Posted by Lamees Abourahma on Thu, May 17, 2012 @ 09:18 AM
Every organization needs to have multiple marketing strategies in order to be a competitor in their particular industry. Here are five strategies membership organizations can use to attract new members and engage existing ones.
Networking. Each organization should have a strategy on how to network with potential members and leaders in other organizations. The objective should be “Quality, not Quantity”. Don’t try to network with as many as you can, try to establish and cultivate a few worthwhile connections.
Give-a-ways. I have yet to meet a customer, who doesn’t like a “little something” to take home after consulting with a member of a prospective organization. Something small and cost-effective will do wonders in helping the prospect remember their visit or meeting with you. Anything from magnets, to ink pens, and little bottles of sanitizers will be sufficient.
Cold Calls. Cold calls are the best way to surprise a prospective member. However, it takes some time for these to be effective if you’re not used to them. Many potential member/donors may confuse you with the typical “telemarketer” and hang up, but others may take the time to listen carefully to your proposal.
Advertising. Every organization has to have ads! In this day and age, catchy advertisements stick the most in the memory of American citizens. Something colorful and meaningful will suffice. Humor works in a lot of situations as well. But, be careful not to go OTT (Over The Top!). Potential donors will also remember which organizations “tried too hard” to keep their attention with an ad as well.
Educational Events. One of the most important reasons members join associations or membership organizations is to learn about a topic of interest. On the other side of the coin, membership organizations can provide great value to their members by hosting educational events that has great content. By opening events to both members and non members, you can grow your prospect list and keeping them engaged with emails or more events.
Membership growth and retention are goals each membership organization has to work on. The above recommendations are some strategies you can put in place to help your organization with these tasks.
Does your membership organization use any other strategies and have success with them? We'd love to hear what's working for you. Let us know by adding a message in the comments section below.
About the author: Chelsea Jackson is a sophomore at Virginia State University working on her Bachelor’s of Science degree in Management Information Systems. Chelsea has been an active student at VSU working as a Student Activities Office Assistant and a Sophomore Class Vice President. Chelsea is currently working on an inbound marketing internship with Webbright Services.
Posted by Lamees Abourahma on Tue, Apr 17, 2012 @ 08:53 AM
As association board members, we all hit a snag when it comes to bringing in new members. Even those associations that are well known have some trouble keeping their membership on a steadily growing track. Here are a few suggestions in how to keep those numbers “in the green” with membership.
- Goals and Vision Planning/Adjustment: If you haven’t already done so, set a goal for the year in terms of membership. How many donors do you expect to gain, how many do you expect to maintain membership and how many might you lose? These are all questions that you should ask yourself at the beginning of each term.
- Diagnosing problems: Troubleshoot each part of your application processes or donation sign-ups to identify any issues with the systems. Membership can’t increase if there isn’t a way to join.
- Pull more for your Target audience: It’s great to place general statements or ads for your organization. But if you get potential members that aren’t truly interested in the vision of the association, then the pursuit of the member is a loss. When you focus on the specific group of people that your association applies to, then there is a greater chance of membership increase.
- SEO: Search Engine optimization is a great tool to make sure that your organization is searchable on the web.
- Dues: Annual review of dues for membership in the organization should include feedback from multiple members from different incomes.
- Membership Offers: What do you have to offer new members as well as older members. Giveaways, reduced initial dues, and services within the organization are all great offers to choose from.
- Advertising: Design an ad that can be replicated on any display. The company logo and catchy slogan should also be considered. This will intrigue more potential customers to inquire about your association.
- Testing: Send out inexpensive correspondence to previous and current members to make sure that their contact information has not changed. It’s unfortunate when all the effort in advertising goes to the wrong individuals.
- Renewals: Offer incentives to older members as well. If they’ve been a member for an extended period of time, send a gift or a voucher for a guest to attend a function.
Overall, a combo of these tips will contribute to a successful strategy for membership increase.
