The Future of jvAlert and Dunbar’s Number 91

Here’s how jvAlert started:

I’d just created a very successful joint venture with Jim Daniels and I got to thinking.

“If a simple joint venture with Jim could produce a quarter million dollars worth of recurring revenue in six short months, what could I do with MORE joint venture partners.”

So I asked Jim …

“Who would YOU like to joint venture with?”

One by one, we invited some of the top-internet marketers in the world to join us for the brand new jvAlert membership site.

Some of our first members included some real pioneers of the Internet:  Yanik Silver, Mark Joyner, Declan Dunn, Jim Daniels, Willie Crawford, David Garfinkel, Phil Wiley, Robert Imbriale, Neil Shearing, Holly Cotter,  Shawn Collins, and Larry Dotson.

Then we asked them to hand-pick the people THEY wanted to work with.

The place was amazing.

Only the best of the best were in and there was magic going on.  There were list building joint ventures that created over a million subscribers, there were multi-million dollar joint ventures flying around like sea gulls on a 60 MPH updraft.

Then we decided to step things up a bit.

All of our members decided to invite their lists into jvAlert on a single day and in the first day of pre-launch jvAlert.com launched into Alexa’s Movers and Shakers List and captured a 362 ranking out of all of the sites on the Internet.

 

Oddly Enough Having Thousands of New Members was a PROBLEM!

Suddenly the quality of joint ventures went down.  We had thousands of new members who really didn’t have a clue about what a joint venture was, how to create a great one and who didn’t have the experience, resources, drive and credibility to operate at the level that our members expected.

So we scrambled.

We taught people the best ways to create joint ventures and what made up a great proposal.  We stopped automatically sending out proposals to our members and put a manual review and education process into every joint venture offer that went through our system.

Things got a lot better after that.

Next we created the  jvAlert Live Events

I have to tell you that I LOVE jvAlert Live.  At every live event I watch the faces of people who’s lives have changed.  I spend time in person with them and watch them grow and thrive.

And I got a bit lazy …

Actually, it wasn’t so much lazy as busy.  We were doing 5-6 live events a year, my book launched, I took the Impact Action Team on a thrill ride to create awareness for teen suicide prevention … then T obri … the list goes on.

And the jvAlert membership site didn’t get a lot of focus.

Sure jvAlertLive.com was thriving with 3 live events a year, but if you go to jvAlert.com today you will see exactly the same webpage as was there on September 15, 2003 when it hit 362 on the Alexa charts.  The site is still by invitation only, but I’ve been hesitant to ask anyone in for quite a while, because it’s past time for a major re-build and relaunch.

Right now is the time to change that.

Now if you are going to relaunch an amazing, historic site like jvAlert.com I think you need to do something special.

So whatever I do will be mind-blowing.

One of the problems after the original push to the #362 Alexa ranking was the rush of people who to be honest, just weren’t quite ready for jvAlert membership yet and I want to avoid that mistake this time around.

One of the reasons for the huge SUCCESS was the quality of the people … and the fact that it was by invitation only.

When the masses got involved, the quality of the experience slipped a bit.

Which brings us to …

Dunbar’s Number

According to wikipedia:

“Dunbar’s number is a theoretical cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships. These are relationships in which an individual knows who each person is, and how each person relates to every other person. Proponents assert that numbers larger than this generally require more restricted rules, laws, and enforced norms to maintain a stable, cohesive group. No precise value has been proposed for Dunbar’s number, but a commonly cited approximation is 150.”

Every top-level marketer has the same problem.

You just can’t create quality joint venture’s with everyone.  Thousands of people want you to work with them, promote their products and most of those projects you shouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole.

Joint venture success is all about building long-term, DEEP relationships with a core group of  people, you know like and trust and who have demonstrated that they can contribute to your success.

Dunbar says you are going to have trouble building those kind of relationships with more than about 150-200 of those people.

My starting criteria for the relaunch

1. I’m going back to my original model for jvAlert.

We started with just a few people and then allowed them to invite a few people that they personally wanted to work with into the group.

When we changed to having members invite subscribers we got unbelievable traffic and rankings, but the dynamic of the group wasn’t the same.

If you are an existing paid member of jvAlert.com don’t worry!

I’m not kicking anyone out and I’m not raising your monthly subscription.  You are definitely grandfathered into the new system and will get all the new benefits, but I am changing the rules for the new jvAlert membership.

2.  Members will need to have skin in the game.

jvAlert membership was launched at $69 per month and quickly raised to $75 per month, which in 2003 was an investment that showed you were serious about creating joint ventures.  We were specifically looking for people who were interested in building a solid on-line business by INVESTING in their business not people just looking for free advertising for their joint venture offers.  There are PLENTY of places willing to put out JUNK offers for nothing.  We are looking only for the best.

I expect to raise the investment to $97 per month to reflect today’s marketplace, so figure if you want to join the all NEW jvAlert at launch, you will have to invest at least $97 per month to be a member.  I know that some people will argue that it should be higher.  That’s the “exclusive” crowd saying those kinds of things, but I’m not trying to force anyone out because of the economics.  I’m not looking for the “exclusive” crowd.  I’m looking for the QUALITY and VALUE crowd.

3.  I’m limiting the total number of members to an effective Dunbar number.

The experts argue on what Dunbar’s number really should be.  Some argue that it should be higher, but I’m pretty convinced that the number is in the 150 – 200 range.

If you’ve ever been to a live event you know that after about 200 people, the dynamics in the room change.  That’s why I’ve always tried to keep the number of people in the room at jvAlert Live below that number. (That’s why we have 3 events a year instead of one HUGE one.

How the jvAlert relaunch will work

1. I’m going to invite a VERY few people – one at a time to join the new jvAlert.

2. I’m going to ask those KEY people to give me advice on how I can create rock-solid value for the group, in the form of a brand new website, new event opportunities (online and offline), services and solid resources.

3. As these individuals commit they will be able to invite a few select individuals who THEY would most like to work with.

4. When we cap out at Dunbar’s number we will close all new invitations, until a spot opens up, so we can keep total membership under Dunbar’s number.

Quickly the website, events and resources will be relaunched and filled with the best of the best.

What you can do right now

1. If you are already a paid member of jvAlert, you don’t need to do a thing.  Everything will be better than ever very soon.

2. If you aren’t a paid member of jvAlert and already KNOW that you want to be a part of this amazing group e-mail me at ken@ any of my websites and let me know.  DEFINITELY,  if I don’t personally know about you and your accomplishments so far, please let me know. I can’t promise you an invitation, but if I think it’s a good match, I’ll add you to the possible invitation list.  Final selections are based on the qualifications and quality of the people who would like to be invited.  It makes sense for everyone for us to invite the best of the best.

3. If you have suggestions for increasing the value, please let me know.  We want to include as much value as humanly possible.  We already know that we will be including attendance at jvAlert Live events and special events which will be held online and offline for our paid members only.

4. If you know of someone who I SHOULD invite in the first round pick, please suggest their names in the comments.  I’m going through my list of the best of the experts and speakers who have participated in our live events,  existing jvAlert members and outstanding thought leaders.  Literally, thousands of people have attended our live events and many of them were just as amazing as our experts on the stage.

Finally …

I’d love all of your suggestions on how I can make this relaunch the best it can possibly be.

Please e-mail me your thoughts or post in the comments here.

Let’s make this special.

All the best,

Ken McArthur

Tobri.com
KenMcArthur.com
jvAlertLive.com

And more, more, more.

About Ken McArthur

Ken challenges us to realize we ALL have an impact – whether we want to or not – on thousands of people who we touch in our day-to-day lives by demonstrating that simple things make a HUGE difference. The popular host of a series of live events that bring together top-level marketers, entrepreneurs, business owners, corporations and non-profit organizations to create multi-million dollar joint venture relationships – he creates incredible, intense impact for product launches and multi-million dollar profits in surprisingly short timeframes. Regularly asked to speak at leading marketing events, he has managed product launches ranked in the top 400 sites on the Internet. Ken McArthur is also the creator of AffiliateShowcase.com, a pioneering affiliate program search engine and directory system and the founder of the MBS Internet Research Center, which conducted the world’s largest survey ever attempted on the subject of creating and launching successful information products. Not satisfied to concentrate entirely on large organizations, Ken also works with select individuals to help them create a decent living utilizing the power of the Internet. Ken was the official mentor for Sterling Valentine as he took his launch from ZERO to over $100,000 in less than 8 days. Ken and Sterling documented the process as a “proof of concept” for Info Product Blueprint a massive home study course that is the “bible” of info product creation. Ken offers top-level coaching and mentoring programs designed to help individuals, corporations and non-profit organizations reach masses of people using the techniques, tactics strategies and systems that he has developed specifically to help people spread their ideas, products and services around the globe.

