If you have spent any time at all in the Internet marketing space, you are bound to be invited to become an affiliate for someone's product or service.
However, in all likelihood the invitation will come in the form of "Would you like to JV with me?"
JV is short for joint venture.
And that is NOT what you are being invited to do.
It's my hope that a few marketers will read this and start using the term appropriately.
Let's define what a joint venture is...
According to the Wiktionary, a joint venture is "A cooperative partnership between two individuals or businesses in which profits and risks are shared."
When you are invited to promote someone's product, you are given a link that can be identified so all sales made are attributed to you.
You take no risk in the product launch. Nor do you earn a portion of the profits. You receive a commission for sales you make.
The Nottingham University Business School defines joint venture as "Two or more companies that form a new venture."
When you sign up to promote someone's product, you are not forming a new venture.
And the Wikipedia says this of a joint venture. "A joint venture is a legal entity formed between two or more parties to undertake an economic activity together and sharing the risk in formation. The parties agree to create, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity."
When I met Eric Holmlund at a conference and he proposed we create Instant AdSense Templates together, we shared the risk and the profits. THAT was a joint venture.
Again, unless the person or company with the product or service is inviting you to join them in this manner, it is NOT a JV!
So what IS taking place?
You are being invited into an "affiliate" relationship.
Let's look to the all-knowing and sometimes biased Wikipedia for the answer.
"Affiliate marketing is a marketing practice in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate's marketing efforts."
Yeah, that's what I said.
I'm not sure where Internet marketers started using the term "joint venture" to replace "affiliate", but it's just plain wrong.
There. I've got that off my chest.
If you want to learn more about how to create successful joint ventures, and not just recruit affiliates to promote your stuff, I invite you to download my free report.
The Art of the Joint Venture: How to Network Your Way to Success.
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Joel, Let's open a medical marijuana store. We'll name the company "Joint Venture LLC"
Hi Joel,
you are totaly on the mark with this post,
I have often been invited to these "joint ventures" and from time to time I do get involved but it was my opinion (which you have confirmed) that I am not a partner in this kind of venture but merely an affiliate.
this tactic seems to have come to the forefront in the last year or so and if I can be honest I don't like it. this kind of clever wordplay makes it even more difficult for newcomers to the business to find their footing in a world that is almost impossible to begin with.
the little fish online (myself included) look to established marketers online for direction not distraction.
Awesome Post!
I appreciate the clear and straight forward explanation of a Joint Venture.
I would love to be able to believe that some of the Internet Marketeers simply need a clarification of definition.
Thank You for bringing the subject into the open Joel!
We are creating a wellness revolution through partnerships and Strategic alliances with Health & Wellness Professionals There are 34 million under insured Americans that suddenly are in the system...Where does this fit in?
Joint Ventures and Affiliates are two totally different animals. Your right about getting offered to become a joint venture partner just to find out, they want you and the list that come with you, as an affiliate.
In my case, most the these offers come from the newer companies, so somewhere the term "Joint Venture" has been twisted to mean affiliate with them.
Maybe we'll be lucky and some of them will find this and figure it out!
Joint venture came to replace affiliate because there is nothing glamorous about being called an affiliate. A marketer in the last couple years got tired of trying to recruit affiliates unsuccessfully. After attempts to get them to mail or promote he/she came up with a clever title that made an affiliate feel more important making the favor sound less imposing. It's a classic case of building someone up so they will do what you want.
Wonderful Article! Mike you are right about Joint Venture, It is just affiliate with a brand new spelling. I'm not even sure if it's labeled as English lol
Great article... Dan I can't stop laughing at your comment.
Yeah, couldn't agree more.
I was just thinking of this yesterday when talking with someone in the software industry. To the rest of the world, the term joint venture really means both parties share the risks, put their names on the project, invest something valuable, and share the outcome, whatever it may be.
It's so weird that to JV has degenerated into "hey, promote my stuff" in IM...
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained" - right?
You're 100% on the money, I've been offered to "JV" on deals many times over my six years in the industry and I've only engaged in an actual joint venture twice.
To be honest, I actually prefer affiliate arrangements - making a decision doesn't become a group effort.