About the author: Chelsea Jackson is a sophomore at Virginia State University working on her Bachelor’s of Science degree in Management Information Systems. Chelsea has been an active student at VSU working as a Student Activities Office Assistant and a Sophomore Class Vice President. Chelsea is currently working on an inbound marketing internship with Webbright Services.
Posted by Lamees Abourahma on Mon, Feb 27, 2012 @ 11:21 AM
You’ve heard the term “6 degrees of separation” right?
In theory, it suggests that everyone is merely 6 connections away, via introduction, to any other person on the planet. To be honest, before the induction of social media, I probably wouldn’t believe that. These days, new research is suggesting that number may actually be more like 4 degrees of separation, thanks to the power of social media. An article in the NY times published late last year stated that, “Using data on the links among 721 million Facebook users, a team of scientists discovered that the average number of acquaintances separating any two people in the United States was 4.37, and that the number separating any two people in the world was 4.74.”
As a small business owner or entrepreneur, that should get you excited.
Some of the biggest challenges for many businesses are to really connect with their current and potential customers, get genuine feedback, and of course, create new business opportunities. Being active in the social media space allows us to do that.
HubSpot, a marketing software company in Cambridge, Massachusetts founded by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah has put this information to good use.
HubSpot has about 300 employees, each one being active users on the various social networks. Being active on social networks as a corporation is an essential tool for businesses today. It allows you to get a pulse on what’s being said about your company or your brand. It lets you listen to what people are saying about your competitors—what they’re doing right and what they’re doing wrong. It also affords you the opportunity to stay abreast, in real time, to things going on in the industry—trends, news and the like. Lastly, it can also be a means of generating leads.
I was playing around with some imaginary numbers in my head and came to a simple conclusion.
Say you have a company with just 10 employees. Between all of their social networks, (Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, and Tumblr) they have a total of 200 "unique" friends. (When I say unique, I mean no overlapping people between networks). If each of your employees all sends out a single promotion and just 1% of all their friends respond and actually clicks through to see what you're offering, that's 20 new leads from just the 1 link. I like those odds.
If you’re not already active in the “socialsphere”, I’d suggest putting together a social media policy for your corporation and strategy for your organization and really get involved in the conversation.
This is a guest post by Brent Trotter. Brent is currently an Assistant Account Executive at Ogilvy & Mather in Chicago, IL. The opinions and perspectives published on this blog are all his own and do not represent the views of his employer or its clients.
Posted by Lamees Abourahma on Tue, Jan 10, 2012 @ 01:22 PM
Richmond's National Association for Women Business Owners (NAWBO) just hosted an outstanding seminar on certification for women owned businesses. The seminar was moderated by Karen L. Cole, Assura Consulting, Inc. and presented by Sandra P. Eberhard, Executive Director of Women Presidents’ Educational Organization-DC and Joanne W. Tompkins, Director of Crater Procurement Assistance Center. The presentation included information on the WOSB, WBENC, and Other Women Business Certifications.
Karen L. Cole with Assura introducing the panelists
Presenters from left: Joanne W. Tompkins and Sandra Eberhard
Posted by Lamees Abourahma on Tue, Nov 22, 2011 @ 01:24 PM
Guess who made some breakthroughs in the past couple of months? The photo below should tell you part of the story. For some exciting details, read on.
As a business owner and entrepreneur, you need a broad set of skills. Some of these skills you might have naturally, acquired over time, and some you need to work on. Public speaking is one of these skills that are critical for an entrepreneur to possess. Both Bill Gates and Steve Jobs started their companies with another co-founder; however, Gates and Jobs are better known and more visible because of their ability to communicate their vision to others effectively through public speaking.
Public speaking is an important skill for a leader to have. As a leader, one not only needs to create the vision, but convey the vision to others in a way that motivates and empowers them. As I learned in my E-Myth Mastery Impact! training, you don't have to be born a leader; you can learn to be a leader. Luckily, public speaking is a skill that can be learned. Dale Carnegie spent over 40 years discovering the secrets of effective speaking. He revealed his discoveries in his books: "The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking" and "Speak More Effectively". Effective speaking is one of the concepts taught in the Dale Carnegie course that I had the honor of taking very recently.