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91 thoughts on “The Future of jvAlert and Dunbar’s Number”

  • Shirley Young

    I had already read the info about revamping the JVAlert website and the Dunbar number before you emailed me concerning it. I saw it on Tobri Members group newsfeed. I had also shared it on my profile, farther up my newsfeed and also on Tobri Members group before you emailed me, also.

    I believe that if you do decide to do this, you are 100% right about the number of people and even a little less, leaning more toward the 150 number.

    When my business took off, it grew way too fast and as the same with you, the quality of service went down and I just about harmed my health trying to keep up with it all. In other words, I understand.

    I also had decided to keep Tobri Members group under 300, for the same reasons that was said about the quality and value you had mentioned. It was a good number for the members to get to know each other.

    I know that you and everyone else that went to the last JVAlert in Orlando had the best time of their lives. Everyone came back renewed, revived, recharged and with a great attitude about the Tobri team.
    As you know, I didn’t attend. I enjoyed staying home and especially enjoyed holding down the fort. So, nothing had changed for me. I did get to see the changes in members as they arrived back home. They hadn’t wanted it to end and stayed basking in the afterglow for as long as it lasted. The memories were shared by posting pictures and they are still being posted, as it still lives on.

    This all being said, there would have to be an increase in the amount of money charged. Websites don’t change by themselves and the person revamping it would need reimbursed for his time. I would get a price fix on that before setting a price and a number of invitations sent. I don’t know why I am telling you all of this, because you already know to take the operating costs into account. This would also give you an idea as to how many to hold in one year.

    Advice? Keep doing what you are doing now. Holding around 3 per year and getting Tobri off the ground. Tobri needs to be out of beta for quite awhile until you see how the next stage will go. It’s going to need your attention. It runs a lot smoother when you and Chris are around. It is at a good stage now, version 2 has 99% of the bugs worked out and there is nothing slow about it either so I am assuming that the floodgates are going to be opened up to the masses here soon.

    There’s no reason why you can’t start now in designing what the new site will look like, on a coctail napkin.

    It’s just that it hasn’t been that very long ago that I remember how overworked you were. How you had to many balls to juggle in the air. You were exhausted. It wasn’t the same kind of tired as when you got home from Orlando. It was a stressful tired. And too many of those kind of tireds aren’t good for your health.

    • Anonymous

      Hey Shirley,

      Life can be overwhelming, but the only reason my life is overwhelming is all of the wonderful opportunities to do good things for more people.

      People like you make life amazing!

      I’m always working at making things better and part of that is asking my audience what they REALLY want and trying to make it happen for them.

      Also, I’m starting to work with a trainer to help me on the energy and health side of things. Many of my good friends have had some amazing success and I thought I should up my game a bit too.

      Thanks as always for all your special support and encouragement. It means a lot.

  • Ernie Denney

    Ken, since I am one of the new guys on the block that really enjoyed Orlando I guess I can give you a different perspective. I learned about JV Alert Live through Jane Mark at Sokule. I clicked on a link and the rest is history. I wanted to put life into the faces from the Internet and meet Jane and Phil who I had listened to and read about through their program. I did not have a clue as what to expect at Orlando. I learned a lot but most importantly I found genuine people who appeared caring and concerned. Everyone I met was happy to be there and after a few days it seemed like I had known the ones I connected with for years. I think Don, Peter and Mark could have been passed off as some of my relatives as the weekend progressed.
    I was a bit overwhelmed by all that transpired with the presentations but all I can say is WOW!.. I hope my JOB allows me the time to get away for future events so I can continue to grow and look forward to the day I can say I was part of something special that changed my life. Now down to the task at hand, the re-launch . I wonder if it is possible to have different levels of membership in JV alert like going to university where the Seniors(no age discrimination intended) are the top names in the industry ; Juniors are recognized but they are not the Top Guns, Yet; and so on down to us Freshman…wet behind the ears but eager to learn, be mentored and grow. Your fees could be tiered accordingly as those who are able pay more (sounds a bit like a campaign promise) and so on down the line , so those who are on the threshold of greatness can manage to make ends meet and progress accordingly. Of course there may have to be income brackets or scales to determine the fee structure. That way you have a starting price point and you satisfy those who are willing to pay more. If ,as I surmised, you are trying to keep it to a special group of folks that can contribute to the program on a higher level then the aforementioned ideas may not work but then it may need some sort of feeder program to keep things going without sacrificing quality; and that maybe JV Alert Live where an individual has to be an active part of the process in it’s development or has to attend so many of them before even been considered for JV Alert and has to face a hot seat panel as a nominee before approval can be given.
    Now as far as Dunbar’s number goes: I worked for the Navy for 22 years and was well known by hundreds of active duty and their family members because I was at the forefront of providing them leisure and family activities. I could recognize faces and have a pretty good idea if I had met them before but getting to know them was hard. My number is probably around 150 since where I work now there are 222 folks and unless I work around the clock there is no way I can get to know them but Kim , the admin assistant knows everyone so her Dunbar number is high. You have to set your number at the comfort level you can manage.

    Thanks again for Orlando. I told Frank that when you decide to host it in Seattle or Portland we could be major players in assisting you. Cheers Ernie D.

    • Anonymous

      Hey Ernie,

      Great to see you at jvAlert Live Orlando and can’t wait to see you in DC.

      We are definitely looking at multiple levels of membership. Read the above comments. We won’t leave you behind!

      All the best,

      Ken

  • Angie

    Dear Ken,

    I love what you’ve done with Tobri and your work shows quality and integrity.

    It’s only my opinion, but to turn away those who are coming up the ranks can deprive you and them of a great opportunity.

    Have you thought of a JV Apprenticeship Program? It would enable those already at the the table to get the quality you expect, not restrict access and you can pick and choose from the best of the best up-and-comers.

    Only a thought.

    Angela

    • Anonymous

      Hey Angie,

      We DEFINITELY use jvAlert Live events for training new people to create effective, long-term joint ventures and have no plans to exclude people from those events.

      The effectiveness limit on the jvAlert membership is because that’s the maximum level that we can create those long-term, close relationships. That’s not to say that we can’t create a special group for beginners if there is enough demand. What we want to do at the top-level is to make sure that the group is VERY effective at a very high level.

      Thanks for your support!

      All the best,

      Ken

  • Roger Johannesson

    Dear Ken,

    I think your idea is great, to put the best of the best together in a small group, should make the best of the best even better and make them even more knowlegable.

    Having said that, I must say that I´m also in to Angie´s thoughts and I definately think that a beginners group would be a very good idea.
    At the Orlando event I learned that it´s not only me that doesn´t know how to navigate within the Tobri website and that knew very little about how to manage the computer, put up a websites a.s.o.

    Put a beginners group together and as “he” knows a little about that and I know alittle about this a.s.o. we will learn from each other and perhaps we one day is no longer beginners and most importantly, we will get to know each other and make friends and maybee even get close.
    Then, we the beginners, can move “up” together with those who isn´t beginners and there we can learn even more and in the long run, maybee there is one or two, maybee even more of us, that have a potential to be one of the best of the best one day.

    When an expert talk to one person face to face, there is a possibility that he can make himself understood as he will get the question “what does that mean” back and can answer directly to one face, but when he speaks to a crowd, very often the beginners doesn´t understand what he says, his language very often is, what we in Sweden calls a “fig” language and sometimes he speaks in terms that we, the beginners, simply doesn´t understand, I experienced this myself in Orlando and I know a few others did too.

    I´m shooting from the hip here Ken, but I think one should see it in a broader perspective for future benefits for everyone. I had a great time in Orlando, I made friends and we even talk about a joint venture with each other, so I´m not saying that there is something wrong, I think it´s great, but as you brought up the best of the best group, well….., this is just a few well meaning comments in connection with that.

    We have a saying in Sweden “you must learn how to crawl before you can walk”, that´s about what I mean.

    Live well Ken and Keep up the good work, but remeber, you only have one life……, delegate.

    I appologize for my not so perfect English, but as I´m from Sweden, English is not my mother language.

    Best regards
    Roger

    • Anonymous

      Hey Roger,

      Your English is outstanding and you are well on your way to some great success. It was a real pleasure to meet you at jvAlert Live Orlando and I’m looking forward to seeing you in Washington D.C.

