Mom Invented

The needs of a startup company are vast. They include everything from access to technology and professional support to publicity. However, making sales is arguably a small company's most critical requirement. One way to generate cost-effective sales is to take advantage of opportunities to generate sales indirectly: In others words, have other people do the selling for you.

Following are several structures designed to accomplish this:

Affinity Partner
If you've ever received a mailer from your college alma mater or an industry association of which you are a member offering you a special discount on a new credit card offer, you've seen affinity marketing. This is a relationship where a company--in this example, the credit card company--will partner with another company or organization that has existing customer or member relationships. The credit card company pays a referral fee to the organization, e.g., your alma mater, for any new customers generated through this mailing.

Read more about affiliate partnerships, independent manufacturers representatives, distributors and value added reseller's in Tamara's June column on WomenEntrepreneur.com...

Tagged as: Business Advice, business marketing, indirect sales, product sales, sales, WomenEntrepreneur.com