Partnerships and referral fees that hold up
Most partnerships are a lunch and a logo. The structures that produce actual deal flow, and the fee arrangements that survive the first dispute.
Topic
Growth
10 articles.
Free trial versus demo versus freemium
Three ways to let someone try before buying, with different costs and different buyers. Which fits your product complexity and contract size.
Paid social for B2B, and the narrow case where it works
Targeting a job title is not the same as reaching a buyer. The conditions under which paid social returns money for a B2B company, and the maths.
Trade shows versus webinars
Both cost more than the invoice suggests. Real cost per qualified conversation, and the industries where the older channel still wins outright.
The referral channel nobody measures
Referrals are most companies' best channel and their least managed one. How to make it countable without turning it into a scheme.
Case studies that close deals
Most case studies are testimonials with a logo. What a buyer in a live evaluation is looking for, and the structure that gives it to them.
Cold email versus LinkedIn outreach
Two outbound channels with different failure modes. Deliverability, reply quality, list cost and the reputational risk each one carries.
SEO versus paid search when the budget is small
With a few thousand a month, one of these is a bet and the other is a purchase. Which to pick, in which order, and the case for doing neither.
Marketplaces versus your own site
A marketplace rents you demand and keeps the relationship. When that trade is worth it, when it becomes dangerous, and how to run both.
Acquisition channels that survive scrutiny
Which channels actually produce customers for small and mid-sized companies, which only produce activity, and how to tell the two apart within a quarter.