@Jackson Lin ...
"I agree with the contents of this post, but what would you suggest for someone starting up in a niche that isn't in the IM market?"
There's not a shred of difference.

In fact, I don't recommend someone new even tries to start in the IM niche.

Many get started with "how to" for internet marketing or "how to" for making money online because it's what they now know. It's the sales letters they read, the sales videos they watched, the DVD packages they bought, the peers they met, the forums they hang out in, the blog they read, etc.

So they start up right in the same mix.

INSTEAD of taking all these tricks and tactics and stepping into easy-to-milk niches where they could quickly dominate and build a consistent income.

But back to your point....

The original post was simply aboug leveraging distribution and top authorities. The "niche" doesn't matter.

I don't care what vertical I'm in: real estate, mortgage brokers, skiiing instructors, home theatre systems. There are authorities in all of them. In some cases, the brand isn't the individual's name (as is common in the relationship-focused internet marketing segments)... it's instead a company name. But it's still an authority.

And how you JV with them is still similar.

You can change the numbers in my example too, to better suit your needs.

The point though, is if you want the quick exposure and if you realize the non-bottom-line benefits... then tipping the scale grossly in the favor of the authority who holds the distribution (or as I call it "the audience") is very smart.

Eben Pagan was one of the first in the IM circles to be talked about as someone who pays up to 200% commissions in their affiliate program to top qualifying super-affiliates.

The concept to me is second nature. Not because I'm oh so smart but because I have a lot of experience with over-delivering on the front to enjoy the benefits on the back.

but think about Eben's 200% aff comm payouts (to super affiliates only)... those super affiliates have the distribution in his particular niche (dating). They are sites like AskMen who have massive traffic and push a lot of gross sales to Eben. So OF COURSE he'll over-deliver to them.

Anyways, my point that I want to keep coming back to is understand that someone who holds a large volume of distribution (their list, their blog, whatever) and perceived authority in a market (the "guru" in that niche) is someone you carefully want to draft a VERY over-the-top in their favor proposal to.