If you can identify great sites compatible with yours in some way,
consider building a serious relationship with them.
Gathering
The Ammunition
As
you visit sites for whatever reason, bookmark those that stand out
in some way. Those for which it might be profitable to build a more
significant relationship, beyond a simple link swap.
Maybe
they're lighter and brighter some way. They may seem better connected
to their task. Look for those that show serious intent. Those that
demonstrate a determination to grow. Make note of whatever grabs
your attention.
Ponder
over your notes as possible. Revisit these sites. And add to your
notes. What you are looking for is a way to interrelate with such
sites far more intensively than with a simple link swap.
This
takes a good deal more doing than arranging a link swap. You need
a good plan that will work for both of you. You might consider swapping
advertising on your site and in your newsletter. Or go so far as
to put up a page on yours pointing to your partner site in exchange
for yours on theirs.
The
60-40 Rule
Many
opportunities go awry and many deals unravel because one or both
of the parties is not acquainted with this rule. It holds to some
extent in all human relationships.
If
you commit 60% of the effort to make the deal work, and you feel
the other person commits 40%, it will work.
Let's
not get bogged down with psychology here. But do take a look at
what this means. It begins with YOU. YOU are the center of your
world. And this is the exact position in which you need to be.
But
from this position, the contribution of your partner will appear
to be less significant to you than it does to your partner. This
can't be avoided. It's a part of every human relationship.
But
those who recognize this, will be content with an arrangement in
which they feel they are contributing 60% while the other party
is adding only 40%. So long as both are content with the proportions,
the deal will hold. If either party is not sufficiently mature to
grasp this rule, the arrangement is bound to collapse.
It's
doubtful a perfect relationship exists. But if both parties do feel
they have contributed 60% to the arrangement, an external observer
might note both have contributed equally.
In
building profitable arrangements such as suggested here, however,
you can afford to give considerable more than your potential partner.
For you will be the greater beneficiary, as pointed out below.
Cutting
The Deal
This
is not a task to be left to email. Grab the phone. Australia? The
UK? What's the difference? Make the call.
First,
though, set it up. If you're planning to swap ads on your home page,
put up a draft copy. As in link swapping, you have already made
a move. Your potential partner can see the benefits easily and will
be more likely to go along.
Further,
offer to send copy you think would be appropriate for your potential
partner site. And explain why it will work. Be sure to follow the
60-40 rule. Be certain what you are offering is significantly more
at least to you, than what you are asking in return.
In
the first step, keep it simple. Relationships take time to evolve.
Given a simple beginning, success is more likely. And this adds
to the interest your partner will have when considering subsequent
plans. Success automatically enhances their confidence in you and
suggests the likelihood of further success with your latest plan.
A Grand
Fringe Benefit
If
you do the work to set things up so that it's easy for your potential
partner to accept the deal, chances are good your offer will be
accepted. Don't kid yourself. To make this work takes some serious
planning, which takes time.
But
as you become more accustomed to making such offers, you'll find
each is easier to arrange. You'll become aware of pitfalls. And
avoid them. You will come to see more quickly what can be done effectively,
and what is not likely to work.
There
is a significant bonus in all this that will pay off for you big
time. You will become the center of a hub of a wheel of interrelated
sites. Most of your partners will not take the time to work out
such relationships. They become more dependant upon you than you
are on them. And collectively, you'll draw far more traffic through
the spokes of the wheel than you deliver through them to your partners. |