member retention

Join me as I reconnect with Scott Sanders, founder of the IT Business Owners Group, to explore the thriving community he's built for IT professionals. Since our last conversation in 2019, Scott shares the remarkable organic growth of their Facebook group, which has blossomed into an essential hub for knowledge-sharing and peer support among IT business owners.

Scott shares the history of the group, which started on LinkedIn and later moved to Facebook, where it has grown organically for the past eight years. The group provides a platform for IT business owners to network, share knowledge, and support each other in navigating the challenges of business ownership. 

Scott also talks about the upcoming 2024 IT Bog Member Cruise, which is scheduled for November 8-11 out of Port Canaveral. He emphasizes the importance of creating a unique experience for attendees, focusing on activities and enjoyment rather than traditional conference room sessions. The conversation touches on the challenges of organizing events during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the pandemic on business operations. 

The episode provides insights into the dynamics of community building in the IT industry and the value of in-person networking events for IT business owners. Scott and Marvin's conversation offers a glimpse into the supportive and collaborative nature of the IT Business Owners Group and its role in fostering a sense of community among its members.

=== Links from the show

ITBOG Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ITBusinessOwnersGroup

ITBOG Website & Member Site: https://itbog.org/

Florida Man Runs into Thrift Store Naked: http://tinyurl.com/mswd7sw2

Florda Man Runs Naked Down Highway: http://tinyurl.com/4ee8ehc7

=== Show Information

Website: https://www.itbusinesspodcast.com/

Host: Marvin Bee

Uncle Marv’s Amazon Store: https://amzn.to/3EiyKoZ

Become a monthly supporter: https://www.patreon.com/join/itbusinesspodcast?

One-Time Donation: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/unclemarv

=== Music: 

Song: Upbeat & Fun Sports Rock Logo

Author: AlexanderRufire

License Code: 7X9F52DNML - Date: January 1st, 2024

About This Episode

Are you looking to take your association to the next level? Look no further! By prioritizing communication, collaboration, and member engagement you can be at the top.

Strong connections are essential in building a community. With the right strategy you can increase engagement and ensure the long-term sustainability for your organization.

Let's take your membership model to new heights and achieve success together!

About our Guest

Amanda Kaiser is at the forefront of exploring how member and attendee engagement is rapidly changing within professional communities. She authored the book Elevating Engagement: Uncommon Strategies for Creating a Thriving Member Community and shares her distinctive perspective and strategies for nurturing a dynamic and prosperous community.

We talked about

Why is a focus on engagement so important for associations right now?

In your book you have broken down the stages of member engagement. Can you tell us about them in short?

If we want to simplify the stages in 3 different member engagement levels - low, medium and high. How would you approach these 3 types of member segments?

Association staff often have limited time for member engagement. Which areas are the most important to focus on?

Can we talk about some key activities we can do to engage members?

What is the role of a membership website in member engagement?

Another key challenge we see is associations prepare an annual plan and there can be no deviation from that plan during the year. The world is changing faster than we can imagine. How can we be more agile?

How do we engage younger members/professionals?

How to organically gain new members without it always seeming like a sales pitch

When staffing resources and time are extremely limited, how do we develop strategies in creating a self-sustaining community independent of the leadership from official staff team members to sustain it?

How do we minimize the intervention of staff members to sustain the community to avoid the burnout that happens in this leadership role?

Do professional newbies, experienced and expert members need their own groups, or is it all about connecting all? 

Is the idea of recognizing long-standing members dead?

We onboard our members virtually. Onboarding email is the only means we use currently and the organizational email address receives it. Is there a way to improve our onboarding in a way that it extends our message to the entire organization and not solely the main contact person?

How much segmentation is too much when communicating with new members?

How long is a new member considered "new"?

Any new ways to do outreach instead of just mass mailers?

How do you adapt your recommendations for members who may only meet in the virtual world?

What is a good + affordable way to reach outside our current audience?

How to effectively onboard members with automatic communications?

Special acknowledgement to our guests for providing powerful insights into membership management. 

Follow our podcast for more free educational content.

Visit memberlounge.app to learn more about us.

Contact anika@grype.ca for questions or support.

About This Episode

Are you looking to take your association to the next level? Look no further! By prioritizing communication, collaboration, and member engagement you can increase your association's effectiveness and revenue.

Effective leadership and regular evaluation are essential in achieving your association's objectives. With the right strategy you can increase revenue and ensure the long-term sustainability for your organization. Let's take your membership model to new heights and achieve success together!

About our Guest

Elisa Pratt, CEO and Chief Strategist of Brewer Pratt Solutions, is an influential strategic specialist who served as an impactful senior staff member for several trade and individual membership associations, both domestic and international. She leverages a record of transformative success and specializes in strategic planning, leadership development, and engagement.

As an association management executive for more than 20 years, she delivers strategic and actionable innovations, future-focused member engagement solutions, and tactical operational effectiveness solutions.

