Joint Ventures Online – What’s A Joint Venture?

Joint Venture as a Business Model – Is This For You?

You may have heard about something called “joint ventures” in relation to online marketing, but are unsure what these are and how they could benefit you as an online entrepreneur. This area was fuzzy for me as well when I was new to this online world, so I’ll explain what a joint venture (also referred to as “JVs”) is and does more fully here and even give some examples of how they have helped me to grow my business over this past decade.

My first experience with a joint venture came during my third year working online. I had joined a mentoring program and one of the long time members approached me to teach an online course with her. I was so excited by the prospect of this that I neglected to ask her how the business part of this was handled. She politely explained to me that instead of forming a partnership we would simply be JV – joint venture – partners on this project. Once it was completed we could each go our separate ways, eliminating the need for any long-term commitments or legal entanglements.

This woman was Dr. Jeanette Cates, and if you have been following me for more than five years or so you know that Jeanette and I went on to JV on numerous projects over a period of about four years. These included six live events, several online courses, and a four month membership program where we each worked with our students in specific areas. With each project we came together for a specific period of time and for a specific group of tasks and activities. The expenses and revenue from each project was worked out fairly according to what we had agreed upon at the beginning, and once each project was completed we went our separate ways.

Throughout these years Jeanette and I had many of our own projects, as well as joint ventures with other entrepreneurs. This system worked out so well for everyone involved that I came to think of it as a preferred way to do business online on a regular basis.

I have initiated joint ventures with many of my clients and mentees, most notably working with Ron Tester on our small business marketing training course, as well as with Adrienne Dupree on a top WordPress plugins for business product. Most recently I JV’d with Noel Watts on our JVs Made Simple training course. Jeanette Cates and I had done something on this years ago, and she was gracious enough to allow Noel and I to use a few documents from that product for our new one.

I would strongly encourage you to jump into a joint venture with someone you know, even if it’s only a virtual relationship to see how this business model can help you to grow your business. As with anything, do your due diligence when it comes to choosing someone to work with, and know that this is a much better model that legally taking on a full time business partner. JVs rock, in my opinion, especially if you are a newer entrepreneur, and give you opportunities to build relationships and create products that benefit many people in the long run.

I’m author and online marketing strategist Connie Ragen Green. I work with entrepreneurs to create multiple streams of online income and would love to connect with you. Pick up my Online Entrepreneur’s Blueprint and get started right away.