Joint Venture Tips!!

For those marketers wanting more website traffic, and let’s face it who wouldn’t, the joint venture or JV sounds appealing.

JVs do indeed work to bring traffic, for more help visit to: www.joint-ventures-secret.com , but it’s worth noting the difference between an affiliate and a joint venture partner…

Many people who have not done a joint venture before think that it involves you striking a deal with someone that has a large customer base, them emailing those customers about your product, which brings loads of traffic to your website, and you splitting the sales figures.

That isn’t how it works, and approaching potential partners with that kind of proposition will put people off as it shows you have not understood the concept. Many people just fire off a few emails to big names in the marketing industry, and then simply give up when they get the inevitable lack of response.

Some people may well mail their list about your product, and take commission from any sales, but that makes them an affiliate.

Anyone can do this with your product if it is available via affiliate marketplaces like click bank. They haven’t actually done a deal with you, or acted jointly with you.

Offering someone an increased commission just for them is a good way to increase your affiliate traffic and sales, yes, but that does not make it a joint venture either!

It simply means you are using the sound technique of searching out so called ‘super affiliates’ who have big lists of prospects that may be interested in your product.

So that’s what affiliate selling is as opposed to a JV.

So what does constitute a JV?

A joint venture is when two or more people agree to be involved together on a project from start to finish. They may create the product together, they may divide the product creation and marketing, maybe someone has detailed knowledge about a narrow niche, and the other partner can generate traffic in that niche.

This is the real value of joint ventures, combining peoples’ talents to create a project that benefits each member of the JV, plus of course the customers.

The person with the knowledge gets to make money from that knowledge just by passing it on with others doing the leg work.

If you are looking at JVs, then you will probably either have to create a new product with your partner, or redo your existing one to make them fully involved. Proposing a JV can be as simple as sending an email, but it should never be approached that simply. You need to research the potential partner, to understand why they would want to JV with you, so you can tailor your proposal to appeal to them.

Not quite as easy as it may first seem, but not necessarily that hard either, a properly done JV can indeed bring a whole lot more website traffic for you.

What is a Joint Venture?

A joint venture or strategic alliance is a form of partnership where businesses come together to share knowledge, markets, and profits. Joint ventures can take on various forms. Small companies can band together to take on the goliaths of their industry. Big companies can form alliances with quicker and nimbler small businesses. And small companies have the opportunity to forge strategic alliances with big name companies for expanded geographic reach.

No small business today can afford to ignore the rewards of joint venturing.

The Golden Rewards of Joint Ventures

Shorten the Learning Curve:
Building knowledge to expand into key markets, develop new products, and improve productivity, can be time-consuming and costly. Small businesses gain lead time, share expertise, and lower costs by forming joint ventures.

Enhance Company Credibility:
All businesses especially start-ups struggle with building acceptance within their market and customer base. A key alliance with a larger known branded company can dramatically improve your credibility in the eyes of your customers.

Create New Profit Channels:
Your business has limited resources and capital for growth. By formulating a joint venture with a solid partner, your company expands its sales force and distribution channel for low cost.

Build Competitor Barriers:
A strategic alliance with several key players can erect impenetrable walls, keeping out competitors and maintaining high profit margins. Once these ties are in place, it is difficult for competitors to unravel these relationships.

Don’t rush into a joint venture without understanding the key concepts of strategic alliances and partnership ventures. Poorly executed and badly planned joint ventures are doomed from the start. Learn the secrets of joint venturing.

4 Secrets of Successful Joint Ventures

Companies that build successful joint ventures follow the same systematic process. Although the costs of forming alliances is inexpensive, the cost of not planning out the partnership is far greater in lost profits and failed relations.

1. Set Clear Goals: Know from the beginning what you want to accomplish. Is it reduced product costs, expanded sales, or market credibility? Your partners’ goals may be different but complementary to yours.

2. Find a Partner: The best partnership is based on a mutual win-win relationship. Take the time to locate a company with an honest interest in joint ventures and a similar corporate culture. If your small business is focused on long-term customer relations and your strategic partner cares about gaining market share quickly, then your two cultures may clash.

3. Plan the Venture: Map out your negotiation tactics and understand the legal aspects of the deal. Keep win-win agreement in mind.

