A strategic alliance is often more of a referral system than its "more-involving" cousin, the joint venture. Where a joint venture would have two companies combine finances and energies to integrate products, create a separate product or form a shared "subsidiary" company, a strategic alliance would be more of a casual relationship out of mutual benefit that would "point customers in the right direction". So really, a strategic alliance is merely a "late" JV - that's it. Though strategic alliances aren't only used by so-called competitors, in this article, I'm going to focus on using this "casual approach" to dominate your niche by actually partnering with your competition... So many businesses worry constantly about what their competitors are doing. In fact, some people are so fanatical about tracking every single move their competitors make that they neglect to differentiate and position their own business - which can be disastrous. However, few people realize just how powerful an alliance would be with most of their "competitors" - if they were willing to see the opportunity through the deceiving lens of animosity... Think about these facts: • Your competition is actively marketing themselves to your target market • Your competition is spending a considerable amount of time and money to build rapport with people that will also buy from you. • Your competition is investing a lot of time into research, development and innovation that could benefit you as much as it does them and their clients - without hurting their profits at all. • Your competition is testing, tracking and optimizing their marketing materials continually - which could indirectly benefit you as much as it does them. Now - what if you were able to leverage all of these resources while actually helping your "competitor"... Would you do it? Of course you would! You'll have to find a way to partner with your "competitor" in such a way that both parties can substantially benefit from the other's resources - but without stealing customers or damaging anyone's credibility. Here are some examples of strategic alliances between competitors: • Up sell related products after the initial sale. If your customers would benefit by having both of your products, then why not include a special offer for your competitor's product inside your own product boxes (or packaging)? Arrange a system where either the "up seller" gets a share of the profits, or both parties cross • Integrate products and services. If your competitor has a similar product that could complement your own, you might consider arranging a deal where both you and your competitor would offer a "bundled" package in addition to your normal offering. This, like an up sell, would increase the sales volume of both parties. (This example would work especially well for related software products). • Cross endorsement. If your "competitor" isn't really competing with your direct market, and if you could refer business to each other without anyone losing customers, then simply "trading flyers" might actually be one of the more effective (and easier) ways to partner with someone else in the industry. Online, this is as simple as trading links.
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