However, there is a third way, which tends to sit under the radar yet drives a huge amount of traffic to the aggregator sites. Most of the major players will offer a white labelled version of their online facilities and a revenue share opportunity. Just looking around some of the bigger sites out there, you will find an aggregator of some description powering the money or finance sections.
So how does this help me?
While you may not have a facility such as an online quote and buy engine, you could still provide a white labelled money / insurance or investment sections to a large number of sites.
Sites such as:
• Local interest sites or local information directories.
• Clubs and Associations
• Local charities and groups.
• Other local companies – Accountants, Lawyers, Business Services and the like
You could very well have relationships with these organisations already but using the web to do it, means that it is easier to track and shows you very quickly what is working and what isn’t.
The advantages
Most referral business is done on trust between two partners and it has always been a difficult thing to manage as far as a paper trail goes. Now with using the Internet, you can have an online tracking system, and depending how big it grows there are tools that will allow partners to login and check stats and commission due, all without your involvement.
If you haven’t done so already, provide your current partners with their own landing pages so they can promote these pages to their members. After all it is in their best interest as they will earn more revenues. You can even make the landing page look like a page on their website.
A Win-Win
Their site gets more content, as well as, additional revenue streams and you get more business with an easy to manage solution.
Provide marketing materials such email shots, web copy or even issue a joint press release promoting the new service or partnership (You could have a template of something built in advance.).
Make sure you mention these partnership opportunities at your networking events, so not only are you promoting your business but also offering a business opportunity. Even add it to your business card. Have a page on your site with more information about your partnership programme.
This is a great way to dominate a local marketplace. Just like the aggregators have tied up most of the major online portals, you could be doing the same at a local level.
Summary
There is still large number of untapped groups and sites out there that will benefit from a relationship with an IFA, insurance or mortgage broker. Promoting and running an online partnership programme is a good way to drive more business and build new revenue streams. The beauty is that the work you do once in building the system (the content, the advice for promotional and the marketing materials) can then be rolled out to any new partnership arrangement quickly. You can even have this in a password protected area on your website so it can be automated entirely.
About the Author
Jason Hulott is Marketing Director of Speedie Consultants Limited, and Insurance Marketing Specialist; We are also content experts that provide a range of services to the Finance and Insurance industry. To get 5 free reports to help maximise your Internet business please visit the site: http://www.speedieconsulting.co.uk