by Ron of Ron's Webs

One of the most inexpensive and effective ways to grow your business is to cross market with other complementary companies in your field.  In order to keep your costs to a minimum while obtaining maximum exposure from your cross-marketing efforts, it's important to fully understand the strength's of both companies and use them to each other's mutual advantage.

So how do you get started?  Let's use a few clients of mine to illustrate the point:

Fred Williams Safaris books safaris all around the world.  Fred's always looking for ways to increase his marketing exposure without blowing the advertising budget.  He knows that networking is the key to creating a synergy that creates results for the group that would not be possible individually without great expense.

Let say that Hickory Creek Archery's  Jerry Goff sees Fred's Safari website, recognizes Fred as an industry leader, and contact's him.  It turns out that Hickory Creek produces its own TV show, but is looking for new and interesting hunts in order to demonstrate the superior features of its product, The Drawloc Compound Bow.  Fred has wanted to get TV exposure but was put off by the high costs of committing to a 13 show season.  Hickory Creek on the other hand has video production capabilities in-house, but finds it expensive to go on 13 hunts a year. 

Fred books safaris with several outfits, any of which would be happy with more exposure.  These outfits often have vacancies and can offer them in return for the TV time. 

Fred's strength to offer Hickory Creek is his vast network where he can find low cost or fully sponsored hunts.  Hickory Creek's strength for Fred is the in-house video capability.  The end result is that everyone gets the exposure they need to drive customers to their products and services at a fraction of the cost not to mention an exciting personal adventure for Jerry and Fred should either go on the sponsored safari.

And this is a formula that could be repeated time-and-time again!

On a smaller, simpler scale, a video rental store can exchange coupons with the pizzeria next door and drive business between them. 

Another example close to home is with client Air Carrier Compliance Group.  ACCG mostly deals with upstart air charter services.  They typically don't have a web site or other marketing tools in place.  Ron's Webs co-markets with ACCG to fill that void by having a page on ACCG's site offering my services.   In return, ACCG received a heavily discounted makeover to its website.  ACCG's strength is its constant contact with upstart companies.  Ron's Webs strength is web design.  ACCG benefits not only from the updated look, but also has more to offer his customers vs. his competition.  ACCG can bundle the web site services with their main product, FAA Certifications, both of which most of his clients need.  The exchange has been great for both companies.  Ron's Webs benefits by exposure to a highly targeted audience - new business owners.

There are pitfalls in the execution of cross-marketing.  It's important to only offer what you can deliver, and to be sure you are being offered something in return that is not too good to be true and that will be returned in kind.  It's too easy to make a new contact, promise the world, and make poor decisions while the relationship is too new.  You don't want other companies wasting your time, but at the same time, you don't want to waste theirs as well.

It's one thing to exchange links with another website, but something very different to arrange a sponsored fishing trip and the TV production crew not show up.  In networking credibility is everything, and once you've lost yours, it difficult if not impossible to get it back.  It's best to build a personal business relationship with these new contacts in order to be sure of their true capabilities before trading value or trying to match their strengths with others.  But the lower the stakes, the less important the last statement.  A simple banner exchange is no big deal relatively speaking.

On the plus side, your credibility and the credibility of your company will attract other companies with co-marketing offers that you had no idea were possible.  It all starts with your professional corporate image (website, etc...) followed by your personal interest in customer service and providing a product or service of real value.  People will either work hard for you or hard against you depending upon how attractive you and your company are.

Also, by having an aggressive campaign to find marketing partners, you'll be amazed at the number of like minded entrepreneurs that are out there!  You'll make dozens of new business friends and the possibilities become manifold!