When anyone partners with Mansion Productions, from the smallest affiliate program operator to a global processor as large as Epoch, relationship-building is fundamental to the process. We offer best-in-class products—software that is designed to help companies grow and reach their full potential. This isn't like selling office equipment, where relationships are the size of purchase orders and sealed with a signature upon delivery.
Whenever we're seeking out a new partner, we do our homework first. We're fastidious: What's the long-term financial gain? Is it realistic to believe that we can establish synergy between our respective companies? Does this organization have a history of honest business practices? Can we trust them? What's at stake for both companies?
That last one is easy to forget, but it's so elemental; it speaks directly to your chances of long-term success.
So much cooperation goes into building a successful partnership; there has to be something at stake for both parties. All of us must acknowledge that challenges will arise as we plod through integration, implementation, and future growth, but it's just as important that we keep an eye on the prize and recognize there are quantifiable results on the horizon—results that will have a sizable impact on our respective bottom lines.
Mansion is prudent about choosing partners, and the partners we choose are the same way: They're prudent about choosing us. From our perspective, this is the only way to go about the process.
We can't afford to affiliate ourselves with fly-by-night companies that have questionable reputations or checkered pasts. No matter how revolutionary or entrepreneurial their ideas, it's not in our best interest to take those kinds of risks. Our clients trust us with confidential, sensitive information. If we choose the wrong partner, it not only reflects poorly on us, but it also could have direct, dire effects on everyone with whom we associate professionally.
We at Mansion are fortunate to have built lucrative partnerships with some of the biggest names in the world—companies like Hustler and Epoch, who have reputations that precede them. When you associate with organizations of that size, the dynamics are different. Who they are makes it much easier out of the gate. Will integration take longer? Absolutely, but that's what happens when you're dealing with a big, valuable account. The additional work is offset by the value they bring to the table and, perhaps even more important, the fact that the less-tangible issues of trust, accountability, and professionalism don't enter into it.
Epoch, we're happy to say, is going to take advantage of our entire suite of infrastructural tools. In January, Epoch's clients began to see their statistical reporting with an MPA3 look and feel. The also began to enjoy features never offered before by an IPSP.
Being aligned with Hustler is equally exciting. Today, we handle the technical aspects for all of the company's online properties: HustlerCash, the pay sites, the Web design, and consultation. We're responsible for all of it, and what can we say? It's an honor and a privilege. Hustler is more than merely an adult company. Movies are produced about it. It's a pop-culture icon, and it entrusted its back-end operations to us.
Initiating and sustaining relationships with companies like Epoch and Hustler starts with mutual respect. That's the bedrock. We may get into arguments on occasion; we may not see eye-to-eye, but that's all process and, I daresay, healthy.
Respect means we know they take their work very seriously, that they live and breathe this stuff, that they're bouncing ideas around nearly every waking hour, trying to make their brand stronger and more valuable.
And guess what? They know we're doing the same thing. So when a disagreement comes to the surface, or a conflict really leaves everyone bewildered and scratching their heads, nobody's shaken up. Nobody takes it personally. We're encouraged to explore every angle, to analyze everything—and that, in turn, helps firm up the decision-making process, makes any future developments more concrete, and ensures everyone is on board and on message.
Oystein Wright is the chief executive officer of Mansion Productions.
