Joint Ventures (JV’s) are “Hot”!

**********************************************
The Virtual Consulting Discussion List [VCDL]
http://www.TheVCF.com/vcdl.phtml

Monday, June 7, 2004 Digest #16
**********************************************
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List Moderator: Michael S.DeVries DeVries@cris.com
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TABLE OF CONTENTS ...
---> [NEW] <---

#1 Joint Ventures (JV's) are "Hot"!
- Michael S. DeVries

#2 The Golden Checklist For Sure-fire Email Joint Venture
- June Yeap

#3 Simple Survey Leads To Big Profits Online
- Jim Edwards

#4 10 Mistakes That Reduce Profitability
- Dr. Rachn D. Jain

#5 The Web's Best-Kept Traffic Secret
- Jim Edwards

---> [CONTINUED] <---
---> [RESOURCES] <---

#6 The Joint Venture Power Circle Super-teleconference

#7 FR^EE Products 4 Your Resale, Giveaway and/or Use! :)

---> [NEWS] <---
---> [INTRO] <---
---> [HELP WANTED] <---
---> [ADMIN] <---

************* [NEW] ***************
#1 Joint Ventures (JV's) are "Hot"!
-----------------------------------------------------------
Date sent: Saturday, June 05, 2004
From: Michael S. DeVries
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com'

In The Virtual Consulting Discussion List [VCDL] - Digest #10 - Friday,
December 12th, 2003 - “Do you JV? …” , we “opened the floor” for
discussions of how Virtual Consultants may negotiate, use and benefit
from Joint Ventures (JV’s) to help you grow your business, markets and
profits! :)

Joint Ventures (JV’s) have become and are a “Hot Topic” lately!

Therefore, in this Digest of The Virtual Consulting Discussion List we
have a great article and the announcement of an exciting upcoming
teleconference on Joint Venturing and a newly announced Joint Venture
resource web site, as well as several other articles we hope you all
find interesting and beneficial and another resource site where you may
find all kinds of Great Fr^ee Products, some of which you may resell,
redistribute and/or use for yourself, and all for Fr^ee! :)
Cool! B-) huh?

We hope that you will all also share with your Fellow VCDL Members your
further experiences, "tips", helpful hints", resources, etc. on how does
one go about getting started in successfully seeking, proposing,
negotiating, and securing various type(s) of mutually beneficial joint
ventures (JV's).

We hope that all of this will help all of you further grow your
business, markets and profits! :)

Your "Virtual" Moderator,

- Michael S. DeVries

-----------------------------------------------------------
#2 The Golden Checklist For Sure-fire Email Joint Venture
-----------------------------------------------------------
Date sent: Thu, 27 May 2004 21:39:46 -0700
From: June Yeap
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com'

--------------------------------------------------------
The Golden Checklist For Sure-fire Email Joint Venture
Proposal (c) 2004 June Yeap
--------------------------------------------------------

If you're doing any joint venture, you'll want to have this
list at your side. Go through this checklist carefully
before you send out your joint venture proposal.

You may want to cut and paste this into your favorite word
processor so that you can use the checklist often. Each time
you send out a proposal, put a check beside the items you've
completed.

Once you've checked all of the items, you can be very sure
that your joint venture partners will be very impressed.
After all, you've done your homework.

These are all the ingredients 'pro's' use when writing
joint venture proposals.

[ ] Is your email personalized?

Know to whom you're sending your email. Address them
with their first name if possible. If you can't find
their name on the webpage, you can always do a WHOIS
look-up at http://www.whois.org.

[ ] Did you introduce yourself in your email?

This may sound like a common sense but I'm surprised
to receive many JV proposals that do not mention
who they are except in the 'from' field of their email
and a signature line. Take a few minutes to tell them
about yourself.

Introducing yourself proves to others that you're
confident of yourself and are proud of what you're
doing.

It doesn't have to be lengthy. Just say 'Hi, my name
is _______ and I run this site at http://______ called
_________.'

Then, in a sentence or two describe what the benefits
are of your site or product.

[ ] Did you include any positive comments?

The truth is, people like to be complimented, so don't
be afraid to use positive comments. All of us like it
when others to notice our hard work.

Make an effort to say something good about your
prospective partner. Take time to really look at
their site and make a note of the nice things you
see. For example, tell them you've seen their articles
published in 'ABC ezine' several times. It'll
help make a good first impression.

