You have probably read something like this before…

“Try and get to know owners of reasonably sized lists in your space. Talk to them, buy their stuff and then approach them about a JV or list swap etc…”

Well it all seems well and good…but does it work?

Let me tell you about one of my recent experiences…

I have been toying with the idea of starting a podcast.

You have probably heard about them as they are all the rage at the moment everyone seems to be getting in on the act.

Now I am the type of person who likes to take short cuts.

That means going out and finding someone who already knows what to do and then learn from them.

Yep you have to be careful because there are a lot of people out there that pretend to know…but don’t.

But you soon learn to get your “Bullshit” detector in place.

After a bit of research I came across this guy called Jonathan from the “Podcast Factory”.

The reason why I am pretty sure he knows what he is doing is because he has helped a few “ well-known names” start and build their channels.

So anyway he was the guy I decided to follow.

He also seemed approachable which is something you should look out for.

The first thing I did was join his email list.

Good people always give great content a way in their emails so this is a no brainer for me.

Once I knew he was sending the type of content I was interested in and I was pretty sure he was writing the daily emails…

I replied to one of them commenting on the information he was sharing.

This is a great test…

Your soon tell from the reply if this is the person you think you are talking to or just someone hired to reply.

I was 99% sure by the reply it was Jonathan I was talking too.

And we actually built up an email exchange over several days about a couple of subjects.

But I was always short and to the point…

Peoples time is valuable…remember that.

Now even after the first few exchanges I could have asked about a JV of some sort.

But for me that’s to early…

You need a hook…and there is only one way of getting that.

Become a customer.

(That is something Gurus teach!)

It just so happens that Jonathan had just launched his “Podcast Mogul” monthly news letter.

That’s was a “No Brainer” and I immediately signed up.

I also sent Jonathan a quick email telling him thanks for his help earlier and that I had just signed up to “Podcast Mogul”.

Time to ask for a JV?

Nope…

The problem with the Gurus idea is that not everyone wants to do a JV.

So what you want to look for is away you can help them and they will naturally help you back…

Any ideas on how to do that?

Testimonial’s.

There isn’t a company out there that will turn down a good testimonial.

Especially on a new product like Jonathan just gave out.

Before we go on I just want to clarify something…

This was all done naturally… I didn’t start off trying to fleece Jonathan or anything like that.

I genuinely like people and love to get to know them and find out their stories.

The fact that I could now email Jonathan for friendly banter now and then or to get a questioned answered I was having trouble with…

…Was far more important than a JV or getting him to send me traffic.

If I would have started off with that intention he would have seen through me in a moment.

So let me tell you the rest of the story…

“Podcast Mogul” arrived in the post (how cool is that) and over the next couple of days when I had some spare time…I read it.

I really did enjoy it.

So I emailed Jonathan and told him I had received the new letter and really enjoyed it and…

…If he wanted I could give him a genuine testimonial.

And he replied and said “please”.

The reason I like giving testimonials is that they generally turn up on permanent pages (often sales pages).

So even if they don’t give you a big hit immediately they normally give you a trickle and an as important a genuine link back to your site which helps with search engine rankings.

We decided to do an audio testimonial.

Which for me was more than I could have hoped for.

I now had a chance to talk in person with Jonathan and maybe even pick his brains over a couple of things I wanted to clarify :- )

And as Jonathan is a great guy he was more than obliged to have a chat for 10 minutes after the recording (Which happened yesterday).

My wife is a great believer in “Karma” and is always telling me to make sure I give back as much as I can from those that give to me.

And that’s why I am writing this blog post.

Because it is only fair that if Jonathan puts something on his site about me then I should add something about him.

(I actually had already done that in another blog post but hey…that’s fine)

But there is a lot more to this than you may first think…

1. I have made a friend (Ok not a real close friend but an on “Taking basis colleague” in a similar industry”
2. I now have a testimonial about to go out which will bring in some traffic. Who knows how much but any is better than none.
3. Jonathan has got a testimonial and also a blog post to return the favour.
4. And I know if I do have an idea in the future for a JV although Jonathan may not want to do it, I can at least ask him what he thinks.
5. I am learning more about Podcasting every day

And I proved that what the “Gurus” tell us can work is some circumstance.

Can I finish this post off by again making sure that you understand that I didn’t start with any intention except to learn about Podcasting.

All that happened was a natural progression from one thing to another that I hope paid of equally for both of us (ahh Karma).

I actually really do like to read Jonathan’s daily emails.

I love his Podcast Mogul

And his beard it pretty cool as well!

You can find out more about Jonathan and his Podcast Factory here.

Until next time…