4. Manage the Relationship: Once a winning joint venture is formed the real work takes place. A good alliance is like a marriage. It is built on communication, trust and understanding.

Joint ventures and strategic alliances can be a positive outcome for all parties involved. Take the time to understand the process and your small business will be well positioned into the future.

Joint Ventures: Diamonds on the Beach The Advantages of Joint Ventures!!

Properly chosen and implemented, joint ventures can be a great way for your small business to get in on opportunities (and profits) that otherwise you would miss out on. I like to think of them as diamonds on the beach. You see the diamonds lying on the sand but try as you might, you can’t pick them up – until you team with someone else who knows the trick of scooping them up.

By teaming up with other people or businesses in a joint venture, you can:
extend your marketing reach
access needed information and resources
build credibility with a particular target market
access new markets that would be inaccessible without the partner

For instance, suppose you and five other potters form a joint venture to hold a Potter’s Fair on a particular date. Because you pool your resources, you’re able to do much more advertising and promotion than you would be able to go alone, bringing out crowds of customers for your joint event.

Joint Venture Definition

A joint venture is a strategic alliance where two or more people or companies agree to contribute goods, services and/or capital to a common commercial enterprise.

Sounds like a partnership, doesn’t it? But legally, joint ventures and partnerships are not the same thing.

Joint Ventures versus Partnerships

The main difference between a joint venture and a partnership is that the members of a joint venture have teamed together for a particular purpose or project, while the members of a partnership have joined together to run “a business in common”.

Each member of the joint venture retains ownership of his or her property.

And each member of the joint venture shares only the expenses of the particular project or venture.

Tax-wise, there are also differences between joint ventures and partnerships. As a member of a joint venture, you will receive a share of the profits which will be taxed according to whatever business structure you have set up. So, for instance, if you operate a sole proprietorship, your joint venture profits will be taxed just as any other business income would.

Joint ventures enjoy tax advantages over partnerships, too. Capital Cost Allowance (CCA) is treated differently. While those in partnerships have to claim CCA according to partnership rules, those in joint ventures can choose to use as much or little of their CCA claim as they like.

And joint ventures don’t have to file information returns, unlike partnerships.

How to Get a Joint Venture Started:
The first step to creating a joint venture is to set your goals and decide what you want your joint venture to do. If you need help getting started with this, look at the four things a joint venture can do that I’ve listed at the beginning of this article, pick one, and then develop a goal that is as specific as possible.
Then it’s time to look for the like-minded – people or firms that might be interested in the same goal or goals you want to pursue. Look in the business groups you already belong to, both in person and virtually. Use your social networking connections. Study business listings in the phone book or on Web sites to find those that might share your goals.
And be open to being asked. Once you start talking to other people about what you might do together, a joint venture idea you haven’t even thought of might pop up – one with a lot of potential.
Once you’ve found the people to share in a joint venture, be sure to have it all put into writing in a joint venture agreement. I strongly recommend hiring a legal professional to do this.

So instead of dismissing an opportunity as out of your reach, start thinking instead about how you could participate with a joint venture. Properly planned and executed, joint ventures can help your small business go where it’s never been able to go before.

Qualified Joint Venture

A qualified joint venture describes a special tax situation in which a husband and wife jointly running a business that is not a corporation may qualify to file as a sole proprietorship rather than a partnership. The IRS has determined that in the case of spouses owning a partnership, they do not need to file as a partnership on Form 1065, with individual K-1 forms.

Here are the details:
The spouses own a business that is not a corporation. The IRS also specifically excludes spouses in a “state law entity” (including a limited liability company or limited liability partnership).
The spouses must be the only partners and both spouses must materially participate in the business. The respective shares in the business are determined by the partnership agreement.
Both spouses file a separate Schedule C, showing that person’s share of the income, deductions, and any profits/losses.
Both spouses also file a separate Schedule SE, showing that person’s self-employment income.
The election for a qualified joint venture stays in effect as long as the spouses meet the requirements.
If the business return was filed in the previous year as a partnership, the partnership is considered to have ended at the end of the previous year.
Also Known As: Husband-wife business
Examples: Jim and Sally are the only members of a limited liability company. They both have a 50% membership in the company. They may file as a Sole Proprietorship by (1) each completing a Schedule C showing their share of income, deductions, and net income/loss, (2) each completing a Schedule SE showing their share of the self-employment taxes.