[ ] Did you include any references or testimonials?

This is a secret trick to increase the response
rate of your email. Even though you should have those
testimonials displayed on your website, it doesn't
hurt to include them again in your email for them.

Let the testimonials convey the quality of your
products for you. These will work much better for than
going into detail about how your product is powerful
or better than others that they might have seen.

[ ] Did you tell them SPECIFICALLY what benefits
they'll get from joint venturing with you?

People only care for themselves. If you want them to
say 'yes' to your offer, they must be made to feel as
if they are the one who's getting the better end of the
deal. Stake up benefit after benefit in your email
proposal. Put them into bullets for easier reading.

Remember, however obvious the benefits might seem,
always put them into writing for your JV partners.
Do the thinking for them.

[ ] Did you include a free sample?

Always try to include a free preview or free sample of
your products. At the very least, give them a website
they can go to for more details. People like to be
able to control their own destiny. Give them every helping
hand YOU feel comfortable with and, chances are, they will
respond to your proposal with a resounding 'YES!'.

[ ] Do you have a website ready?

Having a webpage up first for your website also indicates
that you are serious about your project. Show them that
you've already put in some work into your project.

Don't know HTML? Not a problem, go to Google.com and
type in 'free WYSIWYG HTML Editor' and see what comes
up. Download one and off you go. Then, get yourself a good
domain name and start putting up a webpage that says
something about your project.

[ ] Does your email include a call to action?

Do not make the mistake of telling your prospective partner
all about your JV deal but forget to tell them what they
should do next. Should they reply and say 'Yes, count me
in!'
or should they email you back with their phone number and
the best time to call?

Tell them specifically what they should do next. Give
them very clear instructions. Always remember to
make it easy for them to say yes to your proposal.

[ ] Is your email formatted properly?

Your email should look professional and presentable.
Do not make the mistake of letting your writing run
across the screen without being wrapped. This is
something that will easily turn people off, especially
when you start playing in the 'big leagues'.

Use a good email formatter and set it to wrap at 60
characters. You may also want to do it manually by
hitting 'enter' each time the line reaches 60 characters.

[ ] Do you have a good subject line that makes your JV
partners RUSH to open your email?

A good subject line can make or break your proposal.
Keep in mind that your partners probably have to wade
through thousands of spam emails in order to see yours.
Make your subject line stand out.

Put their name in the subject line to catch their
attention. Make your subject line straight forward,
simple and neat. For example, 'Hi ___, Joint Venture.'

There you go. Armed with these reminders, you'll be
well on your way to successful joint venturing.

Good luck and best wishes!

========================================================
June Yeap is the creator of Instant eBiz Saver Discount
Vault membership site who helps you to boost your profits
through amazing money-saving discounts and cost-slashing
special deals.

As a member, you get all the top-notch ebiz tools and
services at discounts and prices so cheap that you'll
feel like you're stealing!

Get more exciting info about this true hidden goldmine
of exclusive discount offers here.
==> http://www.instantebizsaver.com/cgi-bin/a/c.cgi/mdvries_vccntr

========================================================

-----------------------------------------------------------
#3 Simple Survey Leads To Big Profits Online
-----------------------------------------------------------
Date sent: Fri, 4 Jun 2004 19:15:06 UT
From: Jim Edwards
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com'

=====================================

Simple Survey Leads To Big Profits Online

- by Jim Edwards

(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
http://www.thenetreporter.com
=====================================

Success online follows a simple formula...

"Ask and you shall ."

Most people fill in the blank with "receive". Not only is
it a well-known phrase from the Bible, but it's also a very
powerful online marketing principle.

If you operate a business and want to sell massively more
products and services quickly, the fastest way to do it is
by simply asking your customers and prospects what they
want... and then give it to them.

In the past, gathering critical research information
through customer surveys represented a very time-consuming,
expensive and labor-intensive process available only to
large organizations.

However, with inexpensive online tools, even a one-person
business can now quickly and easily conduct powerful
surveys to discover exactly what customers want - and then
give it to them.

Virtually any business can benefit from conducting a survey
because the information you get is priceless for your
planning purposes.

Do you know what your customers plan to purchase next? (If
you did, you could be the one to sell it to them!)

Do you know why they've purchased from you in the past? (If
they've bought once, they'll buy again for the same
reason!)

Do you know what other products and services they have
purchased from your competitors and why? (So you can be the
one they buy from next...)

