As you probably know, I launched my first official “JV” program last week titled “Jumpstart Your JV’s - Setting yourself up for a successful 2011″. It was a success! Yeah!

And in celebration, I am sharing this wacky video that a very good friend made for me. Let me know what you think!

People ask me almost every day about their JV relationships

“I have this opportunity and I don’t know what to say”

“I’m in the middle of this relationship and it doesn’t feel so good anymore”

“I’m ready to add a JV strategy to my marketing but I’m not sure how to connect or what to say”

Can you relate to any of these questions? Well, I recently published a “Help! I’m stuck with my JV’s” survey to identify the top reasons why business owners, like yourself, are not active and successful in their JV and relationship marketing strategies. The survey has only been live for a few hours, but it’s fascinating to see the responses coming in.

So far, the #1 reason that entrepreneurs are not leveraging a successful JV strategy in their businesses is because they have tried and it didn’t work out as well as they hoped. In fact, when all was said and done, here is what they are saying:

I feel used!

Interesting!

This has prompted me to share the most common mistakes I see people making in their business relationships. Don’t feel bad if you have made any of these mistakes–most of us have at some point or another. Just notice it and stop.

Scenario 1: You’re creating an amazing program and you want to leverage some highly visible JV’s. So you create a “sample” web page with the program/promotion including the potential JV’s you are hoping will participate.

What’s wrong with this? A few things: First off, you are “using” other experts names hoping to attract some cool people. But most of the time, the experts you are “using” don’t even know they are being used until the others are on board. This does NOT promote good feelings when the experts start talking about “that one telesummit-I just did it because you were involved…oh really? I just did it because YOU were involved and I thought you did your due diligence…” See what I mean?

MISTAKE #1: Name dropping without full-disclosure

If you are hoping to get some of these experts on board but they are not there yet, let the person you are speaking to know that.

Second, if the web page is live that you are sharing with potential JV’s, then you are using the experts “visibility” to build your own expertise and visibility without permission. This was a practice that worked a few years ago, but needs to go away. It is NOT a good REALationship builder.

MISTAKE #2: Leveraging experts names without permission

When you publish content of any kind on the web, you give the impression that those experts are already committed. If that is not the case, don’t go there.

Scenario 2: You’ve connected with an amazing friend and love her energy. You both decide to create a program together. You have the skills to write good copy and she has a large social network that seems quite responsive. But a few weeks into the promotion before the program starts, you feel like it’s all on you. It takes way more time to write everything than it takes to just publish it. If you are doing most of the work and splitting the proceeds 50/50, how is that fair??

What went wrong?

There are a few possibilities here, but the most obvious problem is that, while you both had the same end-result in mind, you were not clear about HOW you were going to get there AND how each of you would be compensated.

MISTAKE #3: Not having clarity about the details of the relationship

If you choose to invest your time, energy and even money into a business relationship with another cool person, take the time FIRST to get all the details sorted out-including contingencies for things you can’t think of until they happen. I highly suggest you get everything in writing (here is a simple partnership agreement template for identifying the details), but at the very least, bring it all up in conversation. Perhaps invite your assistants to the call to capture the important details that you might overlook in the excitement of the opportunity.

There are many more scenarios and mistakes that people make. But these are by far the most common.  So learn from other people’s mistakes and don’t fall to far into the excitement of the opportunity without taking at least a moment to ask yourself “Have we worked out all the details here?”

If you want to share your two cents and even receive a new gift I am offering, take one minute to complete the survey at this link:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KXS3R7N

Whenever I have conversations with my friends and clients about leveraging relationships in their business, the same questions and issues come up.

But I am wondering about YOU–what is YOUR #1 challenge with leveraging relationships in your business?

The “right” relationships can create visibility, increased credibility and even massive, quality traffic to your web site. There are other benefits as well, depending on what you want and where you are at in business.

So what do you want to know about JV’s and relationships?

