Maximizing Online Partnerships

by Edwina Wilson for Work-at-Home.org

Most of us were taught how to act back when we were kids.  Always say 'please' and 'thank you'.  Never tell a lie. Be polite at all times.  If you can't say something nice about someone, don't say anything at all.  Always keep your promises. Yada, yada, yada.

And while certain policitical correctness has been taken to insane levels and has taken over the country (school teachers that avoid teaching actual, reality-based portions of history so they won't "offend" anyone, and avoiding using such a strong color as red for grading papers so our children aren't disturbed.  Thank goodness for happy purple.), a typical American evening of television is likely to involve hours and hours of "reality TV", which amounts to little more than watching people be mean and cruel to each other, watching our fellow humans be rejected and insulted, and sadistically witnessing their lives and dreams being torn to shreds in the most humiliating way to experience intense rejection, in front of millions of viewers.

This is what we consider entertainment.

Fortunately, however, when it comes to the internet we're much more civilized. Political websites with bloggers whose hatred is so intense it's frightening.  Millions of innocent kids on the internet, potential victims of everything from ugly spam to murderous predators. Spyware, phishing, spoofing. Spam. Identity theft. Credit card fraud.  Privacy violations and scams of every kind imaginable.

Oh yeah, we're MUCH more civilized on the internet... but gosh, let's not whoop out those scary red pens lest kids may actually find themselves slightly prepared for the ugly world out there.

You and I can't change the world and if you're reading this, you've obviously embraced the internet and all it's evils... but you and I CAN create our own little oases of civility and integrity on the internet.

It's time to remember that true partnership opportunities, and the rules we learned in kindergarten, can be great for business.

We can keep our promises.  We can be just as polite in emails as we are in person. We can be reliable and if we say we're going to do something, we can be sure to do it.

We can seek out friendships that serve the needs and interests of BOTH parties, not just ours. We can turn gimme-gimme-gimme into win-win-win for everyone.  

We can be courteous at all times.  We can always be honest. We can deliver more, not less, than expected. We can be kind.  We can even be generous with our fellow man.

If your business is online there are opportunities. Not just opportunities to exploit someone for your own gain, but rather to form meaningful, rewarding partnerships.  Share newsletter promotion with similiar sites.  Share content with similar sites.  Promote each other's services. Offer discounts or other special to specific vertical markets. And there's always the old standby, becoming link partners.

In my history on the internet I've probably received over 1000 partnering proposals that were completely one-sided and wouldn't have benefited me at all, and fewer than 10 actually fair and reasonable, true partnering opportunities.

Let's you and I realize the organic benefit of true partnering with integrity... and go back to our kindergarten training to create our own little oases of decency on the internet.

It feels good and it's good for business.

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