Richard Toutounji

SPEAKER | AUTHOR | ENTREPRENEUR

 

I’ve spent the last 15 years growing all kinds of businesses in the health and fitness space and without a doubt, partners have been a big part of that growth. They can help you grow your business without having to spend exhorbitant amounts of cash on marketing.

But they can also go horribly wrong, and more often than not I hear stories from people where partnerships simply have not worked. Over the years it has helped me to identify three types of partnerships that I believe every Fitness Business needs to grow and cultivate.

The Referrer

This kind of partnership is not going to grow your business. It’s the person who refers to you every now and then. It’s ALWAYS welcome, but you can’t rely on this type of partner to consistently throw leads your way.

It’s a great relationships to cultivate, but just be aware it’s not the kind that is going to grow your business in a significant way. You might have multiples of these kinds of partners.

The Partner

Now this kind of partner is a game changer. With this partner you’ll sit down and setup a formal agreement for the partnerships. When leads will be passed through, what structure you will put in place for the return (leads in return, or possibly a rebate).

You won’t be able to sustain too many of these partnerships, because they take a lot of time and effort to keep running – but they will be totally worth it in the end.

Just make sure that both parties have clear expectations and that you catch up regularly to make sure that everyone is happy with the partnership.

The Promoter

The key to this partnership is to find someone who has a similar audience to you but not a competitor – and ask them to promote your content. So many people are crying out for content and so much content gets unread because it’s not reaching the right audience.

Once you’re able to identify the right people for the right partnerships, you’ll find you become a big fan of partnerships and you’ll see your business grow in ways you never thought possible!