Profiles of real-life joint venturers - Jeff Smith...
    

What's so interesting about Jeff Smith of Super Profitable Marketing (www.infoproductcreator.com), "another ebook author"? - joint ventures help make the product…

Jeff originally contacted me about his ebook, The Ultimate Information Entrepreneur's Idea Guidebook.  I read it - saw that it was excellent - and have recommended it (still do :^) to others. I also saw that he'd done two things that no other author of my knowledge had done to date - and they both involved joint ventures...

"Bonuses" sold with infoproducts - that's now practically "de rigueur" - but truly... the expected gets a little old.  (And personally, I'd rather not be offered bonuses if they're the same old thing; I'm inundated with ebooks!)  Well...

Two of the bonuses Jeff offers with this already packed-with-info book are audio interviews - great ones, with famous webmarketers.  Another bonus is a 20-minute consultation with a successful advertising copywriter. ...Interesting, useful tools for the purchaser; and what JV creativity!

Jeff is creative, but one thing you have to keep in mind is that he's also very analytical about his business...

His original book idea (which he planned to have published through traditional means) was on creativity and idea-generation in general.  But he sounded out people in many fields - he listed as examples "writers, coaches, entrepreneurs and specifically, information product entrepreneurs."  (Jeff participates in a number of discussion forums online, good places to find people willing to share and critique.)

"Several things came together to indicate that one particular chapter I had written really struck a nerve - that was techniques on how to tap into pockets of demand to help decide on the most lucrative topics for your infoproducts." ...And so there came to be the ebook, The Ultimate Information Entrepreneur's Idea Guidebook.

This analysis then spilled over into the bonus realm we're going to look closely into...
  

The service bonus:  

It was a JV broker who originally gave Jeff the idea of considering Mike Jezek ("Psychological Sales Letter Specialist" of www.irresistiblecopywriting.com) as "bonus material".  Jeff had encountered him in some discussion forums and was impressed with work of his he'd seen.  Taking note of the connection between good copywriting and good infoproducts, he suggested a collaboration.  As Jeff says...

"Most service providers (copywriters, web developers, graphics designers, etc.) want to attract ongoing customers - so giving away something up front is not an uncommon approach for them."

Mike agreed to offer a 20-minute consultation.  (One thing about such offers, I imagine, is that the response is not overwhelming - only self-targeted prospects will bother to set up a phone call. ...This is good for the consultant! - they get name branding without a flood of mere inquiries.)

The mechanics of it were simple:  a special email address identifies interested parties as Jeff's customers. ...Voilà!, a super, utterly unique bonus.  (Beats heck out of a list of ebooks being distributed by fifty other vendors as well.)

On to the harder stuff (but not really very hard after all, as you'll see)...
  

The audio interviews:

Wow, how did he get those big "marquee" interviews, when he was just an unknown guy launching his first infoproduct?

Experienced webmarketer Tony Blake (of http://www.ablake.net/forum) was instrumental in convincing Jeff to self-publish an ebook.  He also suggested several names of well-known people who would be likely interview subjects.  Jeff homed in on those who seemed to most closely share his target market for the book.  He shared his strategy:

"A) Get a testimonial, B) get an interview, and C) if possible, get an endorsement to their lists.  With that in mind, I wanted to make sure my product was unique enough and targeted enough at their audience for them to be interested."  With those analytical skills - and doing his homework - Jeff could pretty well tell who would be likely to be intrigued by his offer. 

...Which was this:  that he would do all the work involved with arranging the interviews and producing an audio file that he and the subject would then be able to use as each saw fit.

Jeff shared what he believes these "top gun" marketers are interested in achieving with such collaboration as this:  "Any and all of the following - the more you can convince them you can give them these, the more interested they will be:

1. Free publicity

2. A link (via testimonial) to a site with a great deal of traffic potential and synergy with their market

3. Something unique (can't stress this one enough - they get tens, even hundreds, of JV offers every week, they want something different and valuable to share with their list)

4. Finally, they are always interested in leveraging their time.  That means that if you can hand them a product in return for 30 minutes of their time - that's a good business proposition for them!"

And of course, for Jeff himself, choosing "hot" infoproduct marketers made great sense...

Yanik Silver (of Surefire Marketing) was one of those "possibles".  He was by then a very "big name" in webmarketing circles.  In fact, Jeff thought he was maybe too hot to bother with an unknown.  But his approach was to tell Yanik how much he'd (genuinely) enjoyed Yanik's Instant Salesletters product that he'd recently bought... and would he be willing to take a look at his own infoproduct?  "Once he reviewed the product," (and saw its quality, of course - and connection with his own business interests), "I suggested the notion of an interview. ...He loved the idea, and we set a date."

So this was Jeff's approach with all his contacts...  Starting with a friendly (well, and complimentary :^) email to establish a relationship, then moving on to the suggestion of a joint venture.

Willie Crawford (of Crawford Marketing Services - www.williecrawford.com) was actually his first interviewee.  He's the author of a very well-defined niche book - a soulfood cookbook! (and now other products).  He'd also become a popular and knowledgeable webmarketing "guru".  Jeff's interview with him is, like Willie, very encouraging and informative.  (What's more, Jeff is now very happy to have him as a friend - always one of the possible side effects - i.e., big benefits - of JVing!)

