A joint venture is when two or more businesses work together in a partnership for a period of time. Joint ventures are used frequently online because two businesses together can usually achieve a lot more than one on its own. Joint ventures maximise the possibility of beating your online competition. Here are 8 exciting ideas which will show you how profitable joint ventures can really be.

1. Exchanging links with related websites are the most popular joint ventures online today. Not only are link exchanges completely free but they are also long lasting. You can guarantee that your link will stay on their website for a lasting period of time. Doing link exchanges with websites of the same subject as yours also brings in a flow of incredibly targeted visitors who you can be sure will be interested in your product or service.

2. Combine your product with another websites product to make a package. You could split the profits and due to the fact that you are both advertising your product you will make a lot more sales. The fact that your package is bigger means that you could charge more but at the same time the customer will feel he is getting value for money if the package is useful.

3. You could make a website with another company and share it between you. Seeing as you will both be advertising and marketing the same website you will get double the visitors as you might have done before. Just make sure that you share a website with a company which has the same target market as you because this way you will benefit from the visitors that they bring to the website.

4. Exchange testimonials and positive reviews about each others products. This will give customers confidence to buy from you knowing that you have received a testimonial from a reputable business. You could also include your web address at the end of your testimonial which visitors will flow through and so this is yet another bonus.

5. Advertise to each others opt in email lists. Using solo mailings to advertise your products and services is an unbelievable way to make sales quickly. This high quality advertising with guaranteed results is also 100% free too. Similarly you could swap ads in each others ezines or on each others autoresponders.

6. Find a web business which has something that you need and use it in exchange for you giving them something that they lack. For example, if you have a hot new ebook, but no list to advertise to then you could make a joint venture with a business with a large, responsive list. You could say that if they sell your product to their list then they can keep 50% of the profits and give the other half to you. Although 50% sounds like a lot, it is the going rate on the internet at the moment and you will be pushed to find a better deal than this.

7. Swap resources with other sites to make your resource more useful to your visitors. If you offer information products on your website then look to swap these products with other information sites. You could take something from their site for free that you need and they could take something that they need. This is one of the most effective and cheapest ways of building a huge resource on your website topic very quickly.

8. Write a promotional ebook or a software program with another internet business. This way you only have to do half the work in creating the product. Include your ad and website address frequently in the ebook and your visitors will skyrocket through the power of viral marketing. Be sure to submit your product to freebie sites for maximum exposure.