Knowing the answers to those three questions could
literally transform your whole business plan (and wallet)
overnight!

The sad fact is most business owners just *guess* what
their customers want. Sure, they might make an educated
guess based on past experience, but it's still just that --
a guess.

By conducting a survey you don't guess what people want -
you *know* what people want!

When conducting a survey (online or offline) it's critical
to remember these three points:

1. Keep your survey short and sweet.

People don't want to spend more than a couple of minutes
answering your questions.

I personally try never to ask more than 6 questions and
they are always "yes/no", multiple-choice questions that
don't take much time.

Short questions also allow you to get instant "gut-level"
reactions from people, which is helpful in figuring out
what people will buy. People purchase on emotion, so a fast
response will show you their true feelings on a subject
since they don't have time to think about it.

2. Give people a "bribe" for taking the survey.

You will increase response rates by 1,500% (15 times) or
more by offering people a reward in exchange for 2 minutes
of their time to take your survey. With so many time
constraints, giving people a "perk" for giving you some of
their valuable time will make the difference between
getting a dozen responses and getting several hundred.

3. Use simple, easy-to-understand questions.

When first surveying any group, you simply want to know
what they like/dislike, will/won't buy in the future,
have/haven't bought in the past.

As you get to know a group better, you can ask more
detailed questions, but also make sure you offer better
bribes if you expect people to take even more time
answering your questions.

When choosing an online survey tool to help you administer
your survey, make sure it meets the following criteria:

· It should require no programming on your part. You want
to just plug in your questions and have it generate all the
code, etc. so you can copy and paste it into a web page and
send it out.

· It should automatically calculate all survey results for
you in 'real-time' so you don't have to manually calculate
responses. Do not get stuck doing "number crunching"
because your survey tool doesn't automatically calculate
results.

· It should send a "thank you" letter to people taking your
survey so you can send them a "gift" for participating.

Thanking people for participating goes a long way toward
leaving them with a favorable impression of you, as well as
setting the stage for both your next survey and your next
sale.

For a free report on how to quickly and easily conduct your
own simple surveys to increase business profits, go to
http://www.ebookfire.com/surveyreport.shtml

Though the report is aimed at a specific online audience
(ebook publishers), the principles will help any business
succeed using surveys.

===============================================
Jim Edwards is the co-author of the NEW
"eBook Secrets Exposed": How to Make MASSIVE Amounts of
Money - In Record Time - With Your Own eBook!
WHY are some people getting positively RICH selling ebooks?
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-----------------------------------------------------------
#4 10 Mistakes That Reduce Profitability
-----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 17:24:43 -0400
From: Dr. Rachn D. Jain
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com'

----------- 10 Mistakes That Reduce Profitability

In my professional experience as a sales and marketing
coach/consultant, I've had the opportunity to work with a number of
small business owners on various issues related to sales and
marketing. The owners who are struggling to keep their businesses
afloat tend to engage in some, or all, of the following mistakes that
reduce profitability.

Mistake #1: They fail to market or market inconsistently. Once you
have committed to owning and running a business you must be equally
committed to marketing and selling the products and services of that
business. It is difficult, if not impossible, to stay and remain
profitable without a commitment to ongoing concerted marketing.

Solution: Market all the time, every time.

Mistake #2: They hesitate to "ask for the sale". Rather than seeming
pushy or obnoxious they let profit-producing opportunities pass them
by. They worry more about what someone thinks of them than they do
about bringing more money into their business. If you find it
difficult to "ask for the sale", you can be sure that you're not
bringing in as much money as you could be.

Solution: Practice asking for the sale.

Mistake #3: They don't ask for help or assistance in the aspects of
the business where they most need it. Most business owners possess
strengths in a particular area but whether by necessity or ignorance
they often end up working in areas that aren't part of their
strengths. When business is not going as it should they delay or
procrastinate in asking for help. Each day that goes by with your
business running at less than maximum efficiency means dollars lost
from your pocket.

Solution: Get expert advice from an attorney, accountant, or other
service professional before you really need it.

Mistake #4: They don't follow up with past customers. It is usually
much easier to reactivate a former customer than it is to attract a
new one. If you are not following up with past customers on a regular
basis you are reducing your profitability potential.

Solution: Develop and implement a regular method for customer follow
up.

Mistake #5: They don't take regular stock of their expenses. Savvy
business owners regularly appraise their business expenses and find
ways to reduce costs without sacrificing quality. If you haven't
completed a cost analysis lately, you might be paying more than you
need to be, which will reduce your profitability.