Actually, Jeff has done quite a few other interviews now as well.  He's still thinking on ways to use them all.  (In fact, he's soon launching as its own product an audio interview someone else did with one of his favorite marketers, Joe Vitale. ...And he'll use at least one of his own interviews as a bonus with that.)

And what about the interview subjects, what do they do with the results?  Yanik hasn't used his yet (which underlines the basic value to him of the name-branding publicity he gets via Jeff's ebook sales), but...

Willie Crawford is bundling his interview as a bonus with a new product he's about to release.  Jeff says, "he's putting a spin on it - he's back ending the free bonus with an affiliate link to my product at http://www.infoproductcreator.com.  That way he'll earn money off of his 'free' bonus."  Yeah, he's experienced. ;^)

One interviewee is using the audio file as a bonus to build his list.  Another is bundling his in with a site membership package. ...There are all sorts of possibilities here.

Now, before we leave the subject of interviews, a few words about "how"...  Jeff believes that "the trick to interviewing is to keep the questions real short and to the point.  Then the interviewer's style doesn't really matter."

True.  But Jeff happens to be an absolutely outstanding interviewer! - and there's more to doing it well than that...  He's very well-prepared - his questions are interesting, suited specifically to the interviewee and his knowledge, and run in a logical progression.  He truly gets out of the way of the interview subject - keeps his own comments at an absolute minimum (clarifying, not chatting) - yet leads them deftly back to the progression if they digress (interestingly, of course ;^).

Not only did these folks like the idea of the audio interview...  I'm sure they were very impressed with the outcome. ...Which just adds to the benefits that accrue to Jeff - because good work gets praised, and praise makes the rounds.  And this leads into a final note...
  

Networking Power:

Jeff adds, "Each time I've done this, I've created a new relationship with a top gun infoproduct developer.  This has paid off again and again over the following months - you literally can't put a price on this."

One contact (friend now, maybe!) might refer him to another.  Those joint ventures already undertaken (and the tangible results of each) get the attention of the people who you wish to JV with from then on. ...Marketing relationships, as others, build on one another; it really does pay to just begin - somewhere!

Jeff also underlines advice others give about JVing...  "Be prepared to give up the bank on your first product to secure your JV.  If you are in this for the long term, you'll get it back in spades later on."  That's good advice (some are even happy to make nothing themselves, for the sake of the long-term gain - you know, like 
"loss leaders" in the sales arena).

And as Jeff points out, over-delivering - in your JV and your product - leads to good things for you.  "90% of your customers may never actually use your material to full advantage, or at all - there's not much you can do about that.  But say 10% do - and it changes their lives. ...They'll go to bat for you BIG TIME!"

But did Jeff even have to "give up the bank" to his JV partners? ...Doesn't seem so to me; he just made sure the collaborative concept was really easy and tasty for his partners.  (And the product exceptional quality for his customers.)

"Lucky" everyone!  (Which is what should be said about any good joint venture. :^)
  

Jeff Smith is an online marketing expert and author of the highly recommended Ultimate Information Entrepreneur's Success Package.  Discover exactly how to quickly create one hot selling infoproduct after another.  Building your own Infoproduct Empire is easy with the Success Package.  See it here: http://www.infoproductcreator.com

  

• Bonuses (for any type of product) can be a fruitful field for joint venturing.

• ...And the more original the bonus, the better, for both you and your partner/s.

• It's possible - and even attractive - to mix products with services for bonus material.

• Service providers, especially, are always on the lookout for new customers.  Even if they haven't thought of JVing themselves, many would see the benefit to themselves in offering limited-term services as bonuses with someone else's offering.  (It's cheap advertising!)

• Use some creativity with types of bonuses offered...  Anything related to your product or service and of use to the purchasers of it could fit in - even if it isn't directly dealt with by your own offering.  ("Complementary" is a key concept to keep in mind when brainstorming up joint venture possibilities.)

• Interviews, in fact, can be particularly quick and easy to produce in relation to the value of the finished product.  People love to learn from others' experiences! (that's why you're reading this. ;^)

• Other people (especially your joint venture partners) can be used to hone your product (or sales letter) to suit a target market.

• Perhaps you don't need only famous people as JV partners for your product - it would all depend on its nature.  But most people are busy...  Craft your JV offer with care, and make it as easy (and lucrative) to them as possible.  (And know that the "big guys" are usually pretty nice folks - I dare say off the Web as well as on, though people online thrive on networking!)

• Did you notice this benefit about the whole concept of forming joint ventures to make the product (or its bonuses - same idea)?:  In establishing relationships with big marketers before the product comes out, you're way ahead in your promotional efforts! - because those folks are going to be happy to steer people in your direction. ...You become part of their "portfolio". :^)

• You never know where a contact will take you...  One joint venture partnership can lead to others (even customer service inquiries can develop into partnerships and friendships - if you keep open to possibilities).  Start small, start big, it doesn't really matter - as long as you start, there's someplace to go from there!
       

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