My courseload this semester at the college was, at first, very light. I was scheduled to teach only one class out of my usual four or five each semester. (By the way, the course is called Information Technology Marketing.) Although a rare occurrence, I was told, “We’re in the off-cycle.” Said one professor, “The winter semester is usually pretty ‘dead’.” Okay. No problem.

Then I thought: “This is an opportunity for me to take on more copywriting and speaking gigs!” In fact, based on that premise I began to pack my schedule. For example, my next keynote will be at the upcoming Editors Association of Canada conference — for more information, visit http://editors.ca/ncr/ottawa.htm. It’s a small gig. But with all this extra time, I didn’t mind.

With a little bit of marketing, many new (and particularly smaller projects, like the above EAC gig) started pouring in. Not so fast there, bucko!

The coordinator of the Marketing and Management Studies Faculty at the college (and my boss), called me a week ago to ask me if I’d like to teach a few extra courses so to replace two ailing professors. I love teaching, especially these types of courses (i.e., marketing management, selling and ebusiness marketing). So the answer from me was pretty obvious.

But as it turned out, I was asked to teach not just one or two additional courses but four! “We need you,” Steve told me. Of course, I was delighted to be asked. But the kicker is that my time has now been cut shorter — and I still had all these new projects to contend with.

Anyway, why am I saying all this? While not as apparent, there is an important marketing lesson in this. Since I can’t personally take on all the projects I originally anticipated, I’m forced to delegate. I have no choice. But the thing to keep in mind is that, with the help of the Internet, this is surprisingly simple. For one, there are many “virtual assistants” available.

For example, there is the Internatioanl Virtual Assistants Association at http://www.ivaa.org/. You can also search the “virtual assistant referral network,” which is found at http://www.assistu.com/client/, or even bid on freelance VAs at http://www.eLance.com/ (simply type the words “virtual assistant” into the search form). But there’s more.

Without question, the web is a fertile ground for creating not only partnerships, strategic marketing alliances and affiliate programs but also joint ventures. In fact, I know quite a few Internet marketers who have made significant fortunes on joint ventures alone — even without having products of their own!

For example, say you can’t find a product to sell online. If that’s the case, one of the easiest ways to profit from the web is, after finding out what a particular market wants, to find a way to give them that product. And a method to achieve this is by searching for a supplier of such a product, offer them to sell the product in exchange for a small commission and then creating a relationship with them — even if they don’t have an affiliate program in place (in fact, this could be to your advantage as you could negotiate exclusivity). It’s simple, common sense … Right?

But what happens if you already sell a product, especially a service (your time, in other words), and can’t keep up with the demand? Joint ventures are an option and can also become profitable in these cases. If you sell a product but can’t keep up with the demand, there are many companies that are willing to partner with you — either for a percentage of the sales or a flat fee. There are also many Internet fulfillment companies (some expressly handle catalog and digital products), such as:

http://www.ifulfill.com/
http://www.duplisoft.com/
http://www.nfsrv.com/
http://www.equire.com/
http://www.saleslink.com/
http://www.ubid.com/
http://www.qfsinc.com/
http://www.dmrdirect.com/

Nevertheless, that’s the beauty of online marketing. Never discount the power of joint ventures on the Internet. In addition to providing additional products, backend products or sources of income, joint ventures can also be used to bear the brunt of your work. Moreover, the bonus is avoiding a payroll. Robert Allen, author of many books, such as “Creating Wealth” and “Multiple Streams of Income,” once said that one of the secrets to profiting is what he calls “employeelessness.”

With the help of the Internet, that notion is so much easier.

Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter and consultant dedicated to turning sales messages into powerful magnets. Get a free copy of his book, “The 10 Commandments of Power Positioning,” when you subscribe to his free monthly ezine, “The Profit Pill.” See http://SuccessDoctor.com/ now!