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Collaboration Rather Than Competition – The Need for Wise Partnerships is Higher than Ever

Guest post by: Kathleen Gage

Article Overview: With today’s economy the way it is it is necessary for entrepreneurs to consider alternative methods for sustaining as well as growing their business. An incredibly powerful solution is through collaboration rather than competition.

Collaboration Rather Than Competition – The Need for Wise Partnerships is Higher than Ever

I have owned and operated my business for nearly 15 years. Although the reasons for being in business have remained consistent, the method in running and building my business has drastically changed.

The greatest change came with the onslaught of the Internet. Another huge change came with 9/11. Business as many of us knew it changed forever. Unfortunately, many people dug their heels in after 9/11 and waited for things to go back to the way they were. It didn’t take long for many of the heel diggers to go out of business.

Some of us realized things were never going to be the same. We needed to be flexible in our approach to our business.

With today’s economy, entrepreneurs are once again faced with the need to adjust and transform.

One of the greatest changes anyone can make is to move from the space of competition into the space of collaboration. Rather than taking an adversarial position with your competition, perhaps you could find ways to partner with your competition.

There are plenty of people who believe that there is only so much to go around and they have to protect every bit of their market interest.

Others believe that through effective partnerships one can actually have a greater market reach and higher revenues than if they attempt to do things on their own. This is especially true for solopreneurs such as authors, speakers, coaches and consultants.

I have had countless successful partnerships with those that could be considered my competitors. What we found is that by joining together on specific projects we were able to more fully benefit our customers and clients.

The best part is that when you collaborate with others you are in more of a position to bring a full range of services and products to your customers.

In the world of Internet Marketing this is done through Joint Venture Partnerships and Affiliate partnerships.

Joint Venture Partnership
One aspect of this type of partnership is cross promotion with the goal of one company increasing market reach and database size for all partners and bringing appropriate solutions to their market.

Affiliate Partnership
In this type of partnership, someone else (the affiliate) helps to sell your product or service and receives a percentage of that sale based on performance. The affiliate markets to their customers and clients. Common items to sell would be software programs, eProducts, and seminar registrations. This type of partnership allows for increased revenue streams while providing added value to existing clients by offering products and/or services that would be beneficial to them.

Both of these options are extremely beneficial to those who have a mindset of collaboration rather than competition. You win, you partners win and most of all, you customers and clients win.

Related Articles
  10 Reasons To Partner Up In Business
  Different times call for different action
  Turn competition into collaboration
  A CEOs Thoughts on Collaboration
  How you must be like the wise old German Shepherd

Article Tags: authors, book marketing, internet marketing, making money on the internet, online business, online marketing
Referred by: http://www.sandcconsulting.com



Related Forum Posts
Re: Congratultations to GT! - Hi GT, Competition is great and i know I wouldn't be here without it, but it is not the main reason for posting and participating. But I admit, it is the trigger I need to get some work done. If there is none, i create one for myself and try to make it. First prize is ice cream.
Re: Search Engine Optimization Guide for All - I see...[i:dvipfcie]Quality[/i:dvipfcie] content wins every time, as the saying goes. Thanks for the resource. It looks like a great site and Higher quality then some that i've seen so far. I will [u:dvipfcie]definately[/u:dvipfcie] use them soon.
Mentors vs. Coaches - martin, that's a good point about Coaches Vs. Wise old owls... would be great to have a "wise old owl" with Coaching abilities... I have noticed a previous mentor of mine was not open to new ways of doing things as she mentioned that the tired and true method that worked for her was the only thing she would support that I do. It worked ofcourse and we got the desired outcome just as planned - so I'm not complaining.
Re: looking for partner - Partnerships in business can be tricky. Most partnerships fail. Here are a few points to ponder before starting a partnership: - Should have common goal and vision - Level of commitment in business - Expectations from business and each other. - Good sense of self-worth - Financial Position – Have a good experience in related business with strong financial standing I suggest you to go on Google type “Partnership Assessment form” and Partnership Assessment Tool” You find some good results. Further apart from this forum look into on social media and business sites.
Re: Has anyone used the SBA's Micro Loan program? - [quote="Kevin Lee":1gvayekb]Hi Barbara, Personally, I would prefer to just use my own money, and if I needed more, I would consider enlisting the help of a partner. I want to limit my risk and liabilities as much as possible.[/quote:1gvayekb] I disagree with the partnership advice. The only ship that wont sail is a partnership. Partnerships make business messy and complicated. If you need the funds to expand just expand slower. If you need the funds to stay open you need to look at your business plan a little more closely.


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