But this actually happened to me…

When I launched my first online products I made sure I included an affiliate program so that I could have 100s of others help promote my web site.  So I started inviting other web site owners to my system to join as an affiliate and I invited people who had large lists of subscribers to partner/joint venture (JV) with me on cross promotions of our products to each others lists.

Most of these emails were never responded to, but I did receive some positive responses and started working with these JV partners.  One of my new JV partners mentioned my products to one of their colleagues who asked me if she could also partner with me.

Over the next few years, these two partners generated over $15,044.80 in sales for me and continue to generate new sales for me EVERY month.

All from a single email to the right person…

How can you do this for yourself?  Here are some tips:

• Create a product that pays good commissions to partners
• Build your own subscriber list so you have something to offer in return beyond just commissions.  Create a win-win environment for both of you.
• Build your systems so that you can offer bonuses to your partners.  We have a coupon system in our back office that lets our partners give away special offers to their list members
• Learn how to approach list owners for Joint ventures and partnerships
• Regularly follow up with existing and new JV partners
• Once you start to gain success, outsource your followup to save time

JV partnerships have been one of my most powerful boosters to my success – and, unlike advertising, this type of marketing  ONLY costs me money for successful sales (commissions).

Learning how to JV partner with others is one of the key things you will need to learn to successfully work towards your own “4 Hour Work Week” like I am.

Garland Coulson, “The E-Business Tutor”

Halfway though the conference, I noticed an interesting theme appearing in the presentations and in the conversations in the hallway during the breaks. Programmer bashing.

Nearly every presentation and many conversations had comments like:

• Programmers don’t understand what we are trying to do…

• Our system keeps crashing and our programmer can’t fix it…

• I keep paying them more and more and the system still doesn’t work…

• They don’t get back to me for days or weeks…

• Simple problems take forever for our programmer to fix…

Wow! I had no idea the problem was so pervasive. And I felt bad for MY programmer as I had paid for his conference tuition to be there!

Like other successful Internet marketers, I have had my share of bad programmers until I found my current programmer. Here are my three steps to working successfully with a freelance (non-staff) programmer.

Step 1. Choose Better Programmers

• Take your time when choosing your programmer

• Review their portfolio carefully and fully check their references

• Monitor how quickly they reply to your emails and phone calls to give you an indication of their responsiveness

• Tie portions of the payment to successful completion

• Have a contract that outlines responsibilities, due dates, ownership and relationship termination

• If outsourcing to other countries, ask lots of questions to check to see how well you can communicate with each other (some programmers in other countries struggle with understanding instructions in English)

• Start by using different programmers for different projects – this helps you find the “gems” amongst the rough stones

Step 2. Work Better With Your Programmer

• Take your time to write clear instructions

• Catch problems immediately

• Don’t make your programmer wait for material from you

• Pick up the phone and chat regularly – a 5 minute phone conversation can replace 10 back and forth emails that happen over a week

• Fully test each component – use a team of people to test, not just yourself

Step 3. Fire Your Programmer Quickly

When it is obvious your relationship with your programmer is not going to work, fire them quickly. Drawing it out will just cost you more money and time. A few tips to make your exit strategy work.

• Make sure you control your own domain access and access to all hosting and software so you can change quickly access if you fire a programmer

• Make sure you have a contract in place (Step 1) that outlines how you can end the relationship

• Review progress every week so you find out where the problems are right away rather than waiting for months into the project

• Record how quickly they reply to your emails and phone calls so you have evidence of their non-responsiveness

So use these steps to take charge of your programmer relationships and you will find your project will work much smoother.

Garland Coulson, “The E-Business Tutor”