When I started my Dale Carnegie Course Skills for Success eight weeks ago, I was not comfortable speaking in public. However, that was a skill that I knew I need to work on in order to communicate my vision and grow my business. Throughout the Dale Carnegie course, and with the help of our trainer, coaches, and fellow participants I was able to stretch myself beyond my limits, building my confidence, my skills and fascination for public speaking. Each week, we gave 1-to-3 2-minute presentations on building relationships, pushing back on stress, and becoming a leader. Our presentations were concise, passionate and intense.
Today, I am the proud recipient of the first Outstanding Performance Award for this course, and a proud recipient of a Crashing Through Award for demonstrating courage, flexibility and risk-taking. I am much more empowered, and much more prepared to tackle public speaking.
Now that I graduated from the Dale Carnegie course, I look forward to every public speaking opportunity I will have. On November 3rd, I participated in Virginia State University Business Week, were guests from the corporate world came and talked to students about working in the real world. I very much enjoyed talking to a computer networking class of 20 students along with another consultant from Cisco. It was a very rewarding experience that I plan on repeating. On November 17th, I had the honor of presenting my company at a luncheon to a local professional association in Richmond, VA. You can read my remarks here.
While in the past I would've avoided speaking to large groups of people, now I would jump at any public speaking opportunity that will give my business more visibility. A very powerful tool for growing my business!
So I challenge you to stretch yourself beyond your limits and acquire new skills, and the benefits would be that you will achieve new heights you did not even imagine.
Bright wishes,
Lamees Abourahma
Founder & President
Webbright Services, LLC
lamees@webbrightservices.com
804.638.4448
Posted by Lamees Abourahma on Mon, Nov 21, 2011 @ 11:54 AM
Early this year, I had the pleasure of helping the Venture Forum, a Richmond-VA professional association, develop their membership website. As the website sponsor, the Venture Forum recently offered me a 2-minute speaking spot on their luncheon program.
This presentation was a great application to the "Magic Formula for Influencing Action" that I recently learned at my Dale Carnegie course. The Magic Formula is most effective for communication in which we ask listeners to take some action. It consists of the following three steps:
- Evidence
- Action (Point)
- Benefit
Here is how I used this formula in my 2-minute presentation:
"In the spirit of the Venture Forum, I wanted to share with you a short and fun venture story. In 2005 Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah met at MIT while working on their MBA. Brian graduated and went on working with venture-backed companies to help them grow their businesses. Dharmesh stayed at MIT to work on his master’s degree. As part of his thesis, Dharmesh started a blog called OnStartups.com. He was spending 3-4 hours per week in between classes to work on his blog. While Brian was helping companies spend tons of money on trade shows, telemarketing, advertising and other marketing venues. For their surprise, Dharmesh and Brian found that Dharmesh’s blog grew much further interest and traffic than the companies Brian worked with. It was clear something has changed.. the way people shopped and learned has changed. Companies are no longer in control. Customers are in control.
Brian and Dharmesh went on to invent what they called Inbound Marketing. In 2006 they started an Inbound Marketing software company called HubSpot. HubSpot started with 3 people. I visited HubSpot office in Cambridge this summer. They’ve grown to more than 300 people. Inc. has recently recognized HubSpot as the #2 fastest growing software company and the # 33 fastest growing company overall.
Why am I telling you this? My name is Lamees Abourahma. I am an Inbound Marketing consultant and a HubSpot value-added reseller. I’m also the founder of Webbright Services and the proud website sponsor of the Venture Forum.
I’m here to make you two offers. First, I like to invite you to go to my website (www.webbrightservices.com) and fill out an Inbound Marketing evaluation request. You will receive a detailed report of your Inbound Marketing performance and a free consulting session. Second, I would like to challenge you to learn more about Inbound Marketing. I am available to speak to you or your marketing department. Inbound Marketing is a very effective strategy for generating leads and growing your business.