With a unique background in components, Pratt is a Certified Association Executive (CAE), has earned her Certified Virtual Facilitator designation from the International Institute for Facilitation (INIFAC), and holds a MA in Government from Johns Hopkins University.

We talked about

How do I find out where potential members hang out?

How to get the buy-in from the decision-makers in your organization to invest in IT and digital marketing (understanding social media is not free)?

How to prospect in different provinces?

How do you get your BOD on board?

How to get a buy-in from your membership at large to serve a new market?

How to keep those first year members

Beyond the financial benefits of membership, how best to sell the less tangible benefits of your association?

How to grab the attention of our prospects when there is already so much noise (emails, newsletters, events etc).?

How do you reach out to try and attract new members without coming across as spam?

How to determine membership pricing when members are associations or businesses?

Does membership recruitment require different tactics for Gen Z vs older age cohorts?

How fluid are most recruitment campaigns that you've helped to create?  

Are they planned in advance with every step concretely established, or, are they adaptive based on the results of prior actions?

What is the best channel for outreach?

What do you do when your membership is limited by mission and bylaws?

In the new digital world, how do renewals cut through the clutter and are calling and mailing invoice campaigns still effective for renewals/retention?

What are your top three most successful membership recruitment procedures/campaigns?

Special acknowledgement to our guests for providing powerful insights into membership management. 

Follow our podcast for more free educational content.

Visit memberlounge.app to learn more about us.

Contact anika@grype.ca for questions or support.

About This Episode

Are You Ready to Be a Member-Centric Organization? Learn more about how to track and manage your member's from their perspective. 

Learn about the expanding list of member associations that have made their members the centre of their strategic planning. And start building an infrastructure that will improve your member's experiences and win member retention.

Join us with our special guest Mark Levin and see how making your members the centre of your story can transform your association.

About our Guest

Mark Levin, CAE, CSP has more than 20 years of experience as an association executive and is also an internationally renowned speaker and consultant to the non-profit and association community. He currently serves as Executive Vice President of the Chain Link Fence Manufacturers Institute, an international trade association, and as President of B.A.I, Inc.

He is also an award-winning author; his books have been successful on five continents and have received numerous recognitions for training and motivating membership volunteers, as well as being hailed as useful tools for retaining members year after year.

We talked about

What you need to know to discover strategic opportunities through the member journey.

A streamlined onboarding process can save the association and its members time and money

How to increase your membership satisfaction and loyalty.

Audience Questions 

Are there strategic opportunities in off-boarding/cancellation process? Should this process be different base on how many years with association member had?

What is the most important strategy/tactic proven to retain members?

What are the best strategies to attract younger supporters, ensuring the next generation of the organization?

Aside from member discounts on an annual event, what are some of the most useful member retention strategies that that other associations currently use to inspire loyalty?

Are there any special considerations when the members are organizations (not individuals)?

How do you manage your members' expectations in keeping them engaged and not putting yourself in a position to do all of the legwork for them?

What are some strategies you can use with new members to retain them the following year?

How to find the balance between membership cost and value?

How do you take care of members without feeling overwhelmed?

How can we use the learnings about member retention for member recruitment?

How do you convert lapsed members that quit because of a challenge with former leadership?

What are the best and worst type of tools to engage members?

What's the best way to get and retain members?

Special acknowledgement to our guests for providing powerful insights into membership management. 

Follow our podcast for more free educational content.

Visit memberlounge.app to learn more about us.

Contact anika@grype.ca for questions or support.

About This Episode

People have been paying recurring fees in exchange for access to the benefits your association offers. How could you be sure the price you charge is profitable?

Learn how to uncover the value you offer, conduct market research to discover expanded opportunities, attach the right price to the value your organization provides and communicate it to your audience.

Join us and our special guest Dr. Michael Tatonetti and learn all you need to know about financial sustainability for your association.

About our Guest

Dr. Michael Tatonetti is the Founder and CEO of Pricing for Associations who loves to share his expertise on how associations, nonprofits and chambers can evolve their pricing strategy, leverage value to drive innovation, and align pricing and value with their mission.

He is a Certified Association Executive and Pricing Professional as well as a proud Association Forum Forty Under 40 honoree for his dedication to the association field.

We talked about

How you can succeed with a profitable subscription based model.

What you need to know to deliver ongoing value that supports a subscriber’s goal.

Strategies to set the right price, and communicate your benefits. ​​​

Key insights to get financial sustainability in your association.

Audience Questions 

How do you decide when to use flat vs. tiered membership? And how do you create the tiers?

How much is your value add as an association with staff and overhead?

How do I balance individual membership vs organizations vs large organizations with different locations?

How do you manage competition?

How do you convince others  in your organization that raising prices it’s the best thing to do?

How to deal with objections when some members mayne individuals or businesses are not willing to pay the increased fees?

Some associations had to increase their fees due to inflation - how do you communicate the changes to your members? 

