Doubling your business is actually more simple than you may think. In this episode I break it down to the TWO ways you can make it happen.

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Big Ideas

The Value Of Finding Promotional Partners [1:10] 

Back in 2005, I had an affiliate management business. And my role was to find promotional partners and bring them into the business to promote our different products and services as an affiliate. This position put me behind the scenes of some of the most successful online campaigns at the time, where I really learned so much about marketing, messaging, launching and more. 

But one of the lessons I gained from that experience was the value of finding promotional partners in today’s social media world. Even in my Impact Mastermind, the business owners who are running multi-seven-figure-year memberships, they’ve all achieved it on the back of their own blood, sweat, and tears. So one of the things that I keep emphasizing to them is the value of finding promotional partners. 

There’s always more opportunity to collaborate, no matter what stage or market you’re in. 

I’ve noticed that people aren’t willing to look for promotional partners because they’re either afraid to ask, or if they do ask, they’re doing it all wrong. So I want to help you realize that asking is a whole part of being in business, and by learning how to do that, you can find people who want to work with you and are eager to share what you have with their audiences. 

Make Your Dream Partner List [4:39]

So, how do you do this? Step number one, you have to make a list. Who would be on your dream list for promotional partners? This could be other people in your market or in your industry, different influencers, bloggers, podcasters, YouTubers, celebrities and stars. This is the most important bit. Very seldom do people even have a list, but I want you to be strategic and identify who it is you want to work with. Then just through the nature of making the list, you will begin to find opportunities to be able to work with these different people. 

Nurture Your Dream Partner List [6:05]

Step number two is to nurture the list. And you do that by showing interest in them. There are a whole bunch of ways to do this. One of my secrets of showing interest is to become a customer. Buy your way in. Engage in their social media, customer forums and groups. You can even become a success story for them and share that story. Nurture these relationships and be intentional about them before you have any kind of ask. There’s no perfect way to do it, just start showing an interest and reaching out to the people you want to develop a relationship with. Because when you show an interest in somebody else, you begin to get on the radar.

Learn How To Ask [11:35]

Step three is to ask. Now, there are right ways to do this and there are wrong ways to do this. Every single day my inbox is full of people who are asking, but in the complete wrong way. One mistake that I see is that when people want to get on my Marketing Your Business Podcast, they just introduce themselves or the person they’re representing, and it’s all about them. It’s all about how good they are and how impressive they are. And it has nothing to do with me or my audience. So if you’re going to ask somebody to be a promotional partner, always start with them and their audience. What’s in it for them? How is it going to benefit their audience? In fact, I’m more interested in how it’s going to benefit my audience than I am in how it’s going to benefit me. And that’s another mistake, people think it’s all about the money. But it’s not, because anybody with an audience actually protects their audience and cares about serving those people. 

Success Lies In Intention [14:41] 

You never know when these relationships will bubble up and blossom into a whole lot of amazingness. When I track back the big inflection points of my career, they can be traced back to relationships that have been pivotal in growing our business, especially in the very early days. And I will continue to nurture relationships. I will continue to reach out to different people, but I’m going to continue to do it in a way that serves them and their audience first. And that is the secret to finding great promotional partners. Relationships don’t just happen overnight, they happen over time. But the more intentional you get, the more success you will have.

Memorable Quotes

“Relationships don’t just happen overnight. Relationships happen over time.” – Stu McLaren

Resources

Ryan Levesque – Author & Founder of The Ask Method
Russell Brunson – Co-Founder of ClickFunnels
Pete Vargas – Advance Your Reach

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