Association Execs Share Creative Ideas for Member Bonding

The American Society of Association Executives which now goes by the acronym ASAE, holds what it calls Super Swaps four times each year. The one I sat in on last week in Washington, DC was about membership marketing. There were probably 40 professionals in the room, many of whom contributed to a spirited conversation.

The session was moderated by Talisa Thomas Hall, president of The Center for Effective Organizations, who was very good. Although some of the ideas were association specific, many could be adapted to different marketing situations.

Annual Meeting – One association streamed its general sessions by putting them live on its Web site, so all could members could benefit and share in the conference. One of the speakers was well known and from a TED Talks series. When asked, the membership person said the general sessions are of interest to all, and not necessarily conference specific. It’s a great way to get people who didn’t attend the annual meeting last year, to think about coming next.

CEO Outreach - One CEO has a conference call every three months for all new and current members. They get on the phone and ask him questions about the association during the call. It’s a creative method for welcoming new people, and to show that you care.

Helping Members Get Through Tough Times. For members who are on the fence or can’t pay all at once, consider offering an extended installment plan. You can do it through Pay Pal. One membership professional said her association’s membership was down 20%, and since it's offered a payment plan membership is up 6%. That’s impressive.

Market to Where Members are with You Understand where specific members are in the lifecycle of membership, and deliver member benefits for them around that. For instance, one association has new members get a call from a staffer after the first 90 days to see how it's going. Another association has a forum annually where founding members are honored. Several associations have recently added associate memberships at a lower rate. All agreed that as part of this, you should give your current members recognition or an added bonus.

Wooing younger members One association sends members out to recruit and talk about it to high school students. They offer a free membership to them and follow them to college. Often the high school students join as college age members later on.

Members tell their stories Consider capturing the stories of how your association made a difference in the lives of individual members and sharing them. One association had a photo and video booth at its annual conference where people could tell their stories of membership. It was kind of an old fashioned idea, but members loved it. The association was also able to create a library of material that it could use to reinforce the value of membership.

Remember to Constantly Ask Yourself These Membership Questions


Consultants also shared some of the questions they ask membership staff and leaders when they are called in to help. They are pretty basic, but always good to revisit.

What is your members’ can’t, why aren’t they involved with the association and what’s stopping you from delivering it?

What do your members want from you?

Who are the members in your association that bring in non-dues revenue and how are you reaching out to them?

Are you focusing your membership marketing on what you do well?

What can you stop doing and no one will care?

Yahoo Social Guru Offers Engagement Tips for Facebook

I saw Patrick Albano, executive director of social and mobile sales at Yahoo speak at Adweek DC recently. I thought it was one of the best presentations I’d seen in a long time. So I’m sharing. I’ve also added some thoughts of my own.

The evolution of social

If you go to a party and just talk about yourself, you will be the least popular person there. That’s how most organizations approach Facebook. But that can damage all of that brand loyalty you've worked so hard to build.

Albano discussed how social media has created a major shift in how we approach branding. For decades marketing and advertising was focused on convincing people that The Brand Cares about Us. Remember the Pepsi Generation, Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, or You are in Good Hands with Allstate?

But in Yahoo’s post engagement analysis of its Facebook pages, it determined that the most effective approach is to convince individuals that The Brand Cares About Me. The emotional connection now has to be made on an individual level.

Back to the Future

Believe it or not, Albano, who is well under 40, suggested reading How to Win Friends and Influence People. Written by Dale Carnegie in 1936, it offers six steps to getting people to like you, which are as relevant today in social media as they were in sales then.

1. Become genuinely interested in other people
2. Smile
3. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language
4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves
5. Talk in terms of the other person's interests
6. Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.

Remember when people answered their phones, and the customer service rep was a person not a voice mail or computer help list designed to not have you talk to anyone? When a human being was on the other end of the line, actually voiced concern, and a real connection was made. That’s two-way communication.

But today, the vast majority of business Facebook pages repackage information that’s been approved, sanitized, etc. from other sources. Often they are from another form of media, like a press release, and read like one. The goal of these Facebook pages is to search well, to have some sort of a presence. But just having a Facebook page doesn't do much, except improve SEO to some degree.

It’s All About Caring What I Think

Albano pointed to research which found when advertisers asked people questions around content sales jumped by 12%. Ads that ask questions are 4x more engaging than those that don’t.

If you troll Facebook pages, as I often do looking for ideas, you will see a lot more questions. Some work and some don't. Albano points to the contrast of the traditional Oscar experience on the Web where experts tell you who will win and why they think so compared to weighing in on who wore that dress best.

Sports is in a question mode too – not just in social but mobile. Teams and commentators are asking fans who they think will win the game and giving real time stats on what everyone thinks.

