Building real partnerships is the most important part of any business. There is no such thing as a “sole-trader” – somewhere along the way they need a good partnership.
“A partnership is an arrangement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests” – wikipedia
Most partnerships go unnoticed; disguising themselves as suppliers, agents, contractors, affiliates, employees or employers. The best results come from the ones that you consider partners, especially if you let them know the value they have.
Take affiliates, one of the most important form of partnerships in online business. Many companies create affiliate deals allowing somebody else to sell the products for them for a share of the revenue. The problem with most of them is they attempt to nail you down with the lowest commission they can get away with and walk away thinking: “great deal made there, only had to give away 3% commission!” Well done that guy, put another star on your board. But what happens from there? Not a lot. The new affiliate can’t do anything with that 3% they’ve been put on, probably can’t even market their new product.
Instead of being that guy, set them up as partners. Somebody to work with to create something mutually beneficial, give them 25% (and not only if they reach a certain number of transactions!) and let them really push the product. Work with them on a regular basis as you would with your own team. The best part? You are now one of their partners too, they will want to do what they can for you to help generate more sales/leads/visitors. And they’ll stick with you, affiliates can easily be lured away, partners take more shifting.
The same goes for any agencies that help build and promote your product. Don’t just look at their projected advertising return or their extensive resources, meet them and ask yourself “Would I employ these guys for my company? Would I go into business with them?”. Because that’s what this SEO firm or design company should be to you, an extension of your own company, partners who share your ambitions and passions.
You can apply Douglas McGregor’s theory of employee motivation (http://www.netmba.com/mgmt/ob/motivation/mcgregor/) to your partnerships (Check out his 1960 book, The Human Side of Enterprise) – the overview being that there are two types of motivation, X and Y.
X doesn’t care about the job, the company or your ambitions. Just the pay. No passion.
Y puts the passion, the ambition and the fulfillment first. This is what you get from real partnerships.
The faceless outsourced SEO company or the employee you never even meet, these become theory X people.
It’s up to you to create a partnership and make sure that everyone involved with your business is a theory Y partner. Give them as much trust, freedom, autonomy as you can and above all else; open and regular communication – let them know they are a part of the team.
wow…..
:::NICE:::
blogwalking …