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In January 2007 I attended one of Robert Puddy’s half-day UK workshops here in my hometown of Bristol. It was a good decision because without a doubt, I learnt more about online marketing in those 4 hours than I did in the whole of the previous year.
The biggest lesson I learnt was that making money online is as much about building business relationships as anything else. In particular, Robert stressed that you shouldn’t just see other marketers as competition but as potential JV or even long term business partners.
And in fact if you check out Robert’s latest blog post Snowing In Indiana, wish I wasn’t here you’ll see a great example of this in action.
You’ll see that Robert and his business partner Pat Lovell are merging AdsenseRealEstate with Sean Roach’s Rip2It to create a brand new service.
How did this business partnership come about?
Answer…after Robert invited Sean to speak at his BritpackUK Seminar in Coventry in September 2007.
Building A Bigger Business
The three of them got talking over a few beers, realised their services could complement one another and decided to team up.
Now they’re building an even bigger business together than they ever could have created by themselves.
A true win-win situation.
However, that opportunity would probably never have come about if they hadn’t met face to face.
People don’t do business with anonymous names hiding behind computer screens, but marketers they know, like and trust.
Work Together
That’s why it’s so important to start meeting other marketers and build relationships by attending seminars or local Internet Marketing workshops.
Introduce yourself to people and find out how you can work together.
It might be you can help each other through integration marketing (for example, promoting to each other’s lists), or if you both have different skillsets. For example, if one of you has html or php coding skills and the other is great at creating graphics, you can exchange services.
Who knows, you may even find your next JV or business partner.
The point is, don’t make the mistake of thinking you can do it all from behind your PC.
Internet Marketing is still a people business.
Tags: Business Building, Internet Marketing Seminars, Online Marketing, Robert Puddy
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This is interesting. I have a very good relationship with my computer, thank you.
After two years I have no “relationships” online.
How can I? I am here and they are there.
Nobody even knows I exist, and never will.
Online Marketing is a lonely business.
You will never meet anyone unless you are super rich and and can afford to blow thousands on a drunken weekend somewhere.
That’ll be fun but very expensive and won’t make you a cent.
Leave your credit cards at home - they are only put on to empty your bank account. LOL
“Relationships Online”? A very strange concept. I don’t see how it could possibly happen.
Maybe just another piece of fluff to fill a blog post.
I can’t imagine what a “relationship online” could possibly be.
Hi Clive,
With respect, I think you’re missing the point a little bit. I wasn’t talking about building online relationships (though there’s nothing wrong with that.) I’m talking about getting out the house and physically meeting people.
You don’t have to travel thousands of miles and attend the big expensive seminars to meet other marketers. What about in your local area or town? There must be other marketers that you could meet up with.
And if not, why not pick up the phone or use skype to talk to other marketers you like or have bought products from?
They’re far more likely to want to promote your products or help you if they know you personally.
Cheers…Graham
Hi Graham,
I sort of got your point.
I never get out of the house and physically meet people.
I only leave the house to buy my groceries.
My last “social contact” was over 30 years ago. LOL
I have no idea if there are other marketers in my area - I seriously doubt it. If there were it’s highly unlikely that they’d admit to it.
you never know where marketers are, they never advertise their address.
I’ve never met anyone, in my life, that has a website.
I also doubt very much that any marketer is going to want to receive a phone call from a nobody.
They are only interested in phone calls that make them $100k in 20 minutes.
I make $10 a month in sales.
Apart from that, no marketer is ever going to supply a phone number or Skype contact.
There is no way anyone can telephone a marketer.
It’s hard enough to get any email contact.
Anyway, the point is moot. I would never be so rude as to telephone anyone unless they asked me to and I know that will never happen - LOL.
I would never approach anyone to promote a product of mine. They’d just laugh at me for not being able to do it myself.
Does anyone know anyone online? I don’t bother going to forums or visiting other people’s websites so I really am totally isolated.
I think it’s called “Minding your own business”.
I’ve never had any communication with anyone I’ve bought from.
What is there to say? “Loved your Squeeze Page software / pop-up generator / script - can’t use it, of course, because I don’t have an IT Degree”?
“Bought your e-book - rubbish, like all of them”.
I don’t think so…..
This is online selling - nobody knows anybody personally, I don’t think.
No, Graham, I am grateful for the thoughtful and kind reply, but nobody would ever want to receive a phone call from anyone selling online.
I’ve never even received an email from anyone on my list. Why would I?
All the emails that say “I just heard from my mate…..” or “I met Joe Blow at a seminar in San Francisco” I dismiss as bare faced lies, the same as all the Clickbank and PayPal statements on sales pages that are fakes made in Photoshop. LOL
There are about 100 of the same suspects that write testimonials in bulk, it seems. The same faces saying the same things on every sales page.
I started two years ago knowing nothing and no-one. I now know a little but still no-one.
I’m afraid that you’re on your own online.
It is a totally solitary occupation. You have no sort of contact with anybody.
It’s a long, slow haul. Especially when you don’t trust a single word written in an e-Book. LOL
I doubt that I’ll ever talk to another marketer. I’ve been selling on eBay 5 years and I’ve never spoken to another seller, not even by email.
I don’t visit other marketers’ websites or eBay shops so I have no idea who’s doing what.
I just mind my own business.
Again, thank you for your kind reply but “physical contact” with other people online - never happens.
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