The Art and Science of Questions

The best question example Albano gave was State Farm’s Fallen Firefighters’ video posted on 9-11, and created for its 10th anniversary. Called “Empire State of Mind” and directed by Spike Lee, it runs six minutes and tugs at the heartstrings while revering the firefighters. The question State Farm asked – What did you feel that day? The responses were overwhelming.

PBS has about half a million Facebook fans and is a master at asking engaging questions. Here are a couple of recent ones that sparked conversation:

• What do you hope President Obama talks about? (reference was to an upcoming news conference)
• Do you have a favorite Steve Jobs moment or quote?

I also took a look at some of Yahoo’s Facebook sports questions:

• Which NFL team has surprised you the most this season?
• The NBA players are willing to miss games. Do you think there will be any games at all?

Of course, it's not just the questions, with any marketing approach you must have a sound strategy behind your page. And from that strategy, your questions will evolve more easily.

So what questions can you ask on your Facebook page?

What a Great Ad - Tax Breaks vs. Spending on Schools

No matter what you think of tax breaks for businesses, this new ad from the Michigan Education Association done solely online is genius. It's one of those show me, don't tell me ads that really drives the point home. It makes you shake your head, tsk, tsk and so believe in the rightness of what they are saying.

Go to kidsnotceos.com. That's advertising that works. It's also going viral on the Internet.

Can LinkedIn Really Help with New Business Development?

I am determined to figure out the best ways to use LinkedIn for marketing. As a PR and marketing consultant, social media is a great tool for me. Many consultants swear by LinkedIn as a way to find new contacts, build networks, share information and generally just make yourself look smart.

But can you get business from it or is LinkedIn just the world’s largest database?

The answer is I really don’t know. I have used LinkedIn successfully in the past in several ways that are helpful:

Team Building – When I need to put together teams of people to go after large contracts, and I am missing a key team member, LinkedIn has provided a resource for finding new talent.

Prospect and Database Development – I network a lot and each time I meet a new contact, I send an invite to join my LinkedIn database. This is part expediency (it’s easier than inputting cards into my system, and people respond quickly and remember you), and part a way of connecting that is not a direct request for business.

Building Attention for Blogs and Other Writings – I belong to many LinkedIn groups, actually I think I’m over the limit, and a handful I monitor regularly. I have several blogs and posting a link and note on a group that may care about what I’ve written drives traffic to my spaces.

Twitter and Facebook for Business Associates – I tweet about all sorts of things – from Paul Simon’s performance of Sounds of Silence at Ground Zero to how hard it is to teach my 15 year-old son to drive. But on LinkedIn I can “tweet” the professional stuff that interests me and not worry about the entire universe seeing it.

Keeping Up With Journalists – I am connected to many journalists on LinkedIn and I can keep up with them this way without reading endless Twitter feeds.

Monitoring the Conversation – Some LinkedIn discussions are pure drivel, others go on forever, and others I’ve learned from. One conversation on How do you know if someone really doesn’t understand marketing? resulted in a blog post, that resulted in a news article, and the conversation is still ongoing.

Much of the talk is about stuff I already know but it’s good to be reminded and I have learned some new things.

Looking for New Work – I’ve had former clients (and unfortunately boyfriends) find me on LinkedIn, and sometimes when I get wind of a new project I can look up a person from that company and ask for help connecting. This seems to work well. Of course you have to pay a fee to use the InMail function but it’s worth it.

But can LinkedIn be used for Marketing?


I digress. Can LinkedIn be used for business development? I am trying. For the last couple of months I have been going through my list of 600 or so LinkedIn connections and getting in touch with those that I think I could partner with or help. I’ve met with about a dozen of them for coffee or lunch, depending on how well I know them.

I’ve found a lot of job seekers who I’ve helped more than they’ve helped me. But I’ve also gotten some leads. Stay tuned for an update. And feel free to comment and offer your own advice.

Can Cheerleaders Successfully Market Science?

www.sciencecheerleader.com, an organization started by the dynamic and committed citizen scientist Darlene Cavalier, has a noble goal. It wants to demonstrate to young girls that it’s OK to be pretty, smart, and love science. In fact, all of the cheerleaders want young girls to believe in themselves and do what they love to do.

At the first USA Science & Engineering Festival in 2010, the Science Cheerleaders drew large crowds, as they shook their pompoms, did a brief summary of what kind of scientists and medical specialists they are, and joined in unison to yell “Go Science.”

The Science Cheerleaders travel around the country and do many public appearances. They hold cheerleading clinics and try to inspire young girls to take science seriously as a career path.They have gotten a lot of media attention, as well they should. It’s a unique idea and it negates a persistent problem in science - the notion that female scientists are weird and frumpy.