      No worries! Read some of my comments above and know that we aren’t going to leave anyone behind.

      See you in June!

      All the best,

      Ken

  • Ross Goldberg

    Quality over Quantity. Plain and simple.

    There is far too much garbage in the “IM” space and I wouldn’t want to be bombarded with the “auto mega traffic in 1 second without work” launch. It’s garbage and not only are we sick of it, our customers are, too.

    Good people and good products are the secret to the new JV Alert being successful and I look forward to being one of the first members.

    • Anonymous

      I definitely agree on the garbage level in the IM space. Too much clutter and noise and not enough quality and value.

      Value is always key to success and good people make life worth living.

      Thanks for posting Ross!

  • Marlon Sanders

    Hi Ken,

    Good luck on the re-launch.

    I remember those days you referenced. Good times man.
    Different times. But good.

    What I hear is a lot of ideas from your perspective sort of.
    But I’m not getting that you’ve done research with people
    vs. the other jv sites to find out their likes/dislikes.

    You’ve really got to have a COMPELLING proposition to break
    through the noise in this.

    OK, so you have less people and they’re paying. Is that an
    advantage REALLY over the other JV sites where the same people
    have their JV’s listed also?

    In other words, you pay and get less offers than the other sites
    with nothing exclusive.

    I’m not active in any JV sites because it’s not particularly my model.
    But I WOULD talk to really active users of them and try to find
    out their complaints…do surveys….find out missed opportunities.

    Best wishes,

    Marlon

    • Anonymous

      Hey Marlon,

      Thanks so much for the sage advice.

      I’m picking everyone’s brains before I do anything and that’s what I encourage everyone to do with their own projects.

      I’m in research mode and asking my audience exactly what they want, but definitely I’m prejudiced about what they need.

      The hard part in asking is that most people know what they want in general (security, health, wealth, sex, happiness, to make a difference, etc.) what they don’t usually know is the specifics.

      A lot of people are stuck in the, “I have no clue what I need, why don’t you tell me mode.”

      The solution of course is in asking more questions.

      The other side of the coin is …

      If they are a starving crowd who wants hot dogs, I’m not really the best person to manufacture hot dogs.

      There has to be a match between what I’m good at delivering (and enjoy delivering) and what people are willing to pay for.

      So the question is …

      What am I really good at delivering, that fits into my talents, lifestyle, goals and dreams, that people really want (and hopefully delivers real value to them) that they are willing to pay for?

      That’s what I’m asking now.

      Thanks for the input!

    • Bill Clemens

      I agree with Marlon,

      Other then the personal connections, what is going to make this any different from the WF or Digital P. or any of the other sites. I understand the quality of products and people will be higher, but will there be an exclusivity clause of some sort for launches or JV’s. So that JV Alert members get priority to the launches of other JV Alert members. Basically something that makes it worth wile for a high profile launch to strictly use JV Alert members over the other sites. Other then the fact that the people who know and like you Ken and will join no matter what (myself being one of them), how can this be set apart.

      I think all members should be required to contribute no matter what and by that I mean a training webinar or teleseminar something that shows true contribution. Yes $97 a month will weed out the tire kickers but that doesn’t mean they are more valuable overall. Contribution to the collective whole is what will show true value.

      Even if each member contributes something as simple as an article based on selected topics that are in that member’s area of expertise, that the group as a whole could use or rewrite if needed. There just needs to be something more than an exchange of money involved to show true commitment.

      Just my thoughts.

  • Steve Parady

    Ken, I want to thank you very much for running such an amazing event as JvAlert in Orlando this past month. I met so many great people there and got great ideas for my business.

    Now I know I may not yet be at the experience level you are looking for. There were many top performing business leaders there, along with many others at the event who like me are small business owners working on building our more modest client lists and income. JvAlert does provide access for us smaller players to met, mingle and learn from the more successful members of the marketing community.

    I’m sure that creating a JvAlert group just for top level people would lead to some amazing synergies. I wonder though, where would be the place for those of us with some big ideas but smaller businesses.

    It seems to me that not only do the elite marketers benefit from the JvAlert events, but the smaller business owners do too. Many of the bigger marketers find a good amount of business in selling services to these smaller businesses too. So there is value all around in having a mix of diverse persons, businesses and experience levels.

    If your vision of JvAlert is only for the elite marketers and business owners, then the nature of the event will change dramatically. You might compare it to the more pricy and exclusive gatherings such as the mastermind event Joe Polish has at
    Richard Branson’s Necker Island.

    If that’s the way you want to go, then you may consider expanding into additional events that can be more accessible to the average business owner and provide a bigger sales market to those who are making presentations on stage.

    The big marketers know they grow their businesses by meeting new clients at events like yours. If you limit it to a small clique of elite marketers and take away the new faces, you are taking away this aspect of JvAlert.

    Ken, you like to use the example of SterlingValentine and point out the major effect your event has on some of these less experienced people. Don’t take away that transformative value of JvAlert by shutting people out.

    • Anonymous

      Hey Steve,

      We will never limit jvAlert Live event just to advanced marketers and I definitely see room for an entry level membership for jvAlert. I love watching people making real progress and being exposed to the wonderful people in our family.

      No plan for a shutout. I’m just starting with an important core.

      Hope this helps!

      Ken

  • LoveLinguist

    It always comes down to people. Take away all the digital connection and at the end of the day you do business and joint ventures with PEOPLE you know, like and trust.

    jvAlert is an opportunity for like-minded individuals to get together F2F and brainstorm, connect, create joint ventures or plant the sees for future ventures.

    Sherrie Rose
    The Love Linguist

    • Doc Williamson

      Hi Sherrie,

      I agree that Ken’s events are almost magical in terms of what can be accomplished, but also agree [with Ken’s point] that not everyone fits into the “JV” mode and model. Similar criteria also apply to Steve Harrison’s “Publicity Summit” events (where we originally met), that some people and they goals and methods fit in which his “plug-in” connections, though many more can take advantage of his knowledge, and those of his participating panels.

      All of this suggests to me that to have those “deep” relationships that Ken wants the relaunch to foster, without limiting membership to just 100 people, that sub-groups could be organized. The tricky bit is how to balance the groups. They could be clustered around “common interests” or they could be gathered together either as “common strengths” or conversely like a mastermind group, based on “diversity of skills and strengths” to support one another.

      Now, as most people who know me already know, I am not much of a sports fan, so please pardon me if I get this wrong, but … common strengths plus diversity of strengths seem to be a great way to build “teams”. If you can get this organized on the basis of specialized skill sets, and then put together “ad hoc” JVteams a few might not pass the flight tests, but through trial and error, and feedback loops for adjustments, some of these could turn out to be just the RightStuff for astronomical numbers in their results.

      “Likeminded” extends not only to methods, ambitions and goals, but also to just plain “liking” each other. (No, that wasn’t “licking each other” which of course is truly optional on a case by case basis.)

      Sincerely,
      Stafford “Doc” Williamson

      p.s. I hope your “Love Bucket” outsells the Colonel in China (which has recently surpassed McD for number of outlets worldwide).

  • Tom Grow

    I agree with Ross (hey Ross! Great meeting you and working with you as a volunteer at JVAlert Orlando!)… JVAlert has always been a very high quality gathering. Keep the quality there over quantity. I’d rather meet 10 people who I can help and who can help me rather than 50 people who just want to take and won’t give. Same with the experts… they should bring real value to their presentations, not just a disguised pitch.

    Ken, I sincerely would love to be one of your first members as well.

  • Tom Gruw

    By the way, I agree with Dunbar’s number… your JV alerts have been so sized so far… and I personally feel like I can meet just about everyone for some quality time. The one in Orlando recently was larger than in the past and I felt like this time, it was really maxing out the number of people for it to be effective. In other words, any larger and I think it’ll take away. 150 is a great number.

    • Anonymous

      Everything get’s overwhelming when you get above that magic number. I NEVER try to exclude. I’m all for INCLUSION not exclusion, but I’m definitely for QUALITY, VALUE and things that WORK.

  • Mike Lewis

    I agree that to function optimally you need to limit the group size and makeup.
    I have participated in highly select networking groups in other industries and by invitation is the best way to insure group quality, but an artificial maximum number can become a real problem when a large portion of the group becomes less active. this can happen through change in the direction of their business or because they just get to busy with the projects they have.

    You might consider letting the group grow by invitation only and if it gets to be to large raise the requirements ie. recommendation by more than 1 member.

