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How to Get a 100 Return on Your Marketing Investment Guaranteed

How to Get a 100 Return on Your Marketing Investment Guaranteed

One of the most effective ways to market your products/services is to create strategic alliances. Strategic alliances are partnerships with companies who sell to a client base similar to yours but they sell different products/services. The idea is to find partners whose clients may also be interested in your products/services.

Many times people will casually agree to spread the word about each other’s products/services. This is the idea of ‘you send me clients and I will send you clients.’ This isn’t very effective for the following reasons:

1. The agreement is vague and undefined.
2. One or both of the people may not fully understand what the other does.
3. People are busy and forget.
4. Both people may be waiting to ‘get something’ first before they get into action to help the other.
5. One of the people may be more interested than the other.
6. There may be a higher value for one person than the other.

To eliminate all of these issues, simply create a specific offer for potential strategic alliance partners. Offer to give something to your partners for every person they refer to you who ends up purchasing your products/services. This can be a percentage of your fee or total purchase, some of your products/services, or something else you mutually agree upon.

The motivation for partners to send you clients isn’t only about what they will get in return. It is just a way to thank them for their effort, let them know that you are serious about the alliance, and to create commitment.

Think about it, you’re probably currently spending money doing some kind of marketing or advertising. There is no way to know for sure that you will see a return on this investment. When you create strategic alliances your investment is guaranteed because you only ‘pay’ once you have a new client.

What’s more, strategic alliances leverage marketing efforts because a partnership allows you to market to many people via your partners (one-to many) instead of one-to-one.

Strategic alliances are a triple win. Your partners win because they are able to be a resource and help someone find what they need as well as receive an incentive for their effort. The person who buys the products/services wins because they find what they need. And you win because you have a new client.

Get started by simply thinking about companies you know who may be potential partners and contact them to see if they are open to the idea. An alliance doesn’t have to be complicated and in most cases a written agreement isn’t necessary. The goal is to create alliances with people you trust and who trust you.

Here are some examples of strategic alliances:

* Nutritionist and a Personal Trainer or Gym
* Employment Recruiter or Language School and a Relocation Agency
* Tax Advisor and a Financial Advisor
* Artist and an Interior Designer
* Massage Therapist and a Hair Salon
* Professional Organizer and a Moving Company
* Consultant and a Trainer
* Website Designer and a Copy Writer

In order for your partners to give you a genuine referral it is important that they have sampled your products or experienced your services. If they understand firsthand the benefits of your products/services it will make it easy for them to tell others about you.

These are just a few ways your strategic alliance partners can help you:
- Mention your company in their newsletter
- Give a coupon for a sample of your products/services
- Send a letter to their clients introducing them to your products/services and perhaps offering them a special deal
- Add your website link to their website
- Simply telling clients about your company when the opportunity arises

If your partners want to create their own specific offer for you in return for you sending them clients, that is great as well. It is an added bonus and it isn’t a requirement in order to create a beneficial partnership because the agreements are separate from one another.

By now you can see the value of creating strategic alliances. So what are you waiting for? Look through your contacts and see which companies might be perfect strategic alliance partners for your company. Then get into action and contact them!





How to Get a 100 Return on Your Marketing Investment Guaranteed - To learn more about this author, visit Stephanie Ward's Website.

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Leanne Hoagland-Smith
Are your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website

John Power
John Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website

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Dave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website

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Stephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals.

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David Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns.  David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website

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(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek)  In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.

 

As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)

 

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Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper.  Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website


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