Forming relationships and partnerships with other related businesses is an Internet marketing technique that many business owners overlook.  The tendency is toward “every man out for himself,” which doesn’t work nearly as well as forming beneficial relationships with other businesses.  This is one of the key ideas of Principled Profit, the groundbreaking book on marketing by Shel Horowitz.

While this does sometimes mean partnering up with your competitors, there are also many ways to use this idea without doing so.  For instance, if you have a management company for Florida villas or vacation rentals, you can gain exposure by forming a relationship with other businesses in the vacation industry in Florida.  This is what is happening when you go to one of the theme parks’ sites and see a section of the website entitled “Hotels.”  They have partnered with local hotels to offer package deals and promote one another, something that brings them both business.

You can easily replicate this type of relationship with your Orlando villas management company.  Of course you might not be able to partner with Disney World if you are a small company, but perhaps you could partner with restaurants and take-out food places in the area, listing them on your website as resources for renters in exchange for a similar favor from the restaurants.  Perhaps you could even team up with local restaurants to offer specials or discounts for customers who book an Orlando villa with you, and order from one or more of the restaurants on the list.

There are many ways that you can market your business via mutually beneficial relationships with other local businesses in the industry.  What other examples can you think of?

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