GREAT 95 IDEA: Strike a Deal with a Giant

The first step toward making a deal with a much bigger company is to target potential companies that are a good fit for your business. In our case, we target companies that serve business owners, including banks, credit card companies, and technology firms.

Get started by checking out web sites, magazines, and trade journals that serve your industry. Make a list of advertisers you see in those publications because those are the companies to contact.

Next, go online to scour the web site for contacts. Look for the top decision makers in the marketing department. Find out everything you can about the company's products, marketing campaigns, and other alliances. Find out which ad agency they work with by checking Advertising Age.

Once you determine who to contact, your challenge is to get through to them. Rather than sending an e-mail, call the main company number and ask to be put through to the marketing executive. You'll probably reach a busy assistant, so practice your pitch. You only have about 30 seconds to make a positive impression.

It's usually easy to figure out a company's e-mail format based on the media relations person's e-mail posted on the web site. Look for the public relations or media relations page of the site. If the media relations person's e-mail is: [email protected], you can be pretty sure that's the style to use.

Try cutting through the clutter by sending an old-fashioned letter. Yes, a letter. Explain who you are, what you do, and how you can help the company beat its competition.

Don't get discouraged. It is very tough to connect with a big company. It took me years to build a reputation as a small business expert to leverage that into moneymaking deals. But you have nothing to lose by trying.