Take this quick survey (4 questions) and I will answer your questions on this blog.

(here is the link in case the survey doesn’t show well on this page…)

http://bit.ly/realationshipsurvey

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You have heard me sharing my thoughts and experiences this summer about clearing the clutter and moving to a new home. You may have guessed but it’s time to share:

The reason I moved and am focusing on “space” is because I have
removed someone from my household. Yes, I am getting divorced.
And it’s not as joyous as some other women in this industry who
have shared similar experiences. It is heart-breaking, draining,
emotional, stressful, and exhausting. It is also liberating,
motivating and exciting!

But my reality this summer is this: while many of you may have
been struggling to work with the kids at home this summer, it
was everything in me to find a few hours each day to spend on
business. And then everything in me to find the energy and
motivation to do anything for my business.

And you may have noticed that things are still moving forward
for me. I am rebranding my site, launching some new programs
that are focused on how to build REAL-ationships ™ instead
of those fake ones just for a buck, and my cash-flow has even
increased this summer!

How is this possible?

Systems and an amazing team.

The truth is that I didn’t really do much of the work this
summer–my team team.

And they were able to because of the systems that we have in
place to implement ideas and track their success.

I want to extend my heart-felt gratitude to my amazing team
and my incredible friends. They have kept me feeling positive
and believing in myself.

As we move into the future, I may or may not share some of the
heart-wrenching lessons that made me stronger and made me
realize that it was time for me to soar–bigger than I have before.

This blog post is not what I intended, but it is. So I will let it be.

I guess there is a reason that it is this and I hope someone can benefit from this truth.

I believe that we are all leaders. Whether we are parents, business owners, friends, coaches, servers, mechanics or even students–we have the opportunity to lead. I personally believe that it is our job to step up, when we are called, to lead.

So what does leadership mean?

Leadership means being an example of what to do when you don’t feel like it–even when no one is watching.

Leadership is sailing the ship when the captain is gone–and getting all the sailors on board to help you so you are not sailing the boat yourself. Empowering teams.

Leadership is choosing what to do, or not to do, when your friends are not making good choices. Make good choices.

Leadership is NOT taking on that client that you know is not a good fit for you even though you need the money.

Leadership is staying true to who you are and not compromising yourself when times are tough. Everything is easy when times are good. But when times are difficult, who do you want to be…really?

Leadership is knowing who you are…and empowering others to be who THEY are, instead of some ideal that someone else created as the truth.

Are you a leader?

YES, you are. But did you know it?

What do you need to start doing NOW to be a better leader?

Summer overwhelm!

That’s what this blog post was about 5 minutes ago. 5 great tips to help you (and me) avoid the overwhelm and feel accomplished in between dealing with kids running in/0ut of the house, cars breaking down, baseball tournaments, dance & cheer practices, parades, summer camps and life slapping you over the head (or as some say, God laughing at you because you tried to plan something without consulting HIS schedule).

But it’s gone. Missing. Disappeared.

And that brings me to my REAL issue. I am really struggling with this 30 day blog challenge. I am just not sure, with everything in my life, that I have the attention span to do something for 30 days.

And if that’s true, how could I possibly expect myself to be any more successful than I am now???

I am pretty sure that as difficult as it is, it is very important for me to learn how to stay focused to the end of a project. In fact, as I write this, I am sure that my team will LOL (laugh out loud, for those of you without kids) when they read this.

So here is my public commitment. I WILL complete the 30 Day Blogging Bonanza that I created a few weeks ago. (I will even commit to TWO extra days to compensate for last weekend which flew by without a post from me.)

And I can already tell you it does everything I said it would.

• I am now getting 2-3 times more new subscribers everyday than I was before.
• I am getting great comments on Twitter, Facebook and my blog about the short articles.
• I am making new, cool friends.
• And I have cool people calling me up wanting to do business with me! (that’s money in my pocket)

So it works. I know. And I will continue.

