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Pair up with other businesses and watch your salessoar.

How does a small company act like a big one? By buildingrelationships withother businesses to increase sales for all.It's called partnering, and it'sthe most important successstrategy in business today.

If you've recently received a marketing piece from aprofessional associationor an offer from a major credit cardcompany, that's partnering in action. Theassociation or bankoffers you a group of services delivered via a network ofpartnersthat provide everything from reduced rates on rental carsandlong-distance services to life insurance.

Partnership marketing is the new survival strategy forentrepreneurs, too. Withthe number of new businesses on the risenationwide, there's increasingcompetition for market share inevery sector. By wooing marketing partners thatsuccessfully sellproducts or services to your target customers, you can expandyourbusiness and create a big-company image while sharing marketingtasks andexpenses. Beyond the cost savings, you'll also gainaccess to valuableresources, such as qualified prospect lists andthe support of larger, moreexperienced marketing partners.

Here are four ways partnering strategies can help you build yournew business.

1. Launch a new product or service.Say you'vedeveloped a new productor service and want to launch it nationally,but don't have millions of dollarsto do it on your own. Why notpartner with a major association or corporationthat's alreadymarketing to the same target audience?

Suppose you've created a revolutionary Web-design productfor entrepreneursthat's simple and affordable. If you partnerwith a small-business association,a financial services company thattargets small businesses nationally, or evenone of the top fivelong-distance carriers, both sides benefit. You assist thembyadding value to the group of products and services they offer.Meanwhile,your product becomes part of their national marketingprogram, so you getaccess to a huge prospect base, wide exposurefor your new product and expertmarketers to put the programtogether. (Not to mention, you save millions!)

2.测试一个新的市场。The right marketing partners canhelp you test avariation of an existing product on an entirely newmarket or market segment.Say your company sells sports apparel forschool teams and you decide totest-market bomber jackets withvintage sports-car emblems, targeted at adultsports-carenthusiasts. Rather than attack this new market on your own,youcould partner with associations or businesses that sell relatedproducts tosports-car drivers and test-market your bomber jacketsto their customers at aspecial price. Your company would gainaccess to qualified prospects for thenew product, get quickfeedback (whether good or bad) on the test-marketingeffort, andsave a lot of money.

3.扩大你的前景。One of the best ways forstart-ups toexpand without adding overhead is to partner withcompanies or people offeringcomplementary services. You'lloften see an advertising copywriter teaming withan art director tooffer full-service advertising development. Together, theyhaveaccess to a wider range of prospects and can bill for their work onaproject basis, rather than hourly, increasing their incomes. Theycan alsocombine their marketing efforts, reducing the amount oftime each of them hasto spend individually marketing his or herservices.

4. Expand your business geographically.What happens whenamedical billing service in Los Angeles partners with similarbusinesses inDallas, Chicago and Boston? They establishrelationships that allow them toshare resources and expertise. Atthe same time, they create a nationwidecompany image. With thistype of partnering, each business can choose to keepits owncorporate culture and client base, or the companies can blend intoasingle, larger entity.