates with a good reputation and who will not make misleading claims or use any other type of false advertising to mislead customers in any way.

Joint Ventures

In a joint venture, instead of someone just promoting your product, you pool your skills, resources and assets to work together to create and sell a product, service, or event.

I recommend looking for someone with complementary resources and skill sets so that you get more exposure and reap greater profits together than alone.

Since you’ll be working with them throughout an entire project, potential joint venture partners should be vetted carefully. So, it will take some time to establish the partnership, but the returns can be well worth the effort.

If you think this type of arrangement may work well for your business, but you don’t know any potential joint venture partners, use your social networks to do some exploring. There’s a good chance you’ll come across suitable people to talk to.

Business Partnerships

This is the most intricate of the three relationships.

A business partnership is almost like getting married because you share a percentage of your business, not just sales commissions on a specific product. So, you need to know that the other person shares values with you and that you can work well together.

That said, the right partnerships can motivate you, hold you accountable, bolster your confidence and fill in the gaps of what you can deliver.

Many people would never consider taking on a business partner because they don’t want to share it after all the work they put in. But that’s not the most intelligent way to look at it.

Bob Proctor asked me to be his business partner after running multi-million-dollar businesses for decades. Our skills complement each other, and he had the business sense to recognize it and act on it.

Together, we made the company much bigger and better than it had ever been before.

Make people want to partner with you

Of course, creating a partnership isn’t just about what you can get out of it. Yes, it allows you to augment your skills and reduce the time it takes for you to bring value to your clients.

But when you look at the bigger picture it’s about bringing the best of you and the best of your partner to the table so that together you can be better than you are apart.

Many people don’t consider that if you focus on becoming a key player in your community, finding the right partner(s) will become easy because people will start to notice you and will be chomping at the bit to work with you.

Here are three things you can do to get people to come to you for partnering relationships:

#1: Commit to Daily Growth. The most important thing you can do to build a successful business is to spend a part of every day in self-development. You should also do things to build on your natural strengths. If you’re a great communicator, for instance, take actions that will make you even better at it.

As part of your growth, also take steps that will allow you to stay ahead of the curve in your industry. Here are a few ways to do that: go to seminars and conferences regularly, attend webinars, obtain certifications and read newsletters and trade magazines that identify upcoming trends. Always be looking for ways to move onward and upward.

#2: Assess and Address Your Deficiencies. Even if you have most everything else going well, if you don’t fix your weaknesses, they could cost you a fortune.

So, regularly ask yourself, “Where can I improve?” or “Where did I mess up here and how can I fix it?” Few people have the courage or take the time to do that, and it can make all the difference in the world.

#3: Act as If It Were Impossible to Fail. When you think and work from this perspective, you deliberately create an invigorating mental climate that is free of doubts and anxieties. In that atmosphere, you won’t be shy. You will step out and act with confidence.

How do you want your business to be?

Do you want your business to be decent, average, good?

Of course not.

You want it to be a standard bearer, one-of-a kind, outstanding.

Excellent—I applaud you! And I know you can do it. I also know you’ll get there a lot sooner with the help of others.

However, until you become a key player, it’s unlikely you’ll get everything you want from others just by asking. So, before you ask, define what you want in the partnership.

Decide if you want:

• A friend to just do you a favor for free because they believe in the value that you offer your customers
• An affiliate to recommend or promote a product, service or event in return for a sales commission
• A joint venture partner to share work, expenses, and profits with you through an entire project or specific promotion
• A business partner to share a percentage of the business

Once you’re clear on what you want, answer the “what’s in it for me” question on their behalf. The more assets you have, such as credibility, expertise/specialized knowledge, cash, a big idea or a large following/list, the easier it will be to convince them to join you.

In the meantime, use the three tactics above to help you gain everything you need to get most anyone you approach to answer, “Yes, I’d love to partner with you!”

I guarantee amazing things will occur that wouldn’t have when you were both on your own.

To more and better,

Sandy Gallagher