With all that said, I simply can’t get away from the fact that the whole concept of cheerleader, whether pushing science to girls or not, has always bothered me. Perhaps it’s because I was one of the smart girls who hung out with but didn’t date the jocks. Perhaps it’s because the cheerleaders didn’t like me and I didn’t like them. Perhaps it’s because even at my 30-year high school reunion, the cheerleaders still wouldn’t speak to me.

Or perhaps, it's because I’m the mother of a 12 year-old girl and I don’t want my daughter to be a cheerleader or a beauty queen or a model. I want her to be liked, and loved for that matter, because she’s funny, smart, cool, a total jock and all the other wonderful qualities that make her, her.

Of course, if my daughter wants to be a cheerleader then I will support her in every way I can. But I would feel a lot better about that choice if the image of a cheerleader wasn’t such a negative one, particularly as it is portrayed in media.

If you watch a lot of bad teen TV, or teen movies, which I insist on viewing if my daughter does, cheerleaders are still portrayed as not very nice girls. They are the queens of the high school, the popular girls, the ones who wear too much make-up, really short skirts, and date the captain of the football team. They are shown as the original mean girls, shallow, foolish and admired not for who they are, but what they look like.

Cheerleaders conform to a male, let’s face it pretty darn sexist, image of who and what girls are and should be. The Science Cheerleaders have a serious message to impart, but they’re attention-getters because they are pretty, sexy and good dancers. That’s a fact.

The beauty queen who followed the Science Cheerleaders at the event I saw them performing in, lost me within seconds. She talked for a good half hour about the work she does with growing passion. But no matter what she said, she couldn’t negate the image of the woman I saw heading towards the stage, strutting her stuff in skintight jeans, boots with five inch heels, with an entourage of men beside her. After she changed into her long white beauty queen dress – I think she even had a crown on but I could be making that up – she wanted to be taken seriously. But I don’t think she was.

So do I think that smart, beautiful women who want to level the science and engineering playing field should be out there doing what they do for science? Absolutely. But there is a part of me, and not a small one, that wonders how much good the Science Cheerleaders can really do if all those good intentions get lost behind the stereotypes.

What do you think?

How The Kane Show Markets by Saying I Love You

On the Kane Show, which is on Hot 99.5 FM and one of Washington, DC's most popular morning shows, Kane has the usual radio line-up of 20-something cohorts, including Sarah, the perky, pretty one, who comments on everything without saying anything vaguely controversial, and Samy, the post-college boy who always seems to be hung over and sounding very About Last Night.

Kane and his team tell listeners they love them all the time, and those who call in to answer various questions do the same. It's like a great big love fest, and it works for branding and bonding listeners to the show.

A much milder Howard Stern

I don’t know Kane’s first name but he reminds me of Howard Stern when he was funny and silly, before he became a shock jock. I used to listen to him while driving around Manhattan early in the AM searching for on-street parking, and hating every car that managed to get into a space before me.

Now it's my middle school-aged daughter and I listening to Kane after we drop her brother at high school (he wouldn't be caught dead listening to the kind of music she does), and it's only for about 20 minutes. But at least, in the middle of traffic, speeding cars, morning crankiness and a lot of last minute hair brushing, it gives us something to smile about.

Kane does cross the decorum line often, and when he does we shut the radio off, and my daughter doesn't argue because it's so abundantly clear she shouldn't be listening. But we still listen every school day because Kane is like the annoying uncle at Thanksgiving that gives you too much information, but makes you laugh hysterically.

The show also has a strong morality streak, bathed in humiliation. On our favorite segment, called “War of the Roses,” half of a married or deeply involved couple asks the show to call their significant other and find out if they're cheating. Generally they are and a cat fight ensues.

The ruse to get the person they phone talking is that they will get a free bouquet of roses sent to the one they love. The "War" depends on who they decide to send them too.

But this blog isn't about the various antics of Kane and his gang, it's about building relationships with listeners or customers.

At the end of almost every call from a listener, Kane or Sarah or Samy say “I love you.” Listeners tell Kane and his sidekicks they love them too. The love flows so freely it seems natural - like we're all part of one big happy family. No wonder it's one of the most popular radio shows in our market.

I think telling people you love them is much more accepted now than it used to be. Today’s parents say I love you all the time to their kids. When they end a call. When they say goodbye. When they just feel like it.

My 15 year-old son tells his friends he loves them at the end of phone calls. “Love ya man,” is often the goodbye. It reinforces good feelings and in today’s screwed up world that’s a big plus.

Should marketers call to say I love you?

So it got me thinking. What would happen if marketers started telling customers they loved them? How much do we thank those who have helped us for their support?

