Your guide for how to join forces with other business owners, nonprofits and sponsors–for impact, for influence, for profit, and to change the world.
Powered by Pamela Slim and Desiree Adaway
Does this sound familiar?
- You are dying to partner with someone you admire. You have a product or service that would be a perfect fit for their market, but you only have a tiny list, and they have no idea who you are. You want to approach them confidently, but feel unsure of the value you bring to the table.
- An email arrives. It’s one of your favorite people asking you to join them in some form of partnership – to promote a product, to team up for an event, or to create a new product together. You want to say yes. But you also want to make sure that what you create together will be a good fit for the market and brand you have worked so hard to build.
- You have done a great job building your platform, blog, podcast or service business. It feels like the right time to expand and get additional investment and support through sponsors, but you do not know how to approach companies with a specific proposal.
- You are a non-profit organization who does great work, and wants to expand your impact. You want to choose partners who will respect the mission of your organization, while bringing in needed exposure, funding or resources.
You have come to the right place!
We are Pamela Slim and Desiree Adaway, trusted experts with decades of experience in our respective fields of entrepreneurship and non-profit management. We have created a powerful digital course that walks you through every stage of setting up successful joint ventures, business partnerships and sponsorships. We have partnered with experts—lawyers, long-time entrepreneurs, sales ninjas—to bring you the very best advice in a easy-to-learn structure.
This course addresses questions like:
- How do you know if the people you know, like, and trust would make good partners?
- How do you set up partnerships so they are fair?
- Can you set up legal agreements without paying an arm and a leg to an attorney?
- What if there’s a disagreement in a partnership?
- How to you approach a company to get sponsorship?
- How do you make sure that an unscrupulous partner will not run off with your intellectual property?
- How do you enter into this partnership—tor leave it—tfeeling clear, clean, and safe?
This robust digital course includes time-tested conversations, structures, and templates for you to make it a clean, profitable match—every time.
“Oh boy did I need this class 6 years ago! Not only do Pam and Desiree load this course with an incredible amount of practical information and tools, particularly about the legal and communication aspects of partnerships in whatever forms they take, but the expertise offered by the guests is invaluable. I gained much insight into what is really important to me about my business and my relationships—twith partners, clients and most importantly with myself. Run, don’t walk, to purchase this course before you even THINK about entering into a business partnership. You will save yourself much time, money and stress–I wish I knew then what I know now–the true joys of partnership!”
-Cheryl Dolan www.cheryldolan.com
Who this course is for
- Small business owners
- Non-profit staff and management
- Independent service professionals like coaches, consultants, writers and graphic artists
- Small businesses interested in partnering with other small businesses
- Independent Software Developers
- Social Entrepreneurs
“The key to my success as I launch my new online service business June 1st is finding the kinds of projects and partners that are a good match for both what I have to offer and the business I am building. Many times over the last couple decades I have partnered with good people who had a wonderful vision – but there were other elements that doomed the partnerships from the start, IF ONLY I had known what to look for before I jumped in with both feet! The course was all I dared hope and more! I now feel very well-prepared to successfully collaborate at a whole new level!”-Megan Everett www.megan-everett.com
Course Details
Pam and Desiree co-teach each lesson, and invite subject matter experts to give specific advice in particular sections.
Lesson One: Power Start Your Partnership
- Define the specific skills, values, strengths and experience that you are looking for in a potential partner
- Create criteria for making the very tough decision about whom to entrust with your business name and reputation
- Talk about what you both need to do to make the relationship mutually beneficial
- How to spot red flags quickly and exit gracefully—and without legal mess
Special Guest: Michele Woodward, Career Strategist and Executive Director of the bi-partisan Reagan Centennial Commission
Lesson Two: Clean and Clear Legal Agreements
- Simple but critical legal agreements for intellectual property and business structure
- Top legal traps to avoid when setting up a partnership
- How to have productive discussions about exit strategy—what will you do when one or both of you want to leave?
- Protecting yourself and your partner against legal liability in any form
Special Guest: Kyle Durand, post-doctorate tax attorney, former Navy JAG, Iraq Veteran and founder of ourdeal.com, the one-stop shop for painless legal agreements.
Lesson Three: Creating Seamless Systems
- What do you need to track?
- How do you design a smooth customer experience when more than one partner is involved?
- How do you decide how much money each partner gets?
- How do you develop content efficiently and effectively?
- Which simple tools can you use to track income and expenses on joint projects so that both partners have visibility at all times?
Special Guest: Charlie Gilkey, Inc. Magazine columnist, coach to creative entrepreneurs, Eagle Scout, former Logistics Officer in Iraq and Pam’s partner in Lift Off.
Lesson Four: Skyrocket Your Sponsorships
- 12 ideas for partnerships you may not have considered
- How to avoid partnership killers
- How to make yourself attractive to new partners
- How your personal brand and integrity is the best tool in your toolbelt
Special guest: Lauryn Ballesteros is a partnership and special sales ninja. She’s currently the head of sales for Seth Godin’s Domino Project, working with cutting edge companies to help them use books as an effective marketing tool.
Expert Interviews Packed with Tactics, Tools & Strategies
In addition to the core lessons, there are 11 supplementary interviews with the best partnership builders in the business.