    I also would consider an entry level membership open to all. Top level members could chose when and if they want to reach out to beginner level members and it would provide a place for potential new top level members to prove themselves.

    • Anonymous

      Hey Mike,

      Definitely thinking multiple levels at this point. Starting with a core inner circle and working outward. As members of the core group move on — hopefully to even better things — we will rejuvenate from the best of our up and coming future leaders.

      Looking for the core now. When we launch we will have an entry level group for sure.

      Thanks for your comments!

      All the best,

      Ken

  • Carol Cheshire

    Ken, you know as well as I do you try to put too many eggs in one basket. This wears you out, both physically and mentally. Be careful what eggs you put in your basket.
    Put a little more of your responsibility on others. I know you have trusted help, use them. Changing JVALERT may be a good idea, but it can also backfire. I come and have only spent money and never have made any connections until this last one. The last event had a great deal of Tobri members present and we were able to meet and talk face to face. No Ideas for business were discussed at that time. However, I met someone who is willing to help me. P J McClure is a very bright and intelligent young man. I have to agree with Felicia Slattery and Ross Goldberg.
    By the way I read this earlier but had to think it through. Knowing you to cut back is killing you but I think it is time to smell some roses. I still think a cruise would be a good meeting place. The 150 may still be to much, if you think about it. Your the business genius I definitely am not.
    Although having run a business and being a major player in the School systems I am not good at telling you what is best for you.
    Question am I still paying my dues? I have had to change cards so often I do not know where you were.

  • Mark Joyner

    Hey Ken, you always do great work. Thanks for asking me to comment.

    I may be the wrong guy to ask on this since the traditional “mail for me I’ll mail for you” JV deals (at least as that language is used in the IM space) is something we don’t do anymore.

    But to those for whom that is their main marketing model (which I think is most of the people in the IM space) it will work quite well.

    One challenge you may want to figure out is the following …

    The reason we’re getting out of that kind of deal completely is because it puts pressure on us to promote stuff that’s not high quality. Many people have the sensibility of wanting to create something great and take pride in that. Many others (sadly most of the people selling “get rich” IM stuff) see the product as an afterthought. I’ve heard people say “they won’t use your product anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”

    Ugh – I never want to be a part of something like that – or be around people who have that kind of cynical view of the world.

    So, if you could figure out a way to work that into your system – something that encourages more wholesome types of arrangements (rather than the “mail my shit” model as some call it) I think that would make jvAlert significantly better and it would also have a positive impact on a lot of people.

    On a final note – I think we all need to remember that an affiliate relationship is “promote and get results – and we’ll pay you.” Very different thing from “mail for me and I’ll mail for you.”

    Maybe the key here is to match up the people who have offers with the people who will promote … Then, those exist and they are affiliate networks …

    Random thoughts for you from a guy who really isn’t in this game – so take it for what it’s worth 🙂

    MJ

    • Anonymous

      Hey Mark,

      I really appreciate your detailed personal response to this. I’ve loved our special connection over the years and was thrilled when we finally got to connect in person at the Impact Event in San Diego. The people who heard you speak there were blessed.

      People need to realize that the “You promote my product, I’ll promote yours” idea of joint ventures was — and always has been — TINY in the scope of the power of deep, personal relationships and solid working synergies that create multi-million dollar results.

      Traffic Geyser was penciled out literally on the back of a napkin at a jvAlert Live networking dinner, but that was just an IDEA. The joint venture between Mike Koenigs, Rocket Helmstrome and Frank Sousa was built on delivery of solid results, personal commitment and a trusting relationship that was built over time and in-depth.

      What I want to build is a community of quality people with deep relationships giving solid value.

      I think it’s possible because I believe that out of thousands of people who have attended my events and hundreds of thousands of people who have been members of my sites or subscribers …. there are at least 150 people who are amazing …. AND know how to build real value by working together.

      We’ve both seen the success stories of the people doing it right now as a result of just being together for a weekend.

      I just want to take it to a higher level of cooperation and a depth of working together for even better results.

      We have amazing people who can facilitate that and I believe I can build a community of people who will allow me to earn a decent living helping them create real value.

      Thanks again for all you do.

      All the best,

      Ken

      • Mark Joyner

        Hey Ken, right on … If your definition of “JV” is the more universal (and I think healthier) definition of “any kind of cooperative mutually beneficial arrangement between two separate business entities” then I think the whole project is a much better one.

        As for how this relates to Dunbar’s number, this is possibly an apples and oranges question. I can have limitless Integration Marketing relationships with people as long as once they’re established we don’t have to do communicate any more (it’s all handled by automation and we’re all happy). I can not have so many deep and meaningful interactions that require my attention. Another confounding factor: I can delegate relationships to individuals on the team … This is why companies have account reps.

        There you go – I’ve made your problem harder to solve. Thank me later 😉

        MJ

        • Anonymous

          Hey Mark,

          I agree. In order to be able to reach thousands we need to start with a core group and train future leaders to support groups on multiple levels.

          Automation – of things that are already working – is a good thing as long as it doesn’t degrade the experience. Lots of ways to do that for sure and so many people who can help in the process.

          I’m excited about starting with a key core and expanding from there.

          Thanks again for your insights.

          All the best,

          Ken

    • drmani

      Mark

      – – –
      “On a final note – I think we all need to remember that an affiliate relationship is “promote and get results – and we’ll pay you.” Very different thing from ‘mail for me and I’ll mail for you.'”
      – – –

      I like that. A lot. Takes any kind of “reciprocation pressure” off the person who is ASKING for help with promoting anything.

      Dr.Mani

  • Declan

    Hey Ken,

    As always, I hope the launch goes well for you, and a few insights to share:

    1. The old model of JV’s is dying, except in the IM space, and even in there you are mostly appealing to newcomers. The bigger players who can drive deals mixed in with newcomers does not create the synergy you are looking for…it should, but as it becomes plain that the you mail for mail I’ll mail for you model is broken, you need a deeper model that encourages a deeper sense of working together. And bigger players need deals, they just are much more picky, so a way to vet these deals, to make them appealing (meaning conversion numbers and copy of course) is critical.

    This is not easy, and will need some quantity to get enough people to make enough deals, although as Ross smartly says, quality over quantity is the goal…and even reading below, you already have people just pitching the deals. Pitchfests are what most of these become, and I see you trying to steer away from this, but as Marlon says, what is the real value proposition here?

    2. I’d suggest integrating some form of co-op advertising program, where people can gain access to bigger publishers – who may not be part of the group, possibly with JV Alert vetting the deals – as a means of distribution.

    I learned this from Apple in my computer reseller days; they gave us money to advertise, basically splitting the costs with us. That model adapted to the Net has become giving someone access to good JV partners. I”m just not convinced that the model you are developing will work in today’s market, again, except for those newcomers, unless the possibility of reaching bigger partners is there.

    It’s all about distribution, and while I don’t do these kinds of deals, I do develop cooperative partnerships t this day, but these take time. I’d suggest the intention needs to be defined here, both on your part and the part of your possible users.

    I’ve always enjoyed our meetings and my own JV Alerts, and distribution is your key component here. Yet it cannot be a distribution based on entitlement, ie I pay money I get deals, it needs to be earned.

    Integrating some gaming mechanics into the whole community is critical, leaderboards and ratings will help you sift through people.

    I’d just suggest you are going to need much bigger numbers online to get critical mass, even one of the old rules was, one thousand active members begins a decent discussion, because only 20 percent or so will participate, post, and provide energy. The rest lurk….

    Glad to help you out with a short call if you’d like as well….hope these ideas help you build that bridge between those new to the business, and those bigger marketers who want proven deals they can trust.

    Trust is the new currency…

    Peace
    Declan

    • Anonymous

      Hey Declan,

      I’m definitely going beyond the “you mail for me, I’ll mail for you” model with this one.

      My thoughts are definitely along the lines of facilitated joint ventures, shared resources and expanded distribution.

      I think the value proposition is facilitating joint ventures, increasing distribution and combined resources as well as exposure to expanded levels of partners.

      We could do that with online and off-line hotseats of projects, partner matching for particular projects, co-op advertising and distribution channels, networking events and negotiated group discounts for services and products that we might share in common.

      Would love to get the chance to talk to you on the phone about this.

      I’ll promise to keep it short.

      All the best,

      Ken

  • Warren Whitlock

    The dunbar number is theory. Much can be learned from this study, but it’s not a number to live by. Our brains are changing as we become comfortable with the technology that will help us reach more.

