Leveraging partner ecosystems is not new.  Social Media has not reinvented the space.   Regardless of how you are experimenting with social media and partnering to drive customer value, I would recommend to not stray too far from basics.  Here are 3 rules I recommend:

1. Never embarrass your partners in front of their customers
2. Maintain a [highly] visible profile in your Partner’s income statement
3. My Golden Rule:  Whether selling directly or through the channel, never let others define the value of your product.  Define a market disruptive “promise”, and then continually exceed expectations.

I grew up on a farm in the country, across the street from my grandparents.

The roots of my family’s involvement in farming began with their immigration to the United States at the turn of the 20th century.   My basque great grandparents settled in the Imperial Valley via Cuba (they moved on after 2 years because Cuba was poorer than the country they left!).   My Swiss grandparents (or great grandmother) settled in the Imperial Valley after losing her husband to Typhoid fever (year after the great SF Quake) and then remarrying (with 3 kids) via San Francisco.   The story of my family in farming continues today, but it is mostly written through our family friends (relationships forged through 3 farming generations) and my former classmates currently tending to their family farms.  This story may have lessons to teach to web entrepreneurs struggling to establish themselves amongst large corporate, venture capital, and governmental competitive interests.   Here are a few lessons that I have learned about how my [extended] family farm has adapted in the face of large and seemingly insurmountable challenges:

1. No Debt!: While easier said than done, there are many community strategies for bootstrapping your operation.  Debt is a four letter word to a farmer.  Those interests that have survived generation to generation never take on an obligation that isn’t readily serviceable if they can help it!
2. Own the means/ capacity to production: Those family farms that have survived through generations place high importance on owning their own capital equipment:  processing sheds; tractors; etc.   These capital outlays are incremental sources of revenue and reduce their operating costs.   Several family farms have also exited land farming completely to consolidate their interests behind being capital service providers to other farmers.  Most family farming operations run “cooperative” structures that leverage common capital services spread across several interests.   [Curious comparison to make here regarding cloud computing!  I wonder if Twitter would not be better served having a more immediate span of control over their service infrastructure.  The twitter model is very different from the Craiglist model. I believe the Craiglist's service "fidelity" is better served by their focus on owning their own means of production.]
3. Find your premium buyers – Be it Global or Local: Premium buyers exist for any product.  If traditional market servicing mechanisms are not delivering the price you need, go find your own buyer that will.  Great example:  Cattle Feed.  In my former home, a premium is paid  by Kobe beef ranchers to hay/grass growers because their very specific quality and nutrient requirements are met by Valley suppliers.  In response to servicing this outlet, farmers have created a cooperative that markets and sells their products into the Japanese market.  A “farmers market” / direct to consumer strategy can also be organized under this point.
4. Experiment with 10-15% of your capacity: Those family farms that have not only survived, but actually made money over the generations were DISCIPLINED experimenters!  Cash crops don’t just happen.  Lower operating costs don’t just happen.  These farmers MADE THEIR OWN LUCK, by diversifying their production across several crops and experimenting a % of their capacity with new types of crops.    Every business or activity has a learning curve and these successful family farmers know this point well.  I believe that Google’s 20% persona employee project edict is a fair mimic of this strategy.
5. Be involved in your local coffee shop: The coffee shop is a literal and figurative place where networking, knowledge sharing, and community happens.  Community can be ugly, protectionist, and exclusive, but that’s sort of the point isn’t it?   Community is personal and consistent.  It supports itself.  It fights like hell to maintain itself.  Its about status.  Its about influence.  But its mostly about “getting things done” and “having fun.”  This last point is the underpinning all others made here, so if you are trying to start a web business please note that the only thing more important than venture capital is social capital.

For the past few months, I have been training for my first marathon.  When I successfully complete the Big Sur marathon in 2 weeks time, I will have many new friends and mentors to thank from the Kstar running club.