How’s it going for you?

PS. What tips do you have for warding off the “summer overwhelm”? It would be great to hear YOUR thoughts and perhaps it would jog my memory for the 5 cool tips I thought of, wrote in a cool blog post, then lost and promptly forgot…

What’s your mission? What do you do for your peeps?

What’s your purpose? WHY do you do that for your peeps?

Where are you going?

A few weeks ago, I shared some insights about success. But there’s an important question that begs to be asked.

How do you know if you are successful?

There are four things you must know in order to be successful.

First, you must be clear about your mission. Your mission is that thing you do. It can also include who you do it for. For some, a mission can be small or large. It can be life-changing for one or for many. In business, it is the thing that leads the company. In life, it creates a feeling of accomplishment.

Second, you must connect with your purpose. This is the “why” you feel motivated to do what you do. If you lose the connection with your why, it’s difficult to move forward.

Third, have a vision. This is the ability to use all of your senses as it relates to your mission and your vision. Think about your vision–what do you see yourself doing? Can you see the work that you do? Can you hear the reaction of the people when you do it? Can you feel the excitement that these people have when they work with you?

Finally, know your values. How do you do what you do? These are the things that direct how you function in your business and who you enjoy doing business with. Check out this list of values to identify your top 3-5.

These are the things that can help you become successful in all aspects of your life. But mostly, they can help you recognize your success and celebrate it.

Today life hit me. It started last night at around midnight when my 16 yr old called to say that she had wrecked my car. She was fine but my car wouldnt move.

Ugh!

This morning when I got up, my agenda for the day was shot! Instead of wrapping up some projects that have been pending all week, I got my daughter up, directed her with some chores and then we went running–trying to figure out what was wrong with my car and how much it would cost to fix.

I was able to get in a couple of client and team member conversations which was absolutely fun! It was such a relief to be consumed for a couple hours by my business and a new client.

But now that the day is almost over and my blogging task is still waiting for me, I decided I was only capable of sharing my life.

The only thing it has to do with business is everything.

As an entrepreneur working from home, and as a mom whose #1 job is to raise her kids, its not unusual to have life slap you upside the head.

When this happens, I try hard not to get frustrated and I try to feel grateful that I have a career that allows me to deal with life as it happens (the alternative would be to have someone else helping my kids…that wouldnt make me feel better).

How do you handle life when it slaps you unexpectedly?

With my new relationship with money, I have been noticing the many conversations and opportunities for support. Here are some of the better ones I have seen this past week:

Kendall SummerHawk writes about “The Secret to Paying Yourself, Even If Cashflow is Tight”

Sandra Martini shares some insights about The 6 Figure Myth and some tips to help you avoid those pitfalls.

Nancy Marmolejo discusses a common problem for people who have been active in social media in her article “Do you Have High Visibility and Low Profitability?”

In my commitment to loving and caring for my money, I have been noticing how much money is thrown around without acknowledgement of what it takes to make that money and what it takes to HAVE the money. It’s been interesting with my kids asking for things, but insightful to notice some of my money habits in my business that aren’t serving me so well.

I think this is inspiring some future posts about the value of me and the value of money. Hmmm….

And to close this post, here is a a great inspirational quote:

“Business is not just doing deals; business is having great products, doing great engineering, and providing tremendous service to customers. Finally, business is a cobweb of human relationships.”

H. Ross Perot

“People fail forward to success.” ~ Mary Kay Ash

“Failure + Perserverance = Success” ~George Ross

These are a couple of quotes that are posted on my Facebook profile. Since I had a some friend requests this week from people who specifically mentioned their enjoyment of my posted quotes, I thought I would share a few here.

While I haven’t had any major failures recently, I have definitely had my share (if you have followed me for a while, you can probably remember a few)….and will continue to have failures as I attempt new and exciting things.

I once heard someone define success as getting up one more time than you fall. So I guess it’s all part of the journey!