Solution: At least once per quarter review expenses and negotiate for
adjustments as appropriate.

Mistake #6: They spend large amounts on glossy, slick marketing
materials and expect business to pour in without any additional
effort. Glossy brochures and slick marketing materials are a nice
addition to more active forms of marketing such as meeting people,
calling people and speaking to people. Brochures and business cards,
no matter how beautiful, do not replace direct contact. If you are
spending money on flashy marketing materials rather than marketing
directly you will be less profitable than you could be.

Solution: Take those glossy brochures and hand them out directly to
people at the next possible opportunity.

Mistake #7: They spend a significant amount of time in low-return
activities (as measured by dollars and personal satisfaction). If you
are spending the majority of your day completing tasks which are
administrative in nature and/or which can be easily completed by other
people you are reducing your profitability.

Solution: Track your time and figure out how much you're making per
hour. Hire an assistant if you are spending the bulk of your time in
administrative work.

Mistake #8: They charge less than they desire. This challenge seems to
arise especially for consultants, coaches and solo entrepreneurs who
sell services. It is often tempting to accept less money than you need
- so you get "some money" rather than "no money". After time, working
for too little can leave you exhausted and resentful and it takes a
deep cut out of your profitability.

Solution: Commit that, at the next opportunity, you will ask for full
fee. And then do it.

Mistake #9: They make infrequent or no use of technology which could
save them time and effort. As a business owner, you have a fixed
amount of time and energy within which you must maximize your profits.
Technology can help you do this in the form of autoresponders,
voicemail, wireless internet connections, speech recognition software
and the like. All of these tools are designed to save you time and
effort. If you are not making consistent use of technology in your
business you are likely not as profitable as you could be.

Solution: Look for ways that you can make your business processes
More efficient by using inexpensive technology.

Mistake #10: They adhere to outdated business models or plans. If you
do not stay up with the trends in your business you will notice a
steady decline in your profitability.

Solution: Attend meetings and conferences that will keep you on
target with your market. Implement new means of doing business and
update your business plan at least every couple of years.

If you are serious about improving your business' profitability,
start by implementing the suggested solutions to these ten common
mistakes. Together, these solutions will help you make more money
and have more fun in your business. Try them and see.

(c) 2004 Dr. Rachna D. Jain. All rights in all media reserved.

Dr. Rachna D. Jain is a sales and marketing coach, author, consultant
and speaker. Sign up for her free email newsletter, "Sales & Marketing
Secrets" sams-subscribe@salesandmarketingcoach.com
<mailto:sams-subscribe@salesandmarketingcoach.com> To learn more
or to contact Dr. Jain directly, please visit
http://www.SalesandMarketingCoach.com.

-----------------------------------------------------------
#5 The Web's Best-Kept Traffic Secret
-----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2004 04:15:12 UT
From: Jim Edwards
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com'

=====================================

"The Web's Best-Kept Traffic Secret"

- by Jim Edwards

(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
http://www.thenetreporter.com
=====================================

Did you realize that thousands of website operators use a
simple technique to generate targeted visitors to their
websites without paying a dime in advertising? It's true.

In fact, the technique works so well that many of them
don't want you to discover how they get those thousands of
website visitors and make so many sales on virtual "auto-
pilot."

Their method?

Creating tightly focused articles other people publish in
their ezines (online magazines and email newsletters) and
post on their websites. This method rates so powerful that
some even call it "the web's best kept traffic secret."

Now, you may ask, "Why would an ezine publisher or website
owner publish my articles for their subscribers?"

The answer: Content!

Over a 100,000 ezines and newsletters operate on the web
(along with millions of websites) covering everything from
pets and cooking to investments and real estate. Many of
them need tightly focused content and they simply can't
produce all of it themselves.

Look at it this way... it's the same reason newspapers use
the Associated Press. Individual newspapers often can't
afford staff writers to cover every story, so they accept
articles from outside their organization.

You can do the exact same thing for various ezines and
websites catering to your niche audience!

You can get valuable publicity -- exposure you often
couldn't even pay for if you wanted to -- by providing
valuable, content-rich articles in exchange for a byline
and a link to your website (called a "resource box")!

The following represent only a few of the enormous benefits
of writing and distributing simple articles online:

** Attain "Expert" Status **

Let's face it! In the eyes of virtually everyone who reads
your articles you rank as the "expert" on the subject.