Susan Hyatt, a life coach who struck a deal with O Magazine and Seattle’s Best Coffee for a custom life coach program that was featured in 3 issues of O Magazine, as well as oprah.com.
Michael Port, best-selling author, professional speaker, co-founder of DailySuccessDeals.com and member of multiple business partnerships offers tremendous advice for how to approach busy and influential people, and lessons learned from his multiple partnerships over the years.
John Jantsch from Duct Tape Marketing shares personal strategies for obtaining corporate sponsorships. He has built an impressive list of sponsors for his own company, including Microsoft and Google. Learn specific tactics that have brought John hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue to support his excellent blog and podcast.
Sunir Shah from Freshbooks describes how he envisioned and fostered The Small Business Web, and how clear values, strategy and customer focus have positioned Freshbooks as a customer favorite and rapidly growing leader in the market.
AJ and Melissa Leon share how they have gotten sponsorships for webinars and educational seminars that allow them to travel the world while serving communities in Africa.
Adam Baker from Man vs. Debt tells in detail how he secured sponsors for his RV tour around the country with his wife and young daughter.
Nick Reese, co-author of Traffic and Trust (with Chris Brogan) shares how he built effective affiliate relationships that have brought him nearly a million dollars in one year.
Guy Kawasaki, ultimate enchanter and venture capitalist will talk about how to be an enchanting partner, based on tactics in his New York Times best-selling book Enchantment.
Robert Egger, founder of DC Central Kitchen talks about how he built a powerful and effective non-profit that feeds thousands of hungry people each year through strong partnerships.
Jay Baer and Amber Naslund co-wrote the bestselling book The Now Revolution. Their frank discussion about the process to conceptualize, write and promote a book together will be invaluable for authors who want to partner to write a book.
Danica Kombol, seasoned media expert (Sesame Street and Saturday Night Live are two shows of many she has worked on) talks about what sponsors are looking for, using the partnership she worked on between Macy’s and the Heart of Haiti campaign as an example.
What’s Included in the Course
“I signed up for this class just as I was launching my new website, part of which is a partnership venture. Pam and Desiree made me aware of so many things to consider, plan for and nail down as I started down this path! If it were just the two of them, with their combined knowledge and experience, it would have been worth its price twice over. But the guest presenters added sautéed asparagus, twice-baked potatoes and silky panna cotta to what was already a sumptuous meal. Thanks Pam and Desiree!”
-Laurie Seymore, www.thebacajourney.com
Between us, we have created six-figure programs, and impacted hundreds of thousands of people around the world by cultivating great partnerships.
We will teach you everything we know on how to successfully find and establish highly effective partnerships. If you only implement a few of the ideas shared in this course, you will get many times your investment. Try it now!
Investment
$199
Refund policy
We are committed to your satisfaction with this class — and we want to make sure it’s a fit for you. If for any reason you’re not entirely satisfied with Partnership Playbook, you are welcome to a 100% money back guarantee within 30 days of the purchase date. Your refund will be issued within one week to your credit card.
Who are we?
Pamela Slim is an author, speaker and business coach who has worked with clients to create hundreds of startup companies. Her site escapefromcubiclenation.com is one of the top career and marketing blogs on the web. She has made joint venture partnerships a key business strategy, and has partnered with people such as:
- Charlie Gilkey, business coach at Productive Flourishing. Pam and Charlie created the successful Lift Off Retreat, an intensive business design program for entrepreneurs.
- Chris Guillebeau, author, social activist and internet entrepreneur for the $100 Business Forum, a 30-day intensive class on launching a small business
- Michele Woodward, a career strategist and consultant. Pam and Michele created two programs for coaches: KickAss Mentoring Marketing and Career Invention Certification.
- American Express Open Forum, where Pam is a contributing writer.
Desiree Adaway is a non-profit consultant who has served in senior-level positions at organizations including Habitat for Humanity and The Rotary Foundation.
She is especially skilled at helping organizations achieve more consistent, quality program results through strategic partnerships. She has designed and administered partnerships that have secured over $10.5 million in funding from a variety of private and corporate resources, including the NCAA, State Farm and The Gap.
During the Haiti earthquake crisis, Desiree helped coordinate partnerships with corporate and non-profit partners and hundreds of volunteers to create thousands of shelter kits in less than two weeks.
Desiree is known by her staff, senior leadership, peers and partners as being great at open, honest and productive conversations. She is not afraid of addressing anything that gets in the way of a great work.
“Partnerships – can either make you soar and drop you like stone. I’ve had both. So when I heard that Pam Slim was offering a course sharing her secrets of rocking a joint venture I jumped in with both feet! Her successful partnerships are legendary and one thing I have learned is to not reinvent the wheel, but listen to those who know the how, whys and what-not-to-dos. Now I’m deep into planning a JV with a fellow coach and we find ourselves frequently asking “WWPDD” What would Pam and Desiree Do?” Stellar product!”
-Kelly Pratt www.kellypratt.com
Desiree and Pam as college freshmen in 1984. The world was our oyster.
Pam and Desiree have been best friends for 27 years, and have learned a lot about what it takes to make great relationships work.
There is so much to gain beyond money by partnering with great people.
Won’t you join us?
P.S. Of all the business building strategies you can try, partnerships will accelerate your growth the fastest. We know because we have lived it. Try it at no risk — if it doesn’t meet your expectations within the first 30 days, you can get a 100% refund.