    Put another way.. none of us are exclusively with 150 for life. 15o squared is 22500 time 150 (cubed) is 3,375,000. Even if we don’t move beyond that, we have so many in two degrees of separation that we’ll can meet and influence.

    The structure you are working on is sound. This is just a comment on the dunbar 🙂

    • Anonymous

      Hey Warren,

      Great point. Connections don’t usually last forever and neither will the individual members of jvAlert. Only 150 or so typically come to jvAlert Live for any given event — by design — but there are thousands of people in the jvAlert family who have come to our events.

      Glad to have you among them.

      All the best,

      Ken

  • Peter Parks

    Hi Ken thanks for asking me to chime in on the conversation.

    As I see the original intent of JV Alert from an outsiders perspective was to help each other succeed by growing each others businesses and forming long lasting strategic partnerships.

    In the process the byproduct was to make sure the customer was the real winner by receiving  high quality products or services that helped them win

    The only way to really make JV Alert stand out once again (especially in this market) is again becoming more diligent with membership collaborations, and with having solid products or services that serves the market long term so the customer who is ultimately the final decision maker prospers.

    When the customer prospers the quality of partnerships within JV Alert grow, as well the brand recognition because you are now attracting a new caliber of marketer.

    It isn’t enough to charge membership fees because most are doing that so really you should be setting the bar with membership as…

    1. What is your track record with the amount of value you have provided that the market recognizes?

    2.who other respectable and credible entrepreneurs have you collaborated with and would they  stand by you in the future without question when it comes to recommending you and your products to the market?

    3.what do you do outside of your market to continue to contribute to society? After all it’s not about just being a superstar in the niche, what you do day to day counts as well when your not in internet mode.

    If you are a new person wanting to break into the market and join the site, then the JV Alert membership panel (picked by peers and based on contributions to the market on a whole and not the “old boys” club) should be making the call to ask the new person to join based on what kind of plan they have set up to help their particular market and it should be solid.

    Which means it’s a plan with the help of strategic partnership can be implemented in a reasonable time frame rather than joining the site, talking a good game and not executing on it.

    There should be massive accountability, progress reports, weekly or monthly goal setting to get things done.

    (which means a software system inside the membership area linked to all profile accounts to track and alert members of pending decisions that have to be made and consequences of not following through.)

    Really anyone who is serious about achieving success will know  it’s time to “step up to the plate” if they join JV Alert and it’s not for browsers or time wasters.

    Which brings me to the next point, “putting skin in the game”

    The long and short as far as I’m concerned when you position your offer at a price point that people have to think 2 or 3 times about then you have something, because you know that most if not all those who join will want to see a return on the investment and know this isn’t a joke.

    Once they get in and experience the essence of JV Alert then the referral process can indeed kick in because you know it will be based on quality rather then quantity.

    You can also set up a rewards system whether it be a reduction of membership fees after a certain number of successful completed JV’s.

    every mastermind group that I ever joined or belong to today every entrepreneur had to put skin in the game and came in with a solid game plan to grow their business.

    JV Alert can become even better than the original if you take the best of what you see from every top notch person here who has posted, survey respondents who will make up some of the membership and find out what your real “It Factor” will be that separates you from the rest of the other JV sites out there.

    When you do that, you will have quality entrepreneurs beating down the door to get in, and the referral system will be top notch to continue to give you the competitive edge that makes JV Alert the only player in town.

    Is it work to do that? 

    Of course.

    Is it worth it to go through, filter, and turn JV Alert into a force for a new style of collaboration and ultimately serve the customers and market the way it should be served?

    I’ll leave that to the entrepreneurs who have their value system dialed in (-:

    my two cents as an underground 
    dude who only wants to make sure quality actionable content is provided to customers to help them grow (-:

    • Anonymous

      Hey Peter,

      Great points from the dude who wants to make sure quality actionable content is provided to customers to help them grow!

      What I see clearly from these comment is that I want to build something that facilitates deep relationships and produces solid results.

      One of the questions I want to consider is whether by doing things cooperatively we can gain leverage as a group with vendors and service providers to make sure that we do maintain quality and collectively create resources that would not be available to us acting individually.

      Just as farmers form cooperatives to help create markets and provide an environment and resources that a family farmer couldn’t hope to generate alone, the members of jvAlert can create new distribution and production services which can help all of the members.

      I’m open to all ideas at this point and I’ll be discussing them with many of the thought leaders in the jvAlert family.

      Together we will find a direction and develop something very special.

      Many thanks for taking the time to give me your detailed comments.

      They mean a lot to me.

      All the best,

      Ken

  • Deremiah Cpe

    Heeey Ken,

    THANKS for sharing with us your ideas and expectations.

    To me the most important thing to ask yourself right now Ken is…

    Is this what truly makes you HAPPY???

    Is this what you DREAM about doing Everyday???

    and if it is make it work identically to the ideal way you see it in your IMAGINATION. DEEP inside your heart you know what it is that brought you to this place. What it was about the JV experience that IGNITED YOUR FIRE…brought out the PASSION and the EXCITEMENT in your eyes. If you’re not feeling this any longer cut your losses and walk away. BUT if you can’t let it go and you know what TURNS YOU OWN about it…DO IT!!! Regardless of what we think.

    I’m a firm believer that if this is really what it’s about for you…all the people you need from the volunteers to the paying clients WILL APPEAR as you move forward the road to get there will appear for you.

    I think if I were you that’s where I’d go with this event. It’s not about you doing it BIGGER AND BETTER than ever before…or is it really??? And if it is DO IT!!!

    You invited me to share because you said “I have a way of SEEING BIG PICTURES”.

    Well that’s my BIG PICTURE MAGIC MAN point of View!!! As Ted Turner says “Drive or Get the Heaven off the Road” well that’s my interpretation of it anyway…LOLLL.

    This is the day and age for DOERS…INSTINCTIVE, INTUITIVE, PASSIONATE BELIEVERS who are willing to BE-LIVING what they BELIEVE—the Biggest question Ken is….”WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE??? and are you willing to BE-LIVING THAT???

    Lovingly loving you Deremiah *CPE

    PS
    And who the Heck is Dunbar??? And why are you adopting his self limiting Beliefs…you’ve got enough of your own to be worrying about than to be Believing his stuff into existence. Could you IMAGINE if Mark Zuckerberg would have designed Facebook With Dunbar’s theory in mind…or Bill Gates…what would have happened if he would have built his dream for the operating system in line with Dunbar’s theory?…or whose that dude from FourSquare…what if he would have added that Belief to his dream…and I could name a thousand other people like Steve Jobs and Apple. The question is what do you BELIEVE and how are you going to BE-LIVING what you BELIEVE. Some guy who used to be named Saul went through an AMAZING Transformation of an experience and he said “FAITH without Works is DEAD lest any man should boast!” His VISION for what he BELIEVED and what he BE-LIVING is still changing the lives of people ToDAy and he’s been dead a long long time…Whatever you decide Ken…do something that will change peoples lives for the better.

    PPS
    How else can I Serve You?

    • Jerri

      Hello Deremiah,

      You really hit the nail on the head. If you don’t love what you’re doing life’s not worth living.

      Hey Ken – how come your little optional login buttons above don’t contain a Tobri login button?

      Cheers,
      Angela

    • Anonymous

      Deremiah,

      Thank you for your always endless fount of giving and support.

      What makes me happy is seeing people’s life get better and better. I love watching them turn the corner to success and I love to see them spreading real quality and value to the world.

      Dunbar wasn’t trying to limit anything and I’m not either. You can have great experiences with a group of 3 or a group of millions, but they are definitely different experiences.

      I’m planning for both people starting out and for the best of the best. jvAlert Live has always had a mix of people who are just getting started and I love watching people grow and change through that experience.

      The KEY is that core group of amazing, giving and talented people that make up the heart and soul of all we do together. When new people are exposed to the best of the best, they become better themselves.

      That’s why magic happens at jvAlert.

      I want more of the magic.

      Top-level people need nurturing just as much as anyone else, and they also need a chance to spend quality time with their peers at the level they are operating at — or higher. That’s what keeps us moving up a notch.

      It’s becoming very clear that we need multiple levels to generate that kind of support at ALL levels, so that people can be comfortable to be where they are right now and have a clear path to the top.

      I am CONVINCED that it can happen!

      All the best,

      Ken

  • Willie Crawford

    I absolutely LOVE your plans Ken!

    Joint ventures… working with other like-minded people, leveraging each others assets absolutely works!

    Yes so many don’t get it. First of all, they don’t get that you need to ask what you really have to offer the other person. THAT is what’s going to make them want to work with and help YOU.

