It Takes Two - How to Cultivate Profitable Alliances
"Cross promoting with other businesses can give you a significant advantage over the competition, with many benefits and cost savings." -Heidi Richards-More and more competition in the marketplace is making it necessary for companies to find creative ways to connect with customers and prospects, to enhance brand identity and attract top-notch employees. In order to enhance competitiveness in today's marketplace, more and more companies are forming strategic alliances. Strategic alliances can maximize your position in the marketplace. When you learn how to leverage partnerships you increase your market share. It is also a very smart way to grow a small business.
Cross promoting with other businesses can give you a significant advantage over the competition with many benefits and cost savings.A strategic alliance is based on an arrangement between two companies to combine resource that will help both gain a greater share of the market. They are often formed when one business alone is unable to fill the gap in serving the needs of the marketplace. Forming strategic alliances can save time and boost productivity. It enables companies to be more efficient and concentrate on the core strengths in developing their products and services. These alliances can be formal (partnership agreement is put in writing) or informal (a handshake is all that is necessary to "seal the deal").There are several ways you can collaborate with another business or individual to increase revenue, traffic, and even expertise to your business which ultimately will increase the value to the end-user (customer).Find the Right PartnersCollaborate with a well-known company - Most small businesses benefit from partnerships that add value, prestige and greater credibility to their own endeavors.
Associating with a well-known business can give your company instant credibility and exposure. It's not always about the bottom line.Collaborate with Your Best Customers ? Look at the company or companies who do the most business with yours. Work with them to solidify the relationship by offering them more than just good products and service. Make it nearly impossible for them to consider going anywhere else. Continually asking them why they do business with you and why they stay are the best ways to keep them.
Collaborate with the Nonprofit Community ? Joining forces with nonprofits can increase your circle of influence and your visibility in the community.Collaborate with a Former Employer ? You offer a product or service the former employer needs and provide it to them. You become a subcontractor or vendor to them. One of my dear friends worked for a fast-food company as their corporate trainer. When she decided to go into business for herself, they hired her to continue to provide training to their employees for several years. As her first major contract, the collaboration they created started her company on the road to success, and she still travels and does work for them.Collaborate with a Competitor ? Believe it or not, competitors can be very good partners.
For instance, they may offer a service or product you don't or don't wish to and vice-versa. They may also have the ability to handle a larger "job" than your company. Joining forces with another business on a project makes you look good to the customer. You become the hero. In 1999, I had the opportunity to provide all the decorations for a HUGE Floral Fair in Miami, Florida.
I knew my small company alone could not handle all the business. So I called several other florists in the community whom I admired and who did similar work. I subcontracted them to do portions of the project and get a piece of the action. Because these were floral importers we were serving, the other florists had the opportunity to network with and find new suppliers of product. It was easy to convince them to participate.
It was such a success, that it has been an ongoing project for several of the shops over the years.Think about the many businesses that are natural partners. In the real estate field, realtors partner with one another when selling a house. Florists partner with caterers, photographers and others in the event industry. Automobile insurance companies often partner with auto repair companies to insure their customers get the best service at a fair price.In an issue of Entrepreneur Magazine, I read about a coffee company in New Jersey who became the ultimate collaborator. The coffeehouse carries works from a local art gallery, has a reciprocal agreement with a local community theatre to offer significant discounts to their patrons, cross promotes with a local music store, book store, cigar shop, as well as many local nonprofits.My flower shop has partnered with masseuses, welcome-to-the-neighborhood companies, travel agents, professional organizers, beauty salons, and realtors, and several nonprofits, to name a few.
We have collaborated on networking events such as business after hours and open houses. We have promoted one another through door hanger campaigns. We have given each other our coupons to distribute to other companies. We have carried one another's business cards and brochures to distribute to our respective clients and customers. We have given away one another's products to our customers.
We offer hyperlinks on one another's websites to further promote each other. The possibilities are endless. Look for opportunities in your community that would be mutually beneficial to your partnership.The real key to success in cross-promotion, is to collaborate with non-competing businesses that are going after the same client or customer base. Choose businesses and people you trust. The promotion should make sense to both partners.
It should be a true win-win for everyone involved. Plan the promotion and evaluate the Alliance on a regular basis. Look for ways to expand your reach without increasing your overhead or debt.Excerpted from The PMS Principles - Powerful Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Business by Heidi Richards.
© 2004 - Heidi Richards is the author of The PMS Principles, Powerful Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Business and 7 other books.She is also the Founder & CEO of the Women?s ECommerce Association, International www.WECAI.org (pronounced wee-kī) ? an Internet organization that ?Helps Women Do Business on the WEB.?
