In March of 2001, I got acquainted with John M. Carter, developer of The Workplace Moxie Network (begin at www.WorkplaceMoxie.com) and a man who thoroughly enjoys developing new business alliances as well – from the ground up…

John Carter’s pre-web background was in professional management and success consulting for a multitude of businesses around the world.  What that boils down to is… helping businesses – and the individuals in them – be more successful at their professional endeavors.  It involves a constant return to the basics – and being flexible enough to be open to opportunities, while focusing on what works best.

…Sounds like a great basis for joint venturing, doesn’t it?  And John definitely "thinks joint venture"…  But for him, a "joint venture" begins at the very beginning – with a relationship.

In the non-virtual world, people might meet and simultaneously find reason to link up with one another in some way – online, one person always begins a relationship.  John bumped into my site, www.AffiliatePrimer.com, while doing some web research.  I first learned of him when he emailed me to say hello and congratulate me on a job well done. …And what a delightful way to be introduced to someone!

Though this is just "saying hello" and "getting to know someone", it’s the beginning of what people on the web and in offline businesses call "networking" – establishing useful relationships.  And with networking, one thing usually leads to another…

John has said, "The communication you and I have open could easily be considered a ‘joint venture’, in that we see things in each other’s work that we appreciate and we continue to move forward one step at a time with the venture/relationship evolving as we go.

"Joint ventures are all about relationships…  And they don’t even have to be on paper to be considered a joint venture.  Actually, some of my very best joint venturing consists of not a single shred of paper or any ‘legal’ documents.  This is in no way whatsoever meant to imply that contractual arrangements are not important…  The more advanced JVs which are orchestrated in a legal sense can mean a huge success to both parties."

But for John, the beginning of a joint venture is when he gets to know who he’s partnering with and simply explores ways in which it’s comfortable to interface…

"In my experience, the very best and most profitable ones seem to start out just as yours and mine is.  One of the parties posts info about the other in a newsletter…  The other then reciprocates in appropriate and helpful ways which helps to ‘strengthen’ the relationship – and before you know it, you’re doing all kinds of great ‘stuff’ together to help each other whenever the opportunities provide themselves.

"I get very lucrative offers all the time regarding everything from people/companies wanting to run ads in my newsletters to others interested in buying my website outright.  My own ‘tack’ is that (at least for now) I don’t run ads in my newsletters.  Instead, I’ll make recommendations that I ‘sign my name to’ without expecting anything in return.  This provides integrity-based value for my readers while (more times than not) it opens up channels of natural, long-term reciprocation…"

Though this might be difficult to measure in financial terms, John regards highly what he calls the "lifetime value factor"…  Such a relationship "coming to fruition" doesn’t happen once, as a result of a contractual agreement – it has the potential to keep on happening, perhaps for years to come.  As John puts it, it’s a simple matter of "getting what you need by helping others to get what they need".

…Which, in fact, is what Workplace Moxie – which caters to non-web businesspeople and job-holders as well as webmasters – is all about.

In the "bricks and mortar" working world, in fact, the importance of relationships is much more apparent. …Relationships with customers, with suppliers, with people in the advertising arena, with fellow businesspeople, etc. generally play a major role in offline business life.  Joint venturing online may be particularly critical to success, though, because so many small business webmasters are naturally isolated.  It isn’t so much a matter of adjusting their existent relationships as beginning them… as John likes to do! – to the benefit of himself and others.

Whatever your situation, consider being guided by a success consultant’s own basic steps to success…  Concentrate on the relationships, and the joint ventures will naturally emerge.
  

John M. Carter is the Developer of the Workplace Moxie Network with its Flagship website being http://www.workplacemoxie.com ... He has helped countless individuals and businesses, (both online and offline), to realize greater success through the application of "success formulas" and by providing resources and support about/for these formulas through his website(s) creations.

   

• Success in any business means focusing on the basics - and being open to opportunities as they crop up.  (How do you know what works best until you try things out?)

• Joint venturing is about relationships, first and foremost.

• Any "excuse" for writing to someone with a sincere interest in the other person or his/her work isn't spam...  It's a doorway into a possible joint venture relationship (if not friendship!).

• Consider the lifetime value of your relationships, and you won't hesitate to begin them.  See where they take you...

• A joint venture doesn't have to be a well-defined, one-shot deal.  If you let them, joint ventures evolve over time in interesting ways.

• Advertising space in e-zines (and elsewhere?) may be taking up valuable "joint venture strengthening space"!

• Whether you're online or off (or both), business alliances are critical to success. ...You only have to begin them to benefit from them.
      

For those serious about JV marketing...
         

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