    Products like Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula (a great product) convinced everybody and his brother that he can create and roll out a product, yet MOST fall flat on their faces because they fail to get enough people interested in promoting their products, or they miss other key factors.

    From my vantage point, as somone who brokers joint ventures, helping clients with multi-million dollar launches, I see a HUGE opportunity in the marketplace for a lot of our peers who do understand joint ventures and being a connector. There is a huge shortage of people who can orchestrate join ventures… or even locate, recruit, train and motivate affiliates (JV partners for that part).

    I get approached DOZENS of times each week… asked to broker JV’s and also asked to recommend competent affiliate managers. Product owners are struggling, and they are looking for people with these skills.

    The GAP is that so many people are looking for the perfect niche for them! Sohail Khan and I are going to spend 5 days later this month training 15 people to do just that. 5 very intense days of total immersion. I think that it will be fun, but exhausing AND it will also give the market a product that it’s actually BEGGING for 🙂

    JV Alert did start out as a place where people “got” how to coordinate JV’s on a very “high level” and I like the move toward getting members back in that direction.

    By the way, my training will be in Atlanta March 21st – 25th… only 10 days from now. I welcome anyone interested to contact me directly!

  • Frank

    Ross is 100% right, I’m amazed at the garbage being pushed down people’s throats. Perhaps one idea would be that we have an area where we will post a short “bio” with a list of our experiences, strengths and weaknesses. Also before I promote anything I want to see it myself, work with it a bit, and make sure that it isn’t more JUNK….

    I also like Mike Filsaime’s philosophy of not trying to promote the same “hot” product as everyone else in the world is. Personally, I hate big product launches, and will not participate in them.

    BTW… for the record… Ken McArthur is AWESOME! He gives and gives and gives.

  • Frank Sousa

    Ross is 100% right, I’m amazed at the garbage being pushed down people’s throats. Perhaps one idea would be that we have an area where we will post a short “bio” with a list of our experiences, strengths and weaknesses. Also before I promote anything I want to see it myself, work with it a bit, and make sure that it isn’t more JUNK….

    I also like Mike Filsaime’s philosophy of not trying to promote the same “hot” product as everyone else in the world is. Personally, I hate big product launches, and will not participate in them.

    BTW… for the record… Ken McArthur is AWESOME! He gives and gives and gives.

  • Carol Cheshire

    I wrote a comment yesterday. I have yet to make money from the events, however I met someone who is willing to help me in Orlando. P J is going to help me if he can. I maybe a hopeless case.
    I have worked with several of the people you listed, to no avail.
    If youwish to cut the rest of us off, that is OK.

  • Mike Merz

    So glad to hear that you’re finally taking jvAlert to another level, Ken. Proud to say I was a charter member on Day 1 … and still am, nearly 8 years later.

    I’ve often told the story of how I was fortunate enough to be part of the ‘original’ jvAlert Live, way back when … all 5 of us. 😉

    Having been a relatively well known JV Broker myself the past 8 years (thanks to that guy earlier in the thread with the initials ‘MJ’), I’ve learned over time that trying to get folks to think beyond reciprocal endorsed mailings into other forms of Joint Venture (or simply treating a potential JV Partner like a real person, and not JV list subscriber #1001) is a daunting task … which is why I believe folks should know that JV Marketing site owners like ourselves don’t simply exist to give those interested in JV Marketing a place to find potential JV Partners … we have to make the extra effort to teach them, and the next generation of Online Business folk, how to be better JV Marketers.

    Looking forward to seeing what the 2011 version of jvAlert will offer … and you know where to find me if you need a hand, my friend. 😉

    Cheers,

    Mike Merz

  • Eddie Dean

    Hi Ken, This is Eddie Dean. I have been reading your e-mails that you have been sending me. I have been trying to get into work at home business for two years now. You would’nt believe the amount of junk I have recieved, well maybe you would. Forgive me. I also hav seen a lot of people suffer out there , maybe not as the one you showed inyour editorial. Families that could’nt afford to see a doctor and turned around and died. I know of one now that is fighting breast cancer and still working. Might be good to work but the money is not there. Then I come across families tat work three jobs to make ends meat. Well, I could keep on, on, and on.I wished I had the knowledge you have, I would like to sell a product thatcould bring in some money, I have thought of a produt that could bring in to start a mere $150 a week, not $6578 aweek. Just trying to get that much is a big fantacy. I would like to know if any one has ever accomplished that.($150) Everyone I have talked to has said i was a scam and will not try anything else ecause of what happened to them. And then to know of someoneto suggest and turn around and leave you out of making any thing. All your doing is puttng money in there pocket. I like to help people, but I have been left out to many times. Now I would like to make money to . Once I find this product I would want to find another that would bring in a little more(like $1000 a week) and keep processing advancement there after, but keeping it simple for them to understand and succeed to there achievement. Some times I think I’m just a dreamer, but down deep inside of me I don’t think so. I want to create something big, and lasting for everyone. As you have said pulling together as a group, helping one another, This I can understand, truthfully. Now reality sets in, can this trully happen to help others? Can I find someone with this kind of knowledge to help design such a product and keep improving it as we go on. And then there is the money situation I also am broke from investing in others beleafs. I myself am stilltrying to put together all there information just to make a buck. I’m hoping you can guide me in the right direction here. You seem to know a few things out there and are trying to pull people together. That thank you very much. Now I must try to get back to my project. Have a great day, Night. Eddie Dean

  • Jeff Wellman

    First of all Ken I think you need to expect value back in return from the members of your site. It always seems like you give and give and then fall short of getting the return on the value you put out.

    I know you may be thinking that it is not what you are wanting but I disagree. we are all human and we love to have others return value back into our life. I see that you have part of your focus on asking what you can do to make it the greatest for your members. But I am not seeing where you are asking for a return on your investment. that being creating an amazing site full of value.

    I was a little confused as to which JV Alert this conversation was all about. It seemed to start out as the JV Alert Membership and then switched to JV Alert Live event.

    But I think they both can really work together wonderfully.

    What if the members of the JV Alert membership were of such high quality that they were actually members that get the Give and you shall receive concept in a real JV Partnership.

    Not only that they get it… but they live it and practice it. Not just a bunch of words that they feel the people they teach really want to hear.

    People that are expected to pass on the knowledge of how to do a true JV Partnership.

    Seems like you are asking and looking for exactly that. So far so good 🙂

    But now here is where they give value back to you and your customers as well.
    Inside this group of so called elite you find a group that you groom to be the elite of the elite in the group that would be expected to participate in JV Alert Live as trainers, training and mentoring attendees during the
    event. Maybe this group is given a free membership in return for them teaching the real JV experience during the event.

    After all isnt that what the elite do? Don’t they have a desire to pass on their knowledge to those coming up behind them? One would think anyways 🙂

    Getting all the experts together in one room like you were going for this time in Orlando was good in theory. But the problem was that a majority of them were the wrong experts that were gathered in the room for your attendees to
    really learn correctly from.

    It is people like you Ken that can really make a difference. You care when things are not right. You have the positioning in the marketplace to really make a difference. (IMPACT)

    You need to find a way to leverage those that are the elite of the elite in your membership and have them return value back to you by serving you as well.

    A real JV is all about serving each other and giving back 🙂

    So my suggestion would be to take your members of JV Alert and take the elite of the elite that are active participants and get them to mentor and train how to do proper JV partnerships during your live event.

    Also When you know you have some of your elite members that are going to be their that are going to be doing some JV partnerships ask if it would be OK to follow that experience and use it as a learning experience during your event.

    The JV experts would be responsible for teaching exactly what they have done and how they built the relationship that got them to the point they are at.

    Just as an example Eric Paul and I. Lets say we were part of your JV Alert membership and we were filming and working on a project all weekend like we were.

    what if you would have known in advance what was going on and used what we were doing to teach and train. Of course you have to make sure you are using only people you trust to teach properly. Kind of like the way a Pastor looks at his pulpit, He is very selective as to who he let’s behind it.

    How much benefit could we have given to the attendees if we could have shared what we were doing and how it all evolved. Like the way that Paul and I were able to get Eric to partner with us is the classic give and you will receive JV Partnership.

    What we could have shared could have been magical. Not saying this to brag…I am just using us an example. But I do know those that I was able to talk to at the event that I was able to share with about how the relationship with Paul Eric and I started and what was progressing from our partnership went home with some valuable knowledge.

    Just my thoughts of how the two could work together. Don’t be the only one giving in your partnerships 🙂

  • Sohail Khan

    Hi Ken

    Thanks for asking me to comment.

