Bay Area Entrepreneurs Team up with Mega-Companies for High-Impact, No-Cost Strategic Alliances
SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The strategic alliance, a long-time tactic in the corporate world, is not just for giants. For example, San Francisco marketing consultant Robyn Levin created an alliance for client PENSCO Trust Company, not quite a household name, with software powerhouse Intuit.
PENSCO CEO Tom Anderson, a nationally recognized expert on self-directed IRAs, is a natural to write a blog for Intuit’s online community of QuickBooks accounting software users. “Now PENSCO Trust gets exposure to the millions of QuickBooks small business customers, while QuickBooks gets free current financial and retirement-related articles of interest to their customer base,” says Anderson.
“Why not start at the top?”
“Alliances are an overlooked, underutilized marketing strategy for niche companies,” says Levin, CEO of R. Levin Marketing Group. “Small business owners often have specialized knowledge that large, well-known firms need. I tell my clients, ’Why not start at the top?’ It’s a quick boost into the big leagues.”
Similarly, Levin brought together clients targeting the small business market, a management consultant and Citibank. Levin helped the consultant produce a “grow a successful business” tips booklet for Citibank to present to potential clients. It was a great dialog-starter, gave business owners useable information and put the consultant’s wisdom in the hands of potential buyers of his full-length book – an all-around win.
Levin discovered the power of strategic alliances when she bought a bankrupt ice arena in Florida. She co-negotiated a five-year exclusive contract with the National Hockey League’s Florida Panthers to become the team’s official training headquarters. The alliance was instrumental in turning the business into a multi-profit-center enterprise in just two years.
To seek high-profile strategic alliances, Levin counsels business owners to emphasize the passion and core knowledge that sets them apart. To learn more, call (415) 690-9990 or email robyn@robynlevin.com for a reprint of her article, Five Easy Ways to Find and Forge Strategic Alliances.
About R. Levin Marketing Group
R. Levin Marketing Group, a San Francisco-based growth-consulting firm since 1999, teaches entrepreneurs in niche markets to expand their businesses using strategic alliances and hi-tech communications. CEO Robyn Levin speaks frequently to associations and conferences on inventive, cost-effective marketing. Her articles appear in Money, COSTCO Small Business and Broker Agent magazines and are featured in the best-selling books, Networking Magic & Walking With the Wise.