Intentional Joint Ventures

I’ve been doing joint ventures (JV) for over a decade. Last week I had a major aha moment that will change the future of every JV I do. "A joint venture is a strategic alliance where two or more parties, usually businesses, form a partnership to share markets, intellectual property, assets, knowledge, and, of course, profits." – Valerie Orsoni-Vauthey, ‘Happy About Joint Venturing ‘ There are many creative ways to partner with other people and businesses to boost your list size, increase sales, bring forth new products and sales, and add value to what your business already offers. I’ve always found JV’s to be fun and if they put some extra cash in my pocket, all the better. Last year, my mastermind buds told me about a great event they attended. I was very pregnant at the time and was doing as little travel as possible. This event was specifically for coaches and experts who support entrepreneurs in building their businesses. I made sure the event was a priority for me this year. Part of my marketing strategy this year was to tap into new markets by connecting with rock stars in my industry who offer services and products that I can fully get behind. The JV Networking Summit, hosted by Christian Mickelsen, was the perfect fit for me. While at the summit, it hit me. I’ve just been “squeezing” in promotions, supporting people I like and doing projects with people who have great insights. I also send out copy for my affiliates every month letting them know which projects of mine they can support each month. While there is nothing wrong with any of these actions, I realized I haven’t been intentional ... at all. Gasp! Can you believe it?! I couldn’t. Here I am spending my time and energy, along with my team, and not really producing results from my JV actions. I was just doing the minimum amount of effort to do what needed to be done. Heck, I give more thought to pruning my roses every month than I have to all my JV’s. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t for lack of enthusiasm. I really do love every person I partner with…but I never sat down and asked myself the most important questions. • What is the desired impact on my business from doing this JV? • What is the desired outcome I want for the JV partner/s? • How will I connect with them during the JV for maximum ease, fun and profit? • Who do I need to be and what to I need to do to have this JV experience be showcased for the highest good of all? What a concept, huh? I’ve been intentional about who I’ve partnered with but not how I moved forward with them. And I’ve known for a while that I’ve lost money and time on several JV’s because I was focused mostly on what needed to be done to make it happen and not enough focus on how we could best serve each other in the partnership. My lack of intention created lack luster results for my team, the partner and myself. I’ve made a major decision to always be intentional and strategical in every JV partnership from this point forward. If I can’t say HELL YES to giving it 100% focus, then I will say NO. I’m very excited about my big aha. My JV partners will be, too! New attitude: Whenever I do a JV, it rocks our worlds in a positively huge way!