I would like to thank the Venture Forum for this opportunity. Thank you. Enjoy your lunch and the rest of the program."
What did you think of this presentation? Is it effective? Anything you'd do the same or different?
Questions? Thoughts? Feedback? Please share in the comments section.
Posted by Lamees Abourahma on Mon, Oct 31, 2011 @ 10:22 AM
- You want a professional image and strong branding for your organization that you can’t get from Wild Apricot standard website themes.
- Your staff administrators are great at what they do, but they’re not technically savvy.
- Your organization is running by a small group of dedicated volunteers who can’t take on the additional task of creating a website and learning Wild Apricot.
- Your staff members can benefit from one-on-one training by a Wild Apricot partner.
- Wild Apricot is constantly upgrading their software and you can’t keep up with all the changes and additions.
- You want to integrate a Wild Apricot widget (e.g., event or news updates) with your website which is hosted with another provider.
- You need custom code or custom search that is not supported by Wild Apricot.
- You want to work with a dedicated account manager to help you with any inquiry or consultation, instead of working with limited Wild Apricot technical support.
- You want to migrate your website and all existing contacts to Wild Apricot.
- Membership and event registration is a pain for your staff. You need to innovate your systems and you need expert help.
- Learning Wild Apricot has a big learning curve that a Wild Apricot partner can help you overcome.
- You understand the benefits of social media for your organization and you need help integrating these media with your website.
Webbright is a Wild Apricot Partner and Membership Solution Provider. Learn more about our
Membership Solutions.
Posted by Lamees Abourahma on Fri, Oct 28, 2011 @ 01:06 PM
One of my primary Strategic Objectives is to create a virtual company where I can run the business and work with people anywhere in the world. My Virtual Office system comes in handy in the summer when I got to work from Halifax, NS.
Our first road trip from Richmond, VA to
Halifax, NS this summer was a great success. The 2,000 km drive was not a problem as we made a couple of stops along the way to visit with family before arriving at the beautiful Halifax. The city was very charming and the tourists were lively. Despite the absence of sun most days, the cooler weather was a nice blessing (70 C for high and 50 C for low). My kids enjoyed, what I like to call, "the sound of music camp" playing in the fields as well as flying kites. I had a fantastic time visiting with friends and catching up on our year. We ended the trip on another great note as my husband and I had a special getaway in lovely
Mahone Bay, NS.
On the way back to Richmond,
I was very thrilled to visit with my HubSpot Partner Account Manager, Jeetu Mahtani, and Director Peter Caputa, at their new, large, inviting, and "orange-bleeding"
HubSpot office in Cambridge, MA. The young employees (average age 25-28) worked quietly, happily, and intensely in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The organization growth chart displayed in the lounge area clearly showed HubSpot's very ambitious motto "Go Big or Go Home". The company started in June of 2006 with 3 people. In July 2011, the company has already grown to 300 employees. The fact that HubSpot has no vacation policy as each employee's performance is evaluated based on target numbers is reminiscent of E-Myth's Key Strategic Indicator system. This system-dependency, as opposed to people-dependency, is another reason I really like this company. My only regret: I did not have a camera to take any photos!
After a fantastic summer, I am all charged up and eager to start working more on my business.
What's in store for Webbright? A new content marketing strategy, new partnership with amazing providers with outstanding skills and talents, new solution packages with innovative services for new markets. Stay tuned for more details as we make history.
Last but not least,
I am very excited about starting the Dale Carnegie Skill for Success course this Fall. As
Warren Buffet called it, "it's the best certificate he ever got and a life-changing experience". I am looking forward to some great changes!
