Published:

12/18/2014 05:51am

How to Reach Out to Potential JV Partners and Start a Conversation

Sometimes reaching out to people that you want to promote your products or services can feel a lot like making cold sales calls - not fun. Your knees start to get all shaky and there's a butterfly totally going nuts in your gut.

What if they think your idea is stupid?
What if they say no?
What if you spend all this time trying to find partners - and then don't sell anything?


Yup, I've been there and so has every coach out there.
And everyone will tell you, you have to build a relationship with people before you ask them to JV. They tell you to almost court them by doing things like:

Commenting on their blog.
Adding your two cents on their social media posts.
Sending them articles you think they'll find helpful.


I'm not saying this is bad advice, because of course you should be building relationships.
For me though this passive approach has always felt awkward. Kind of like I'm standing in the back of a crowd jumping up and down saying "Look at me! Look at me!", or that I need to spout some kind of brilliance that will get them to take notice.
Not being someone that necessarily enjoys drawing attention to myself, this just wasn't natural and I could never keep up with it.
I have found a much quicker approach that still allows me to build a relationship without all the nonsense.
Simply inviting them for a conversation.
If you think about it, the quickest way for you to get to know someone and find out if you're a good fit for each other is to talk. When I am on the phone with someone I can usually tell right away if we're going to hit it off or not.
So here is a simple 3 step system for finding more JV partners that you really jive with:
Step 1: Search for coaches that serve your market in a complimentary way.
The best way to find other coaches that are really moving and shaking is by looking at blogs that serve your market, finding groups on social media, or by simply doing a Google search. When you've found someone, do a little research and decide if you think their message and personality would be a good fit with your brand. If so, then move on to step 2.
Step 2: Send them an email to invite them for a chat!
Here is a super simple template to use:
Hi (their name),
I hope this message finds you well! I found you on ____ and I think you're fabulous. Your ideas about _____ really resonate and I think we have a lot of synergy. I was wondering if you might have time for a quick chat to see if there might be opportunities to support each other in the coming year.
If so, let me know what times work for you in the next week.
Warmly,
(your name).
In this email you're doing a couple of things. You're showing them you did your research and know about their message, you're telling them you don't want to take a lot of their time, and you're opening the conversation for supporting each other so it's a win win.
Step 3: If they respond, set up a time to talk and get to know each other.
You'll want to decide ahead of time what you want to ask them for and be ready to offer to support their business as well. This is an easy way to make more friends in your business, and build a great network of referral partners.
Still feeling queasy?
Don't forget that every single coach out there is looking for people to collaborate with just like you are!
You literally have nothing to lose, if they say no then that's fine. You haven't wasted a bunch of your time, and you have others you can reach out to. And from experience I can tell you that VERY rarely will you get a no.
More often people will just not respond - which doesn't mean you can't reach out to them in the future, they may have just been busy or missed your email.
One of my private coaching clients has added 10 new JV partners in the last two weeks for her upcoming product launch. Not only that, but all of these partners are thrilled to be working with her and it's clear that the relationships she's building are going to have a much longer lasting impact than just this launch.
So what are you waiting for? It's time to get out there and make some friends!

Holly Chantal is the founder of The Land of Brand, a website design and branding company for coaches and solopreneurs. Go to http://www.thelandofbrand.com and download a free video training on how to use your personality to create a unique brand - because your mom was right when she said you were special.