If you get dozens of emails everyday from people wanting you to joint venture with them on their latest ebook or software project, the majority of which are barely worth replying to. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m always open to joint venture opportunities, but please please please if you’re going to make an me an offer, you better make sure it’s one I can’t refuse. (And this goes with other marketers as well.)

Here’s what I mean… All too often, the joint venture offers I receive go something like this: ”I just wrote an ebook and would like it if you could advertise it to your list. It sells for $17, and I pay 50% commissions. I’d really appreciate your help.” Ok, this joint venture offer has 2 major problems… 1. You can expect any marketer to get excited about an $8.50 commission. (Actually it’s less than $8 after the merchant company gets their part.) If you want someone with a large responsive list to promote your product, your commissions really need to excite your potential partner.

Personally, I expect to make at least $25-$30 off of every sale I make. Anything less and it’s really not worth it to me to send out. 2. Don’t expect big-name marketers to ”help” you for next-to-nothing. I’m a pretty nice guy, but when it all comes down to it, I got started online to make money. And so while I try to help people whenever I can, I have to make sure that I’m meeting my own bottom line. So please don’t beg me (or other marketers) to help. It just isn’t fair to ask someone to sacrifice their own profits when they also have a family to provide for.

Ok, so all that being said…how do you formulate the perfect joint venture offer? Well like I said before, the name of the game is to make someone an offer that they can’t refuse. You do that by selling high margin products, and offering huge commissions. And it may sound crazy, but don’t be afraid to offer people with really huge lists even more than 50%. If there’s a person that you really want to joint venture with, and they tell you that they expect $25 off of every sale (but your product sells for $40)…give them $25! The way I look at it, $15 is a heck of a lot better than $0, and this way you also get your name out there and have the potential to make more sales in the future. (Just make sure that you cover your own costs, especially if the product you market is physical.) This tip isn’t a full blown explanation of joint ventures, but hopefully it’ll lead you in the right direction when you go to email Mr. or Ms. Big about your brand new product.