Most small business owners have a “one-time hit” attitude about their relationship with past and existing joint venture partners. This wrong approach means they expect to just carry out one project with their joint venture partner, and move on to another new partner for the next project.

Of course, every business owner should continuously form new joint venture relationships in order to expand their reach. However, you also need to frequently reconnect with your existing joint venture partners, and here are some of the reasons why:

Firstly, it’s a lot easier to convince a past or existing partner to partner up with you again (because they already know, like and trust you), than it is to convince a potential partner to try you out for the first time. By maintaining your relationships with past and existing joint venture partners, you’ll constantly brainstorm and carry out multiple projects, and you’ll need fewer new partners as a result. You’ll also spend much less time on finding and convincing new potential partners.

Secondly, you’ll probably find that a past or existing joint venture partner is more likely to do significantly bigger projects with you. No sane business owner will risk doing a long-term, million-dollar joint venture project with someone they haven’t known for awhile and done some business with before. So, any new joint venture partner will start off doing a small and simple project with you until they get to know you more. The longer you know each other, the more you’ll trust each other, and the better for doing business.

Thirdly, you’ll also find that your existing partners may have increased their client base, or enhanced their credibility in the marketplace, or have met more influential people they can introduce you to by the next time you’re partnering up with them. In this case, you don’t want to be seen as an opportunist who shows up only during harvest.

Here are five easy ways of keeping in touch with your joint venture partners:

1. Celebrate Occasions
Connecting with your joint venture partners has a lot to do with knowing what’s important to them. Send a card or a gift to wish them a “happy birthday” or to congratulate them about their new achievement, or to simply wish them “happy holidays.”

2. Schedule Catch-up Phone Calls
A simple email saying “Hello, I want to hear what’s new with you, when can we talk?” is enough to tell your joint venture partner that profit is not all that you care about. Your conversation will result in finding out more about each other or coming up with more profitable win-win opportunities.

3. Be A Resource
Sending value-added emails to your joint venture partners is another way of showing that you are thinking about them. The email can contain information that alerts them about what their competitors are up to, or a useful article that will help with their client relationships, or even an event you think would be great for networking. The objective is to ensure that the email is one they will not want to delete after reading, and that will make them see you as a valuable resource.

4. Make Them Part Of Your Team
Making your joint venture partners part of your Mastermind Group or Success Team or Advisory Board is an opportunity that will make your relationship stronger. However, it has the additional advantage of enabling you to support each other’s business in other ways that will present more joint venture opportunities, and other business benefits such as expanding each other’s network of quality friends, associates and business partners.

5. Find “Meet-Up Opportunities”
You can apply all of the greatest technology in the world to keep in touch with your joint venture partners, but face-to-face meetings are still the most effective way to truly connect. So, when you make travel arrangements to attend an event or go on vacation, remember to factor in a “coffee date” lasting 30-60 minutes with each joint venture partner that lives in the city you’re visiting. If you’re in town for an event, consider inviting them to attend that event.

You must strengthen your partnership relationships over time, and the joint venture projects will expand as your relationships grow.

Habiba Abubakar, a.k.a. The Profit Diva, specializes in helping small business owners who are struggling to increase their client base, and are tired of earning mediocre profits. Get your copy of her free 7-part mini eCourse, “The Easiest Way To Skyrocket Your Profits In 90 Days Or Less,” when you subscribe to her free business-building newsletter at www.profitdiva.com