Having a partner help with funding and promoting a product is a great idea. You won’t have to look very far to find great product partners. Here are three ideas to get you started:

• Direct competitors. When I started my business, I spent so much time worrying about my more successful competitors that, eventually, I adopted the attitude, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” So I contacted a few competitors and asked if they’d be interested in partnering with me on projects such as audio tapes and telephone seminars. Every person I asked responded enthusiastically and said yes.
• No overlap, but complementary topics. My friend Debra J. Schmidt, another professional speaker who specializes in customer and employee loyalty, asked if I’d be interested in creating a product with her specifically for event planners. Deb worked as the community affairs director several years ago at a local TV station here in Milwaukee and planned and executed hundreds of successful events. She needed my help explaining how to promote the events. I jumped at her invitation. Together we created “How to Plan & Promote Sizzling Special Events,” a $247 package of six one-hour audio tapes and 15 checklists on CD.

Special Report #41 has many other ideas on where to find partners for business.