Bright wishes,
Lamees Abourahma
Bright Founder & President
Webbright Services, LLC
Posted by Lamees Abourahma on Tue, Oct 25, 2011 @ 01:31 PM
According to the recent Membership Marketing Benchmark Report by Marketing General, 57% of the organizations surveyed experienced membership growth in the last 12 months compared to only 42% in the previous year. Despite the good news, most membership organizations continue to face the following 9 common challenges in increasing their membership:
- Insufficient staff
- Lack of planning
- Inadequate database
- Lack of research
- Lack of marketing strategy
- Insufficient budgets
- Weakness in products or services
- Lack of marketing expertise
- Market saturation
Based on this survey, the biggest obstacles to membership growth appear to be insufficient budgets, weakness in products or services or poor marketing expertise. Organizations reporting these had a decrease in membership over the last 5 years. Organizations reporting a lack of planning or strategy had, on average, no change in membership. Interestingly, those organizations reporting insufficient staff, market saturation, an inadequate database and a lack of research nevertheless showed increases in membership.
| Increased Membership |
No Change in Membership Growth |
Decrease in Membership |
| Insufficient staff |
Lack of planning |
Insufficient Budget |
| Market saturation |
Lack of strategy |
Weakness in products and services |
| Inadequate database |
|
Poor marketing expertise |
| Lack of research |
|
|
Here is some of these challenges and what professional associations can do to over come them.
Insufficient Staff
In the survey, 16 percent of the respondents cited insufficient staff as the biggest challenge to membership growth, the highest percentage of any of the challenges. Yet this is probably the easiest challenge to overcome because every membership organization has a built-in opportunity by involving its members in selling the organization. Members should be engaged in meaningful ways, so they clearly see the value of the organization and are willing to share it with others. Programs that reward members for bringing in new members can be effective. A “Member Get a Member” program, with recognition for success has worked well for many organizations.
Insufficient Budget
Every one of the challenges to membership growth is, to some extent, caused by a lack of money. While only 12 percent of the respondents reported insufficient budgets as a challenge for membership growth, very few organizations will admit to having sufficient funds to accomplish all their purposes. The best organizations find ways to work around money shortages by setting priorities and finding more efficient ways to do things. The use of committed members willing to provide pro bono services can be very effective; some expert members might also be willing to trade their services in exchange for sponsorship opportunities.
Weak Product or Service
This was the second most cited challenge to membership growth, with 13 percent citing it. The organization has to show it provides a real return on investment to its members. For example, many members join an organization because it provides good networking opportunities. If the programs are weak, ways should be found to enhance the networking experience. One organization held a weekend retreat with key staff and members with a professional facilitator to re-examine their mission. Weaker programs were pinpointed and either eliminated or strengthened.
In a weak but evolving economic environment, membership growth is dependent on staying ahead of the curve. Use of social media like Facebook and Twitter have little cost, but can provide major benefit. This article provided three of the challenges membership organizations face in growing their membership, and some suggestions to over come them.
Learn about Membership Solutions.
Posted by Lamees Abourahma on Tue, Oct 11, 2011 @ 09:08 AM
When I turned on my TV last Wednesday night, October 5th, I was very saddened, like millions around the world, by the news of the passing of Apple's founder, Steve Jobs. There was a lot of coverage on many channels of his life, his company, and his legacy. I was very captivated by the lessons of leadership that Jobs demonstrated during his life. one of the stories I particularly loved is one that John Sculley told.
John Sculley was the former CEO of Pepsi. In 1982, Jobs wanted Sculley to join Apple as its CEO so he said to Sculley: "do you want to sell sugary drinks for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me... and change the world". Sculley took the job and became Apple's CEO for the following 10 years. What I loved about this story is how Jobs sold Sculley on his idea. Sculley was not sold on salary; he was not sold on bonuses; he was not sold on perks. Jobs sold Sculley on a dream.. "to change the world".
In 1963, when Dale Carnegie wrote his best-selling book, "How to Win Friends and Influence People", one of the principles he taught to enhance relationship in order to achieve desired results is "arouse in the other person an eager want". As professionals, we are constantly selling ideas. But people consent to help for their own reasons, not ours. If we make it clear how our ideas will benefit them, there is no limit to the cooperation we could receive.
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