July 20th, 2008 
A question that a lot of new affiliates think about is whether or not they should team up with another person in order to strengthen their own skills. By having a partner you can focus on the things you’re good at doing, while the other person then focuses on what they are good at! The outcome is then a powerhouse team of two that can get any project done…at least that is what both individuals are hoping for…
However, 99% of the time it doesn’t work out quite like each person planned! Hopefully this article will explain and discuss some of the issues of having a partner and help you decide if it’s the right choice for you!
How Will it Benefit You?
Most people will enter into a partnership without even thinking if it’s for them and without even completely understanding how or why the partnership will benefit them. Before you enter into a partnership with someone you should understand exactly how the partnership will help you increase your speed, productivity, income, etc.
Does it Make Sense?
Another question you should ask yourself is does it make sense for you to partner up with a particular person? What skills do they have that they could contribute to make it an equal partnership? If you’re doing 80% of the work while the other person does only 20% because they don’t know as much or can’t offer more than what you already have, you’ll very quickly get upset and feel that you shouldn’t be splitting profits with this partner of yours!
Discuss MONEY!
Before you even enter into a partnership every single aspect that involves money needs to be discussed! Is it a 50/50 split? 30/70? What happens if a company sends you guys a TV? Do you sell it and split the cash or do you take turns receiving incentives? Everything needs to be discussed upfront and agreed upon by both parties before even deciding to enter into a partnership!
What is Each Person’s Role?
Again, this is something that needs to be discussed and is very important. Who is in charge of what? Are you in charge of web design and graphics while the other person is responsible for writing and promoting? How are tasks divided? This will most likely be geared depending on the split you’re doing money wise. If you are splitting the money 50/50 then most likely you’ll split the work 50/50, however, that’s not always the case, so make sure you discuss it!
How Will it Affect Productivity?
This is something most people don’t think about! Are you going to be able to launch more products, services, websites, etc if you have a partner? Enough so to at least double your current income? What I’m saying is, “Does it make sense for you to have a partner?” Well, it may not! If you can make 5,000 dollars on your own or 7,500 with a partner and are splitting the money 50/50 which is better? The 5,000 dollars on your own of course!
Conclusion:
So as you can see, having a partner doesn’t always turn out to be quite a great thing. It can end up turning into a horrible partnership, however, as long as you make sure everything is upfront in the beginning you should be fine! While partnerships can be very worthwhile and profitable, it’s up to you to figure out who to partner with and who not to. So hopefully, with these 5 tips/questions you can better understand if someone is the right partner for you or not!
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Very true. Teaming up usually ends in a bad way. Any time money in large quantities is involved, there is going to be a lot of tension.
My recommendations would be to find people who you can trust to talk about affiliate marketing but keep everything separate.
~Jonathan
Depends on how you slice it. Let’s say I only want to work 50 hours a week so my kids don’t grow up to hate me.
Let’s also say that 5,000 is per week and that is the only offer I can run – takes all my time at least right now while I’m really working that campaign to be profitable.
5,000/wk divided by 50 hours = $100/hr
Lets say now I take on a partner. I’m up to $7,500 for the week, and splitting the profit, but it only took me 1/2 the time.
7,500/wk divided by 2 and then again by 25 hours = $150/hr
So long as I use those extra 25 hours I get back to start another campaign at the same rate of profitability, I will actually come out 50% ahead in profits with a partnership than I would alone. Hope my math is right on that. It’s late…
Hey Matt, you’re absolutely correct and I was only referencing money in that quote, of course there are tons of things you can add into the mix, but I didn’t think getting that complex by throwing in tons of variables made sense for my post as I was trying to lay down a baseline for affiliates to refer to that are new and thinking about a partnership.
Obviously each and every individual will have different circumstances and variables that they will need to plug in to figure out if it makes sense for them or not.
Thank you for your response and great point for everyone to keep in mind!
Hey Derek, of course. Wasn’t pointing out your math or methodology is wrong. Just wanted to point out as well to budding affiliates reading the blog that they may actually have to crunch some numbers all the way to the end of a situation before making a decision.
Many people (including myself) look for absolutes & shortcuts to thinking because it makes life (seem) easier. I’m not a “math guy” so I have to be extra careful when it comes to numbers because the initial numbers don’t necessarily tell the truth. Missed out on some good opportunities that way as well so passing that on in hopes others will avoid that mistake.
I think that it’s actually a bit tough to get joint ventures going in affiliate marketing that play out well for both sides. I know that you can increase your overall profitability, but I personally like to work alone because I don’t really trust other people to work as hard as I am on things. I’d rather take 100% of a smaller pot then share a slightly larger one.
I fully agree with you on that. In most cases its best to work alone.
Good post and interesting thoughts. Matt Larson also had some interesting things to think about. Many times affiliates get excited at the fact or idea of working with another person who has the same goals.
Problem is, not everyone has the same goals, sure they may be similar but not always the same. Like Jim said, sometimes that other person may not work as hard as you do on a particular thing, because your goals are not identical. While you may be doing it to pay the mortgage, your partner may be doing it to buy a new TV. While I can say for certain, I would imagine working to keep a roof over your head will generate a greater sense of urgency and thus, more work than someone doing it simply for a few extra “toys”.
We all love teamwork and working with others, but like Volk said, you may want to get a group of trustworthy folks you can talk to, but still keep things separate. This way you get the advantages of bouncing ideas off of others and benefiting from their expertise, while at the same time being free to move how we see fit because it’s still our personal campaign.