Partnerships are a staple of business, and there's no better time to focus on them than during a down economy, when everyone is reluctant to spend money on, well, anything. In terms of hard dollars, strategic partnerships are inexpensive to cultivate, but can be leveraged to produce both qualified leads and valuable exposure.
Partnerships aren't just for AOL Time Warner and Microsoft. Partnerships are for you, too.
Finding Partners: Start with your Rolodex
Where do you find partners? Whom do you know? Whom do you recognize when you attend a conference? Whom do you contact to meet up with for lunch when you're attending a trade show? Chances are you have many good contacts you could turn into strategic partners.
Partnerships today are loosely defined. Strategic partners can include any company with whom you cross paths by nature of your business. If you have customers in common (and you're not in direct competition), then a strategic partnership could well be a win-win situation. For example, if you both target medium-sized printers, then why not find a way to market to this niche audience together? If they'll need the services or products of both of you, agree to market for each other and reach twice the audience.
If you're forming new partnerships, think in terms of what your customers are doing just before or just after they interact with your products or need your service. Think up or down the value chain, whether that's geographical - the corner before they get to your block - or sequential - where there data has to be before it is ready for your services.
Defining Partnerships
What can you expect from a partnership? Anything from having your logo on your partner's "Corporate Partners" page to co-hosting events such as Webcasts to co-branded marketing to both lists, to inclusion of your logo on your partner's marketing literature (and vice versa, of course).
A partnership can be very tightly circumscribed or very broadly defined. The important thing is that a partnership must deliver tangible benefits to both parties. Your partners aren't part of your company, but they should be pulling for your company to succeed. You should be hearing from customers that you have in common - and from prospective customers that you have in common - that they recommended you. And you should have a system in place to thank them, not to mention recommending them to your own customers.
Partnerships Represent a Different Kind of Capital
Strategic partnerships are typically the result of an investment of time, rather than money. Time and energy sustain them, as well. Make sure that any strategic partnerships vest with the company, not the individual executive who sets them up. Send a team to meet with any strategic partners on a regular basis, so that the departure of a key executive doesn't spell the end of a strategic partnership.
Strategic partnerships are also good for press releases. In a down economy, there's less news to report. That means there are fewer press releases coming into the mailboxes of writers. Be sure to announce your strategic partnerships, and any results of your strategic partnerships, to the appropriate media outlets for your industry. Keeping your name in print is another advantage of a strategic partnership.
Strategic partnerships are a great way to keep your business in front of prospective customers and the media when there's not much foam in the water. They require some sweat equity, but in a down economy, you can probably still afford that.
Note to Readers
I'll be speaking to the Arlington Heights (Illinois) Chamber of Commerce for breakfast on January 23 about my most recent book, The E-Commerce Arsenal. If you're interested in attending, you can contact them at 847.253.1703. The same evening, I'll be speaking at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library about my forthcoming book, Unforeseen Circumstances: Strategies and Technologies for Protecting Your Business and Your People in a Less Secure World. Get the details at http://www.ahml.lib.il.us/.
Alexis D. Gutzman is an author, speaker, and consultant on e-business and
e-commerce topics. She's the producer of The Online Marketing Report. Her most recent book, The E-commerce Arsenal: 12
Technologies You Need to Prevail in the Digital Arena, was named one of the
30 best business books of this year. For up-to-date information about her research and speaking engagements, visit The Alexis Gutzman Group's Web site.
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