Long distance running has been a very positive habit that I have added to my life.   While I am a good athlete, I did not take to long distance running easily.  My mental mindset has always been oriented towards sprinting.  Long distance running has taught me to better appreciate the “experience of running.”    It has me appreciate the talents of focus, discipline, and understanding of planning and achieving long term goals.   I believe the gifts from my long distance running experience have many parallels that are equally true within a business context.  Here are a few I found to be meaningful:

• Find your own joy in the training/preparing process – Running long distances is demanding.  There are many variables you will encounter in preparing yourself – which is another way of saying – there will be many negative experiences as part of your journey.  Overcome negative variables by making sure you understand and reward yourself with positives during the training process.  Fellow runners at Kstars rewards themselves through all types of different methods:  Large breakfasts after runs, charging hills, music inspired workouts, being inspired by the tiny technical details of running (time, weight, form, shoe technology), or being free spirits and taking pause breaks from atop vistas or doing lots of yoga, etc.   My joy:  Running from the SF Ferry Building to Tiburon! (twice and counting)  I like impressing myself with these long distance and inspiring “monument” running adventures and then bragging about them later to friends and family!
• Test yourself monthly, but only once a month – If you go full effort for every training run, you are guaranteed to be “out of the race”.  On the flip side, if you never take an accurate measure of your ability, then you will never maximize and develop your potential.   Runners spend most of their training time preparing. As part of that process, it is a good habit to test your abilities once a month, but only once.  Over time, those “tests” may likely evolve.   For example, in the first few months of marathon training, a hard high paced run for 5-7 miles may be an appropriate test.   But after 4-5 months of continued training, a 12-15 high paced run may be feel like more of a test.   This isn’t an insight about pushing your limits.  This is an insight about giving yourself the space to prepare so you can improve.  The tests are there to measure the improvement.  This mindset applies to business as well.    Constantly pushing the envelop, without preparing, is a great way to destroy motivation and risk your organizations long term success.   At the same time, when businesses stop finding ways to add new value or improve upon existing capabilities, they will become stagnant and loose their competitive edge.
• Don’t wish for success, plan for it (but be an extreme realist) – I have been humbled on the training running course by women, the elderly, and others I have underestimated athletically.   Distance running is a great equalizer for athletic potential.   Age, gender, and muscle mass are a lot less important than mental discipline, breathing, form, and training context.   Here is an example.  One Thursday I ran 4 miles in the morning.  At the time, I thought it wasn’t a very long run.  That evening I participated in Track workout that was structured around 7 medium distance sprints (400m – 800m).  The first two or three sprints I was a leader amongst the group.  I pride myself on being a fast sprinter and expected to continue to winning the exercises [remember that pride comes before the fall]. This was ego at its worst as there were no medals being given out at this training practice!   I ignored feeling of tired legs for the first 2-3 sprints.  Then my legs gave out.   The final 4 sprints had me struggling to finish.  I was lapped by everyone including a 78 year old man.   I wished for a good outcome, but didn’t apply rationale planning to my task.  If you aren’t realistic about your potential at the start of 26.2 miles or even 15, then the odds are likely you may not finish the task.  Experience is what we it when we don’t get our way.  Testing yourself, setting a realistic plan, executing the plan, and then testing again is runner’s way for achieving performance over time.
• “Healthy” change only occurs as a matter of degrees (10 – 30%)- People can wake up one day and go for a 26.2 mile run.  They will hate life for long period of time afterwards, but it is possible to complete distance without training.  A responsible person realizes that building a distance running talent only happens with patience by a matter of degrees of change.  During my training, the advice I have received is the body can only support ~20% increase in mileage per week.  This puts the ideal “minimum” marathon preparation plan at ~4 months.   I think responsible business managers should be in tune with the limits of change imposed into their organizations.  It is troubling when business leaders don’t believe they have enough time to implement a change right, but they have enough time to do it twice (or 4 times)!  Building talents that are worthwhile, happen by a matter of degrees and that process should be planned for – unless you are okay with the idea of hating life for a period of time after your “quick fix” change has been implemented (see point #2).