    JV Alert for me has been a godsend! It is where i met MOST of my high-level friends and business partners, especially Willie Crawford!

    We have had MANY discussions in the past about the future structure JV Alert and I believe that there is a MUCH BIGGER agenda to help and assist people and companies who struggle with JV Implementation!

    The idea of TRUSTED and VETTED members has always been the No.1 key for me in being part of ANY organisation and it sounds like your plans will make the JV Alert experience one to be remembered and profitable for ALL!

    Keep up the AWESOME work you do my dear friend!

    Warmly

    Sohail ‘The JV Guy’ Khan

    http://www.TheJVAcademy.com/Atlanta

  • Keith deBolt

    Ah, Ken….

    Always growing, always changing…

    Always bringing that passion for connecting and sharing and growing together into everything you do! Your skills at connecting people, and providing people with a venue to connect in, are unsurpassed, my friend! Looking forward to being a part of your new improved version of one of my favorite teams- the JVAlert team!

    Keith deBolt

  • Joey Smith

    I know we are talking membership site here, but in my opinion the power of JVAlert is in the live connections at the live events.

    Your monetization is not built around this concept, therefore you have to promote to the “outside” and you have to have speakers come in and pitch to make up for costs. Yeah, these little “minnows” as I can them are great to feed on at JVAlert, but they do not fill you up. The JV connections will!

    The pitch model is in direct conflict to how JVAlert started and how it is being ran. Your power – relationships – integrity – character – trust. This is why people come. This is why those that don’t have those things stay away. GOOD!

    The value. The connections. The power.

    So. Why not facilitate this better by creating “outings” and things to do together to get to know one another. My best JV partners that have come from the event were ones that I took outings with while there…

    The pool time, the go-karts, disney, driving to Miami (now that was a good one) – LOL.

    Relationships are the name of the game. If you can facilitate that with a membership site, I am all aboard. But. You need “real life” extensions.

    I want life-long partners with integrity and character. I can’t find that out through a business card or hearing a pitch. (Good copy does not reveal character, in fact, it can mask it.)

    Create a membership site to facilitate connections, relationship matching (skills, interests, offers) – and provide a way to connect through a live “outing.”

    Get rid of the pitch. Add all JV training and relationship building with fun outings.

    I’ll pay handsomely for this, and I am sure I am not alone.

    In any case, KEN YOU ROCK! Total integrity, character and I trust you’ll build an awesome platform!

    –Joey Smith

    • Walt Laurel

      Hey Joey- you nailed it on the head Bro! Five + years ago when I attended my first JVAlerts event, I was struck by the level of connection with the attendees and the speakers. As my own business has matured, I’ve opted out of going to every live event that is offered and have focused on the few events where a genuine business and personal connection can be made or developed. Ironically, most of them involve activities outside of the event ballroom…. The foundation of JVAlerts live is strong (thanks to Ken, Frank, Willie and many others!). That should transcend into the membership site.

      All the best

      Walt

    • Anne

      To quote Joey. . .
      Create a membership site to facilitate connections, relationship matching (skills, interests, offers) -. . .
      This is what I had hoped to find at a jvAlert.
      Anne Flint

  • Anonymous

    Fascinating conversation going on here.

    There are so many angles to consider but one thing is for sure.

    You are a servant marketer Ken.

    And looking at who commented here you are a man of DEEP and lasting relationships.

    I am sorry I couldn’t take you up on your invitation to be a panelist this
    time around but I sure do hope you invite me again 🙂

    I have a very strong feeling I could help add something to this incredible mix.

    I look forward to seeing what direction you go in.

  • Lee Collins

    I love the new model Ken. I stopped playing the “mail for me and I’ll mail for you” game years ago. I think it was Ross who said “quality over quantity” and with that I fully agree! Keep me in the loop and let me know how I can help. JVAlert is one of the last true QUALITY groups and I’m happy to be a part!

    Best,
    Lee Collins

  • David Yorka

    Hello Ken and all, (The Pot is officially stirred!)
    I have two brief comments/thoughts

    * Want a real “game-changer”? What about a call to action for JV’s from different sectors and complimentary missions social impact and power as the Impact Action Team ; generating money, community change and is sustainable

    * Number two is a public/private partnership that is a great fit, mutually beneficial and has the “right” model for growth. Naturally I have a strong bias for youth-centered marketing projects (my micro-job-stimulus project)

    Two Books: Peter Druckers Managing Non-Profits and Robert Egger’s
    Begging for Change plus Jim Collins Good to Great – and The Social Sectors

    I have been doing this work for ten years and it works!

  • David Yorka

    I agree quality without compromise vs. quantity for “big is more”

    Flimsy marketing doesn’t scale up as Great online marketing

    We have all the brains, the resources, the money and the heart…what is important AND what are we willing to do…to make it happen?

  • Carlton Riddick

    I think this idea and concept is exactly what is needed in the IM space and in IM in general. There are so many people involved now it is hard to know who really is out to build a business for longevity and who just wants to “make money”. Note: There is a difference…

  • Roosevelt Simmons

    Ken, when I think of internet marketing, I think of JvAlert, I have been attending JvAlert now for many, many years. The members that have been supporting JvAlert over the years have been coming back not just to find someone to JV with, but to be a part of a community of like minds. I personally meet someone new at ever event and learn something new that I can use in my business. You see JvAlert has a special family connection of friends that want to see everyone archive their goals. When you go to other event you will not find this. From Impact to JvAlert to Tobri all of these things have one common element that make them all work and that Ken McArthur. The power of JvAlert is in the strengths of the members working for the good of all. That’s what new member will learn when they joint and become a member. There is always a new internet membership site or organization popping up every day, but JvAlert has a positive history of changing the lives of its members in the internet community. Thanks again for all you have done.

    All the best,
    Bud

  • Roosevelt Simmons

    Ken, when I think of internet marketing, I think of JvAlert, I have been attending JvAlert now for many, many years. The members that have been supporting JvAlert over the years have been coming back not just to find someone to JV with, but to be a part of a community of like minds. I personally meet someone new at ever event and learn something new that I can use in my business. You see JvAlert has a special family connection of friends that want to see everyone archive their goals. When you go to other event you will not find this. From Impact to JvAlert to Tobri all of these things have one common element that make them all work and that Ken McArthur. The power of JvAlert is in the strengths of the members working for the good of all. That’s what new member will learn when they joint and become a member. There is always a new internet membership site or organization popping up every day, but JvAlert has a positive history of changing the lives of its members in the internet community. Thanks again for all you have done.

    All the best,
    Bud

  • Walt Laurel

    Ken- I think the idea of re-launching the membership is spot on! I also agree with Ross’ comments of quality over quantity, particularly given the state of Internet Marketing $47 pitch of the week, no value added BS!

    Joey hit on a particular point of changing the paradigm to a full “experience”. Make no mistake JVAlerts Live is about the “experience” not the front and back room sales.

    Getting to meet great folks like Willie, Dave, Joey, Eric, Paul, Jeff, and on and on…is the foundation of the experience. That same experience should be the foundation of the membership, otherwise (in my not so humble opinion!), it is no better than the rest. The membership should be an extension of the live engagement…period!

    Create an atmosphere where business is conducted in a fun, supportive, and engaging manner and…bing, bing, bing…We got a Winner!

    Just take a look at some of the more successful “hot seats” (Joyce- protecting children, Joy’s LPN in half the time, the Impact Team)…need I say more?

    Can ya tell I’m pretty passionate about taking this to the next level?
    JValerts live: More Hot seats (darn right, I said it …smile!), greater emphasis on what it takes to implement true business ventures, and more activities out of the room…..

    JVAlert.com – a truly supportive and mutually beneficial membership for the 150 or so members focused on real business ventures regardless of the niche!

    Ken- we absolutely love ya dude! You have the heart and soul of a champion and that’s what keeps us connected! Looking forward to being a member.

    Walt

  • TheSpotter

    Ken,

    I’m sure this approach will create a lot better and more lasting relashionships between people who are the part of “inner circle” so to speak. I have to agree with Ross on overload of the information that is not really suited to for many people, or as he put it “garbage in the “IM” space” 🙂

    My personal experience with your events was always awesome! …even though I have missed a last few. Quality connections created during live meeting with people are a lot more lasting then anything created via other means.

    Hopefully you will consider me worthy to get an invite once you have any open spots.

    Alex Sysoef

  • Peter Njuguna

    Ken,
    Thanks for the opportunity to think together.
    And thanks to Ernie Denney, my name got proposed for this distinguished invite!

