Recently, I was re-reading Getting Everything You Can Out Of All You’ve Got by Jay Abraham. It’s a terrific read for every Frugalprenuer. In particular, one of my favorite marketing techniques from his book is host-beneficiary relationships. And if you’ve never heard of it, prepare to be amazed with this solution to getting qualified clients fast.
I’m putting this into practice in one of my consulting projects at the moment and boy is it powerful! The gains you see from this technique can be exponential. Let’s dive in and learn how you can apply this to your business.
Host-Beneficiary In The Wild
If you ever visit Africa and go on safari, you might notice the red-billed oxpecker sitting on top of larger animals like impalas and zebras. The larger mammals (hosts) attract harmful ticks and the small red-billed oxpecker (beneficiary) removes these ticks for the animal, while getting a free meal in the process. This is a perfect host-beneficiary relationship.
So how can we apply this to business to get qualified clients fast? Let me explain.
Finding a Host
If you are just starting out, you might not have a large client database, but there are others (hosts) out there who have been in business much longer than you. They likely have a long list of loyal clients from years of providing quality service.
For your first host-beneficiary relationship, you’ll want to find someone that has a complementary business to yours. For example, if you sell ready-to-eat healthy meals or massage services, you may want to team up with a local gym. If you sell sales consulting to small businesses, you might want to find an accountant who also works with small businesses.
Creating The Deal
After finding your host, contact them about cooperating on a project. Let them know you would like to help them make several thousand dollars without needing to do much of anything.
Meet with them and have them sample your product or understand your service. Provide them with client testimonials and anything else they need to make sure you have a great product or service and you make clients happy.
Next, pitch the idea that you’d like to create a special deal for their clients. It can be a free service, a nice discount or another promotion you like to run. Let the host know that for every client that signs up, you will give them a commission.
Perhaps it is $100 per person that registers or ongoing profit sharing as long as the customer remains. Know the lifetime value of your clients and negotiate a win-win for you and your host.
After the details are taken care of, have your host promote the offer to their clients. Track the conversions and share the profits.
Only The Beginning…
A host-beneficiary relationship is a clever and inexpensive way to get the exact qualified clients fast that you want. In addition to finding the right clients, you also borrow an implied endorsement of the host. Plus your host is rewarded for little effort while providing additional value to his/her clients.
This only scratches the surface of host-beneficiary marketing. I recommend you check out Jay Abraham’s Getting Everything You Can Out Of All You’ve Got and take a deep dive into the many facets of host-beneficiary marketing and his other marketing techniques for small business.
Have you tried out host-beneficiary marketing before? How did it work out for your business? Let me know in the comments below.
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Tae started out as a journalist before following the money into the corporate world. But it turns out that the grass isn’t always greener and now you can find her spending most of her time writing about all the things she loves. Namely, money, travel and business with a hefty dose of self-deprecating humor. She is a podcast fanatic, blogging aficionado and loves to find new ways to turn passions into cold hard cash!