Just look at people who write newspaper columns. You
may disagree with their viewpoints, but they still have an
elevated status in your mind compared to the "average Joe"
off the street.

** Pre-sell Website Visitors **

If your article appeals to a niche audience hungry for more
information on a very focused subject, you actually pre-
sell them better than any sales pitch. In their minds,
you've already delivered content they really want so when
they click over to your site you already have a
"reputation" in their minds.

** Traffic Lasts Longer **

Even though the Internet changes very quickly, webmasters
are usually very slow to remove content from their sites.
Once you get an article posted on another person's website,
you have an excellent chance of that article staying there
for weeks, months, even years.

** Increase Links To Your Site **

In a recent search I found just a dozen of my articles
posted on over 813 different websites! Not only do those
postings bring me traffic, but they also help my search
engine positioning because of my increased "Link
Popularity."

** Builds Your Affiliate Base **

Fact: Affiliates always take the path of least resistance.

If you provide excellent articles they can easily post on
their sites or copy and paste into their ezines, your
affiliates will promote you more often and more effectively
compared to those who don't give them tools.

Plus, as you make more sales and publish articles, other
people will see you providing excellent tools and will want
to sign up as your affiliate so they can use them too!

** Build a Huge "Opt-In" Email List **

You can use articles to build up a huge list of subscribers
by simply compiling several articles into a series and
delivering them at preset intervals.

Often called a "mini-course," this technique allows you not
only to prove to your subscribers that you deliver great
information, but enables you to capture their name and
email adress so you can send them articles and special
offers in the future (with their permission).

** Requires No Special Skills **

People often think they need to be a "writer" in order to
publish articles, but that's not true!

FACT: If you have a passion for a subject and can talk and
explain things like you would to a friend over a cup of
coffee, you can write articles people will love to read.

So if you operate a website selling virtually any type of
product or service (whether your own or as an affiliate),
publishing and promoting with articles should rank high on
your list of traffic generation strategies.

No other method of generating targeted traffic to your
website provides the quality, quantity and steadiness of
traffic in such a simple, straightforward, and cost-
effective manner.

----

Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-
author of an amazing new ebook, "Turn Words Into Traffic,"
that will teach you how to use free articles to quickly
drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website or
affiliate link!
Click=> http://hop.clickbank.net/?MSDClick/ezarticles

*************** [RESOURCES] ****************
#6 The Joint Venture Power Circle Super-teleconference
-----------------------------------------------------------
From: Michael S. DeVries <DeVries@cris.com>
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com'
Date sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2004

If you are serious about learning how to use Joint Ventures to grow and
expand your business, markets and profits!, then you definitely don’t
want to miss ….

The massive Joint Venture Power Circle Super-teleconference.

Date of Call: Wednesday, June 9, 2004
Time of Call: 5:00 pm Pacific Time ** 6:00 pm Mountain Time ** 7:00 pm
Central Time ** 8:00 PM Eastern Time.

Audio Conference Dial-In Number: 1-580-474-3600

Passcode: 222053# (don't forget the # on the end)
Contact Information: 1-580-474-3600

Click on the link below for more information regarding The Joint Venture
Power Circle and this massive Super-teleconference:

http://tinyurl.com/3dmlg

You may also find this Event Posted in The VCF’s Global Seminar
Calendars at:

http://www.thevcf.com/postnuke/index.php?module=PostCalendar&
func=view&Date=20040609&tplview=&viewtype=details&eid=22&print=

-----------------------------------------------------------
#7 FR^EE Products 4 Your Resale, Giveaway and/or Use! :)
-----------------------------------------------------------
From: Michael S. DeVries <DeVries@cris.com>
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com'
Date sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2004

Are you looking for some more Products that you may re-sell, keep all
the profits, and Make More Money for yourself?

And/or …

Do you and your customers find getting FR^EE Products irresistible?

Well, in either case … Here is something you just Must Check Out!

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exciting new site, called the "Fr^ee Resale Rights Vault" where you may
also get more Fr^ee Products, some of which also include Fr^ee Resale
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Check out the Vault now by clicking the link below:

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There will be new additions to the Vault daily so check
back often!

We hope that this all helps you all Make even More Money for yourself!
:)

Your "Virtual" Moderator,

- Michael S. DeVries

--------> [The VCDL Digest is Sponsored By:] <-------

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