Editor’s Note: Welcome to Channel Marketing Journal

It’s January. How are you doing with those New Year’s resolutions? Like many people who resolve to get a fresh start in the New Year, you’ve probably set a few personal goals of your own for 2018 such as eating healthier or hitting the gym more regularly. Maybe you’ve decided to pay better attention to a relationship — like your marriage, for example.

But what about your channel partner relationships? What plans have you made to ensure the deals you struck last year or before will continue to produce mutually-rewarding results in 2018? Like marriage, vendor partner relationships need constant stoking to thrive.

A tweet from @MarriageSolved sums it up perfectly: “A good marriage is where both people feel like they’re getting the better end of the deal.”

Swap “channel partnership” for “marriage” and “companies” or “partners” for “people” and the tweet captures the essence of today’s channel environment.

Whatever you’ve resolved to do for your business this year, we hope you’ll find inspiration in our inaugural edition of Channel Marketing Journal to take stock of your channel partner relationships and make some tweaks.

For technology vendors, we provide practical tips in “Recipe for Success: 5 Secrets to Rewarding Channel Partnerships” and expert insight from an interview with Glenton Davis, Global Business Strategist at Microsoft by Channel Marketing Journal editor, Jeff Mesnik.

In addition, technology VARs will relate to our overview of key takeaways from the AFV “2018 State of Partner Marketing” report in the blog, “What VARs Want in a Channel Marketing Program: 4 Takeaways.” Our guest contributor, Global Marketing Consultant Luanne Tierney, shows us the impact of the IoT on channel relationships in, “IoT Presents Opportunities and Challenges for the Channel.”

On behalf of the team at the Channel Marketing Journal, I wish you a “Happy New Year” and best of luck with your 2018 resolutions.

Karen Dasey
Managing Editor