If you’re in a service business you work for people that you love because they are a great fit with you and they are easy to work for. When you work for people that are jerks you immediately regret it. So why don’t we tell the business people who are good to us that we love them? What holds us back? Do we think they’ll be embarrassed? It’s better to tell them then not, don’t you think?

The Kane Show gets it. Kane shares the love. It's expressed many times during his show, out loud by the people who work with him and those who listen to him.

Better yet, in a lousy market, it sells a lot of advertising.

Beat the Heat with a Little Plagiarism Perhaps?

It's 102 degrees in Washington, DC today and with the humidity index it's 115.

How many times do people just pick up information off the Web and republish it under their own names? It's happened to me and I saw today a perfect example of how it's done- except this person got called on it. And their immediate reaction was to deny it, even though the articles were almost identical.

It reminds me of a discussion I contributed to recently about whether or not picking up someone else's blog post - if it was attributed - was considered unprofessional. Although it is common practice, the comments were pretty straight forward. Don't do it. It makes you look bad.

If you can't come up with something that is at least a new take on an age old topic then don't write it. Blogging is a pain in the neck, and I can't tell you how tempting it is sometimes when you see something that's good by someone else to change it a little and make it yours. But that's plagiarism pure and simple

The original article was written by a U.S. News & World Report blogger. I'm not going to put names on this because I'm really writing about the topic rather than the people. The bottom line is someone in this little story took someone else's work and passed it off as their own. That makes all of them look bad except the original writer who pointed it out.

Here's the discussion - judge for yourself. The plagiarized blog post has already been take down so I copied the conversation for you. Interesting example of a gut reaction to deny and then a realization that a person who was trusted really did just take someone else's work.

The original writer - This article is copied from an article I wrote for US News and World Report, word for word. Are you really passing this off as your own - in a group that I moderate? This is the the article that I wrote. Word for word.

The blogger who posted the copied article - Our article came directly from a manager with a Fortune 500 Company. If you read both articles there are differences. We don't copy articles. She did an interview with our content writer and I know she didn't copy your article.

I have written articles myself on what is now a hot topic, that are now showing up all over the sites. I published a book in 1998 with an entire chapter on the subject.

Sorry if you want to take this off the site please feel free to do so. She included new info in point number 6. I think there are only so many ways you can reinvent the wheel and write from experience. The manager wrote this we just edited and helped with the title.

The original writer - Are you kidding me? Helped with the title? It's EXACTLY the same title. The content isn't rewritten - it is the same. You added one thing to post it in a group that has a string with 450+ comments to try to bring more traffic to your site. Before you write me back and try to justify your position, take a look, make a quick comparison. It is copied and then you had the nerve to come and post it in a group I moderate. Really?

Your manager didn't write it. You should start checking your content from your content farm through a checker for plagiarized work. This is copied. You should be giving credit to the original owner, not passing it off as your own content.

And yes, please take it off your site.

My take on this - In this situation, if I was the person who posted this article, I would never try to defend it - just apologize and take it down immediately. There's nothing to be gained from denying it especially when the two articles are almost identical.

A few minutes after I posted this the apology came. Kudos to the blogger for taking action quickly.

The blogger - I am so sorry. We had no clue this was copied. We are taking the article off our site and I will leave your group. This is a new site, we didn't expect anything like this to happen and we will make sure from here on out that this does not happen again. I have a feeling the manager read your article and didn't realize what she was doing was wrong b/c she does interviews all the time using Stars.

Also I just got off the phone with my editor and she told me she heavily edited the content of the article that she submitted. The manager and I talked weeks ago and she gave me all of those reasons she didn't hire people off the top of her head. I asked her could she write them in an article and she said yes.

I have two staff writers that freelance and they have either interviewed our contributors or sent them questions for the articles. And some of our contributors have submitted their own content. We don't copy. I am a published author and I would not want anyone doing this to me. I apologize and will leave your group. I posted to a few sites and I can't see a way to remove the posts but I will try to get them off of Linkedin. . .

In the end, the lesson learned is pretty straight forward. People plagarize other people's work and on the Internet I believe it's become a much more common practice than it once was. What people don't seem to understand is that everything on the Internet is copyrighted the moment it's published. So the same rules that applied to print work - apply online.

Will the copyrights be enforced? Probably not. But is it really worth it? In the end, the whole point of blogging is to add to the conversation, not copy someone else's. Yes we're all crazy busy and it's easy to take an idea, change some of the words, and represent it as your own.

I've been working a long time, and have seen most of the new and brilliant marketing approaches touted as new ideas before. The media marketers are using today may be different, but fresh ideas are hard to come by. This particular blog post was pretty generic and contained information that has probably been published in many different forms over time - repeating much of what has already been said.

What do other marketers think? Do you re-package others content and if you do how do you attribute it?