When you think of great partnerships over time a few special ones come to mind:

Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire
Roy Rogers and Trigger
The Lone Ranger and Tonto
Bing Crosby and Bob Hope

But for me when I think of the perfect partnership I think of Reese's Peanut butter cups.

Do you remember their commercials where two people, one snacking on chocolate and the other munching on peanut butter, collide accidently with the brilliantly crafted script:

"You got peanut butter on my chocolate."

"You got chocolate in my peanut butter."

Melt in your mouth goodness. (No wait, that's M&M)

The point being that some of the greatest partnership have happened by accident and gone on to be the best thing since sliced bread.

Wow - it must be time for lunch.

Anyway, last night I had the honor of presenting a speech on Earning Customer Loyalty to a great group of women business owners in Green, OH. One of the ways to create customer loyalty is by offering something your competition doesn't. How to do that? Partner with a symbiotic business; an eyeglass store with a book store.

We talked about some unexpected yet brilliant combinations:

- An exercise place, like Curves with a weight loss program like Weight Watchers.
- A reception hall with a wedding planner.
- An auto glass shop with a car wash.
- Mary Kaye or Avon representative with a beauty salon.
- Writers with graphic designers or web developers.

The beauty of combining forces is that you, not only offer wider services to your customer, but are also exposed to a completely different list of prospects. Not selling your mailing list -no, never. But as a writer, if I put together a communication to my mailing list about the benefits of having a professional graphic designer for their marketing efforts and mentioned my graphic artist and vice versa - we are providing value to our prospects and exposure for our partners.

So what do you think?

Do you partner with another business that complements your services/products? What kind of combinations are out there? How have you used the connection? What success can you share?

Deborah Chaddock Brown
Writer