socialmedian: The Power of Referral Partners, Part 2: Choosing the Right Ones

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The Power of Referral Partners, Part 2: Choosing the Right Ones

Jul 02, 2009

Summary

While many of us who start our own businesses or who become solo professionals value our independence, we quickly find more value in having people at our side to give us extra strength, visibility and insight in the market.

In last week’s post, I touched on the power of referral partnerships. These are collaborations you can create with other entrepreneurs, professional service providers or small businesses owners that can open up a whole pipeline of new business for the both of you and strengthen your respective brands.

Picking the right referral partners

Here are six criteria to consider:

Adjacent expertise. The partnership will have more potential if there is a natural connection between your products and services, if one leads logically into the other, or if one fills in a critical missing piece. For example, for a time in my strategy consulting company, I partnered with a marketing consultant who wrote business plans but needed someone who was strong in business strategy but also had financial expertise to build financial models and develop financial project