Barry Boswell (healthybody.xtend-life.com) developed a joint venture type of relationship with the head of a company whose business opportunity he decided to look into...  And it led to a better deal for all the company's distributors.  Now Barry has joint venturing in his blood...

I met Barry online as a customer of one of my ebooks - he's always looking for effective ways to grow his business.  When he told me a little about what that was, I got interested in his story...

Like many who have researched webmarketing angles on the Internet, Barry "was overwhelmed with the myriad of 'Get Rich Schemes' that seemed to be so prevalent."  His experience of the "real" business world made him skeptical of much that he found touted on the Net...  Still, he says, "I felt the Internet offered numerous opportunities, and that there had to be a solid, legitimate way to build a business on the Web."

In September of 2001, he was intrigued by an ad in Allan Gardyne's Associate Programs.com newsletter headed "Substantial Profits - on and offline" - about distributorships for "the world's most effective, competitive and sophisticated dietary supplements".  He saw the benefits of the products (I too have been impressed with their quality and formulas), thought the business plan looked intriguing, and asked for more information.

Barry mentioned to me that he had been especially struck with the attitude of cooperation he encountered in webmarketing...  And he found director Warren Matthews, of Xtend-Life Neutraceuticals, Inc. (based in New Zealand), to be an extremely communicative and hands-on businessman.  He emailed Barry - Barry responded with some questions... and this began discussions about the business that continued in some 300 email messages!

Barry says...  "From the first day, I could feel the passion that Warren had about the creation of the products.  We continued to share ideas about how the Internet business should be run.  I provided him the results of my research... information about what thriving e-commerce businesses had adopted to make them successful."

The Distributorship position - not MLM, but a "single-tier" commercial distribution structure - required an investment (and is no longer an option - Warren prefers to work with a small number of partners)...  In exchange, the company provides each distributor with his own supported e-commerce business.  Warren had developed a "loyalty program" that rewards customers for monthly purchases - but he was open to other ideas as to what that e-commerce business might entail.

Barry had particularly stressed the advantages of affiliate programs and viral business elements.  In the final business model, not only do the distributors have customer service, order-taking, and fulfillment handled for them via their websites...  They all have their own affiliate programs run for them by the company - a very unusual step!... and one that nicely bridges the traditional and "online age" marketing worlds.

As to viral strategies...  Each issue of a weekly newsletter produced by the company contains a viral "refer a friend" link that's coded with the distributor or affiliate's own link.  Then there's the first in a line of e-books, "Heart Attack/Stroke Prevention", which can be similarly customized.

Though Barry and Warren didn't set up a joint venture agreement per se - and Barry didn't gain concessions solely for himself...  I call their relationship "joint venture-y" - collaboration that resulted in gains for both participants (and, in this case, for all Xtend-Life distributors).

As Barry points out, this interesting distributor-based business model is inherently "synergistic"...  Any distributor's ideas might be taken up by the company; and all distributors benefit from the increased exposure that their individual efforts give the company and products.
  

Once Barry's website was set up and he could wrap his mind around what his new business consisted of, he could turn his sights on the "how" of promotion.

He'd done some joint venture deal-making previous to his involvement with Xtend-Life - acting as a JV broker, working offline with direct marketers.  (By the way, the success of Barry's first brokering deal led to a number of others with the same marketer.  He stresses that anyone can profit from joint ventures...  "With the right offer, most people are approachable, as long as the product and the offer are ethical.")  

Not surprisingly, joint venturing figured largely in his thoughts about this new business...

One idea came out of a friendly customer service approach Barry has set up.  He hooked up with a travel promotion company to give free hotel certificates as a thank-you to all his new product customers.  Eventually he developed joint ventures with several different types of companies that are interested in testing the premium to see if it's a sales enhancer for them.

...For instance, one of them is a U.S.-wide business franchisor - they'll run an article mentioning the travel certificate in their dealer newsletter.  One national product distributor will test it as a counter-sales aid. ...And Barry is still dreaming up ways and means!

Lately, Barry has been, logically, focusing on the health field...

He conceived the idea of contacting webmasters of health-related sites, and/or authors of health-related ebooks, with the idea of showing them how they could benefit by signing up as an Xtend-Life affiliate...

Either ebooks or websites could conventionally allude to the company's products, of course (and give an affiliate link to the ordering page) - but either might also, or instead, contain a reference to the Xtend-Life ezine...  Which, as you'll recall, connects up less directly with the affiliate's "capture mechanism" (which positions them for lifetime commissions once those referrals become customers).

"I also offered the publishers the heart report with their affiliate links built into it", Barry said.  "This could be positioned as a bonus to their product, or as an undisclosed bonus on their 'thank-you' page when their customer received their download instructions."

Several marketers have taken Barry up on his proposals, and the effects are beginning to be felt in his signup numbers.  As these promotional tactics unfold, he's now looking toward structuring joint ventures with offline publishers...  Given his record, it's surely only a matter of time before he has many more stories to tell.

(Meanwhile, I do highly recommend the Xtend-Life products.  I do a lot of research on natural health issues and products - see my website AlternativePetHealth.com for proof.  These are extremely well-designed and of the highest quality.  Check out the bee pollen formula for supportive energy enhancement that so many stress cadets need - it helps me get through the day. ;^)

Here's Barry Boswell's resource box...

Replace many supplements you now take with Total Balance! No need to take separate multi-vitamins, multi-minerals, antioxidants, enzymes, amino acids, bioflavinoids or herbal extracts!  They are all synergistically present in one convenient formula. No Risk Guarantee! Complete details at... http://healthybody.xtend-life.com

  
  

• When is a joint venture not a joint venture? ...If a cooperative business relationship brings increase to all parties, it's at least "joint venture-y" - and counts. ;^)

• When a company "bigwig" asks you for input, give it! - you never know where it might lead.

• A joint venture idea might be predicated on an interesting melding of business concepts.

• Sometimes joint venture "wins" are for a group of people and not just individual parties.

• It can pay to ponder on how you could make existing elements of your business available to others, JV-fashion.

• ...And to ponder on how you might utilize an affiliate merchant partner's customizable offerings as the bases for your own joint ventures.

• Maybe underlying Barry's story is this...  When you're involved with a company/products that you really feel good about, it's easy to "sell" JVs to others - good products tend to sell themselves.
      

For those serious about JV marketing...
  

      

SEARCH THIS SITE OR THE WEB:

	Web www.ThinkJointVenture.com

  

Back to Profiles of Real-Life Joint Venturers
Free "Top Web Business/Success Builders" e-seminar
Back to HOME

  
Copyright 9-2002 - Gordon Pioneering