She can be reached at www.HeidiRichards.com. (Permission to reprint this article is hereby granted with the understanding that the article and signature file remain intact)heidi@wecai.org
Send Birthday Flowers
With hundreds of different birthday flowers and bouquet arrangements to choose from, which one would you like to send?
Today hundreds of beautifully designed flower bouquets flood the market. Companies and experts in them are all dedicated in bringing forth pretty flower bouquets as gifts. Usually, you get an option to choose from multitudes of flowers, but sometimes, some companies let you customize your flower bouquet.
Research shows that brands like Balloon Boutique, Gund, Jane Carroll, Flower Country USA, Jane packer, and many more offer stunningly beautiful fresh flowers to gift on any special occasion.
Companies such as Phillip's 1-800-Florals, 1-800-Flowers, Larose, ProFlowers, Organic Bouquet, Hallmark, FTD or Florists Transworld Delivery, 1st in Flowers, Brant Florist, NC Buy, Flowerbud, Flora 2000, Jane's Roses, Just Flowers, Loyalist Flowers & Gifts, Rose Guy.com, Dial-a-Bouquet, Flowers go.net, and City Center Florists, among others,...
Florists > Send Birthday Flowers
White House Easter Egg Roll Will be held Monday, March 28th at the White House - Egg-Ceptional Bouquets from 1-800-I-LOVE-YOU
The annual White House Easter Egg Roll will be held Monday, March 28 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the South Lawn of the White House. The National Park Service will distribute free tickets on two dates for entry to the South Lawn. The majority of tickets will be available beginning at 7:30 a.m.
on Saturday, March 26, with the remaining tickets available beginning at 7:30 a.m. on Monday, March 28. The tickets, which are timed for entrance, will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis at the Ellipse Visitor Pavilion (southwest corner of 15th and E Streets). A maximum of five tickets will be issued per person. Children of all ages are welcome to attend, as long as there is at least one child seven years old or under and no more than two adults per group.
Tickets are required for every attendee, including small children, to enter the White House South Lawn.
If you can not be at the White House or with family or friends for Easter, consider sending one of the...
Florists > White House Easter Egg Roll Will be held Monday, March 28th at the White House - Egg-Ceptional Bouquets from 1-800-I-LOVE-YOU
What Happens When Associations Goes Wrong
Here we are discussing a very strange yet important use of registry cleaner. Every file is saved with its file extension. This extension will follow a period such as .doc, which means that it is a MS word document. Or an .xls extension that means it is meant to open in Microsoft Excel. Microsoft Windows uses these extensions to associate programs with the file and automatically launches the program when the file is selected for viewing.
Here is where the technicality of association can...
Florists What Happens When Associations Goes Wrong vacuum cleaner It Takes Two - How to Cultivate Profitable Alliances
Florists > What Happens When Associations Goes Wrong
Shaun Alexander, Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Hasselbeck, Jermome Bettis: Super Bowl Betting Player Props Galore
Miami Beach, FL (ContentDesk) February 1, 2006 -- Super Bowl player betting props are among the most fun to bet during the big game and the online sportsbooks offer literally thousands of such wagers.Due to the overwhelming demand this 2006 Super Bowl, Gambling911.com has compiled a listing of numerous player props offered by many of its endorsed online sportsbooks.For your convenience, the listing can be found at www.gambling911.com/2006-Super-Bowl-Player-Betting-Props.html...
Florists
Florists > Shaun Alexander, Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Hasselbeck, Jermome Bettis: Super Bowl Betting Player Props Galore
Average age of onset for POF (premature ovarian failure) is 27 years.
Menopause is the loss of ovarian activity that on the average occurs to women about age 51. Premature Ovarian Failure (POF) is a loss of ovarian function in women under 40. The average age of onset for POF is 27 years. It is estimated that 1% of women will have premature ovarian failure naturally, but it can also occur after chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and after reproductive surgeries such as hysterectomy and tubal ligation. Premature menopause, early menopause, and POF are synonymous...
Florists It Takes Two - How to Cultivate Profitable Alliances
Florists > Average age of onset for POF (premature ovarian failure) is 27 years.
Florists It Takes Two - How to Cultivate Profitable Alliances seeds
Plan A Stress Free Life Through A Guide To Debt Consolidation UK
We all have desires. But not everyone has enough resources to fulfill them. Therefore one tends to borrow money from outside. Borrowing money from more than one lender leads to multiplicity of debts. This problem of multiple debts is aggravating nowadays in UK.
I faced a similar situation sometimes back. Taking of various loans earlier had drowned me into a pool of debts. I actually landed up in a mess with multiple debts on my shoulders. It was becoming really hard for me to deal with...
Plan A Stress Free Life Through A Guide To Debt Consolidation UK Florists
Florists > Plan A Stress Free Life Through A Guide To Debt Consolidation UK