    These are my thoughts on the issues in question
    1. Joint Ventures are critical because they provide leverage, but they take time
    2. What I have found is that many people (some gurus included) cannot tell you exactly what they are specifically good at, what do they want to do, or what they are specifically looking for at this time (skills, services, etc) Now, that said, what about someone new to the internet? They are carried wherever the flow goes. And everyone knows about the hype, the rip-off, frustration etc
    3. My previous experience with events (some high-level, some local) is that much of the work and preparation is done before – when people actually meet, they know who is who and who wants what, and who does not know what they want. Such are more productive.
    4. The current format (in my humble opinion) felt like experts wanted to sell, and others were there to learn. Which we did – we know who are experts in what because they spoke to us – but they dont know who we are. If we want to use their services, we may get a discount, but that is not a joint venture.
    5. Could you define a specific project yourself and list what experts, resources you would need, and then source those experts/resources for a project? In the same way, your project here is a group of like minded people coming together into a collaborative working companionship to build more than each can have by themselves- when people are together for a specific purpose, and that gets achieved, there will be joint ventures popping up everywhere in the group because they came to know one another and created joint experiences

    In conclusion, create the goal and evaluate the needs for that goal. That format may guide you in evaluating who to invite.

    I rest my case

    Thank you

  • Robert Puddy

    Hmmm…

    Here is a radical thought. why not have an associate level at $2k a year and limit it to 30 people (60k a year revenue) and at every jv alert those 30 people can get together in a room and 10 of them can do a 20 minute elevator presentation to the the room, (3 hours) and each of the 10 get a 30 minute brainstorm with the other people in the associate group (another 3 hours)

    And you vet the associates to include some knowledgable people (like me 🙂 and i for one would pay to be in a decent mastermind group just like that.

    And every year the 30 spots come up again, and people have to re-apply for them so some would be left out and others would join.

    If for instance marlon and mark were in that group (no pressure there guys just examples) the brainstorm sessions would be intense.

    Then the JV opportunities would come from the networking,

  • Ray Edwards

    I think requiring skin in the game is a good idea – in fact a needed one.

    Puddy’s idea seems good too… although another approach could be a JV performance base. For instance, make $x in sales or X numbers of sales for another JV Alert member, and get into the “Inner Circle” meeting.

    Requiring payment helps screen out non-starters… but not always.

  • Anonymous

    IMPORTANT UPDATE:

    The jvAlert family has generated over 71 detailed comments from some incredible people on my blog post about the future of jvAlert.

    Commenters include Mark Joyner, Marlon Sanders, Stephanie Frank, Willie Crawford, Declan Dunn, Ross Goldberg, Peter Parks, Deremiah *CPE, Warren Whitlock, Mike Lewis, Sherrie, Rose, Tom Grow, Shirley Young, Dr. Mani, Steve Parady, Joey Smith, Roger Johannesson, Ernie Denney, Stephen Renton,
    Angie, Walt Laurel, Frank Sousa, Willie Crawford, Bill Clemens, Peter Njuguna, Roosevelt Simmons, Alex Sysoef, Carlton Riddick, David Yorka, Bill Covert, Keith deBolt, Sohail Khan, Jeff Wellman, Eddie Dean, Mike Merz, Doc Williamson and more.

    Thanks to EVERYONE who has commented!

    Many other people wrote me directly or called me to offer detailed advice.

    Here’s what I’m hearing:

    1. People are tired of junk in the Internet Marketing space.

    2. People want to know who to trust.

    3. People are tired of useless, “you promote for me, I’ll promote for you” thinking.

    4. People want long-term solid relationships and deep level partnerships with shared resources.

    5. People want live networking opportunities.

    6. People want facilitated advice and joint venture partners for projects they create.

    7. People want to expand their networks of potential partners, but only to quality, reliable partners.

    8. People want to combine resources to leverage marketing clout and negotiations for shared services.

    8. People just getting started want to be included, and educated so they know how to do things correctly and effectively.

    It all starts with leadership.

    The jvAlert family needs to stand for quality and value
    if we are to make a significant contribution to making
    this industry better for everyone.

    With that goal in mind, I’m going to seek out the
    best possible advice on an ongoing basis from a
    brand new jvAlert Advisory Board consisting of
    6 – 12 industry leaders who are vested in raising the
    quality and standards of ethical and value driven
    marketing.

    This is not a passive position. I’m looking for 6 – 12
    active thought leaders who can make a stand for solid
    quality and value, who are inspired to make things
    better and willing to make the effort to lead the way.

    Backing up the leadership of our Advisory Board are
    150 hand-selected, value driven Inner Circle Team members
    who want to actively partner in depth with the best of
    the best.

    The Inner Circle Team will be actively supporting the
    thousands of people who are part of the jvAlert family,
    by setting an example of quality and value, delivering
    advice, education, project and partnering facilitation
    and mentoring through our ongoing education and new
    partnering programs including:

    – The jvAlert “Hot Seat” Webcast Series
    – The jvAlert Perpetual Learning Series Webcasts
    – The New jvAlert “Member’s Only” Social Network
    – The jvAlert Education Center
    – jvAlert Sponsored Joint Projects
    – jvAlert Partner Matchmaking Services
    – jvAlert Facilitated Masterminds
    – jvAlert Product Series
    – jvAlert Certified Products
    – jvAlert Certified Instructors
    – JvAlert Mentoring Programs.
    – jvAlert Live Workshops and Events

    Together we will pull together amazing resources and
    services for people who want to work together to build
    quality products and services with real value, so they
    can make a decent living in every sense of that word, and
    make a positive difference in a very noisy world.

    The proposed sequence …

    I think quality needs to be build from the core out.

    The building only stays put through storm and flood if
    it’s built on a solid foundation.

    So … I think the first step is to pick 6 – 12 thought
    leaders for my advisory board.

    Then we will talk about execution and direction.

    Next we will start inviting in our inner circle, building
    our new resources including the “members only” social
    network, education center, new webcast series, joint projects,
    facilitated masterminds, certification programs, workshops
    and live events and more.

    The first step is to determine WHO should be on the advisory
    board, so I’d really like your input on that.

    Who do you know who stands for:

    1. Ethical Marketing
    2. Professional Quality Products and Services
    3. Outstanding Leadership
    4. Sterling Reputation and Value Driven Results
    5. Teaching Others How to be Successful
    6. Making the world a better place for all people

    Would love to hear your suggestions.

    All the best,

    Ken

  • Smarttees1943

    Shirely Young,
    People want real business’s that just do what they say will do, without loosing all that invest in. Not junk, all this junk ads, its hard to really say whats real.
    Many want you to purchase there products, it does not matter whether you anything or not the company wont be hurting.

  • Daniel Tredo

    H i Ken,

    When Glen and I first attended JVAlert Live in Denver, we were both blown away by the quality of people there. I never saw anything like it. The family atmosphere really made building relationships easy. Somehow, you’ve been able to create a distinction at your events that I havn’t seen anywhere else.

    So I think whatever you do should be driven by improving on that one element. Do whatever it takes to expand opportunities for more face-to-face contact. That’s where all the magic lies. And it’s such a rare thing in the world. To me, it’s like pure gold.

    If you are guided by that one central idea – to keep attracting the best of the best, and giving them opportunities to interact together in person, I think incredible things will keep on happening. It’s possible JVAlert could literally change the entire industry.

    Thanks,
    Dan Tredo

  • Tracy Repchuk

    Hey Ken – You are always at the forefront of great things, which is why I adore you. The internet marketing field is strewn with scammers and frauds, which is why I backed out last year of over 50 speaking engagements – and started my own world tour – where we now train for a day – and make one offer. The power of JV Alert was the networking. I think the charge up front model, and make it like a mastermind and networking JV event is what you naturally excel at. I am all for membership sites, however the power of face to face can’t be replaced. We thought about streaming our shows, selling the video training afterwards, but face to face – making an impact from the heart level – which is why you need to be together is how it works, how real relationships build, how people respect, admire and really get to know the value of your products and services. You are amazing – I am glad JV Alert is strong and more frequent even – and JUST ONCE – I wish I wasn’t on the other side of the world speaking – so I could make it to one. Spoke lots with Frank on the cruise (it was my last one for internet marketing – I have my own now) – but the community of people you have, are the quality ones in the industry. You are the glue that binds the integrity and ethics. Perhaps add an Internet Marketing Standards Board to your ‘niche’ – and you have it all. 🙂
    Love
    Tracy Repchuk