What are you seeing as the trend for associations who raised their dues during 

Covid or are looking to raise them now? 

Special acknowledgement to our guests for providing powerful insights into membership management. 

Follow our podcast for more free educational content.

Visit memberlounge.app to learn more about us.

Contact anika@grype.ca for questions or support.

About This Episode

The lack of member engagement is a common problem that many associations experience. How would it be possible to ensure your association is following the right path?

It is time to analyze how culture is changing and start a digital transformation, find out the proper strategies that will keep your  association at the top.

Join us and our special guest Jamie Notter and learn all you need to know to have engagement solutions.

About Our Guest

Jamie Notter is the Co-Founder and Culture Designer at PROPEL with over 20 years of experience in consulting and speaking for organizations specializing  in non-profit trade associations and professional associations. 

He is a published author and a business consultant with a focus on building amazing workplace cultures that achieve breakthrough performance and impact.

Jamie shares his perspective about associations based on his expertise. His mission is to contribute with useful information that will help you to have more member engagement. 

We talked about

Key insights to understand culture patterns.

How to start implementing digital solutions in your association.

How to stop things that are not working and fix things that are broken.

The right practices to grow your engagement rate.

Audience Questions 

Can you share a personal habit that has contributed the most to your success?

What strategies can we use beyond email to increase engagement?

Are there strategies to make our emails even more effective at driving engagement?

How to measure success?

How to encourage members in regards of the value that's being offered in the current membership area?

How do you get the members that have been around a long time to commit to including the young members?

How to get members involved at different levels of volunteering?

Register
Register for our upcoming live podcast episodes!

Special acknowledgement to our guests for providing powerful insights into membership management. 

Follow our podcast for more free educational content.

Visit memberlounge.app to learn more about us.

Contact anika@grype.ca for questions or support.

About This Episode

The lack of member focus is a common problem that many associations experience. How would it be possible to ensure that they are making member centric decisions?

It is time to examine the ways associations can improve their practices to lead them to a higher level of member retention. Join us and our special guest Tom Abbott and learn all you need to know to have member centric solutions.

About Our Guest 

Tom Abbott is president and board director of several nonprofit organizations with over 25 years of experience. He is the Co-founder & CEO of AMC NPO Solutions and an authority on Governance. Also he is a proven and certified motivational speaker and author who has motivated audiences in excess of 10,000 people and spoken in over 20 countries.

Tom shares his international perspective about member focused associations based on his expertise. His mission is to contribute with useful information that will help you to obtain more member retention.

We talked about

Why is it difficult for associations to make member-centric decisions?

The relevant information needed to increase member retention.

How to have member-centric services and solutions.

How to train the team to have member-focus daily activities. (How to inspire your team to take a member-centric approach.)

The right practices to avoid the lack of member focus.

Audience Questions 

What is the most effective way to encourage women to become involved ?

Most effective tactic you have found?

How do you deal with multi-generational members to focus or engage with them all?

What is the best way to show member-centricity?

How to discover what members want even if they haven't expressed the need.?

How do you reconcile customer-centric with member-centric when non-dues revenue is increasingly important?

How does the membership team communicate to staff that membership is everyone’s responsibility?

How to get member feedback on what they would like to see in their member area other than surveys?

How to better support our members which are affiliated organizations,  rather than individual members?

How to support members when we are a small association with very little resources?

What are some KPI Private Clubs could use to measure membership success?

Register
Register for our upcoming live podcast episodes!

Special acknowledgement to our guests for providing powerful insights into membership management. 

Follow our podcast for more free educational content.

Visit memberlounge.app to learn more about us.

Contact anika@grype.ca for questions or support.

About Our Podcast
The Grype Podcast is all about membership growth. Farhad Khan, CEO of Grype Digital will answer your questions live in our upcoming podcast episode. Register for our events on our site to learn more about how to grow your association. Our podcast episodes are available on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast and YouTube. Follow us on our social media channels to learn when new episodes are available. 

Do you have a topic you want to hear about? Let us know!

About This Episode
In this episode, we will answer the top questions submitted by you. Submit your question online or jump on the mic with us live to find the answers to all your membership site questions!

Join us as our CEO, Farhad Khan answers all your questions about membership sites and how to grow your association!

About Our Host
Farhad Khan, Membership Site Expert & CEO of Grype Digital, has coached and advised hundreds of associations to grow their membership. He is a tech entrepreneur specializing in creating membership sites for professional associations to increase member engagement.

He started his own tech company in 2009 to help associations and nonprofits solve their challenges with his digital technology skills.

Farhad’s awards and distinctions include Top 40 Under 40 by the Ottawa Business Journal, Bootstrap Award for Best Guerrilla Marketing and Named an Entrepreneurial Rising Star by Invest Ottawa. 

Full List Of Questions We Answered

How do you make people "want" to join your Association instead of "needing" to join your Association? 

Where should member benefits be located in their website? What about membership information?

How many emails is too many emails? How do you engage without pressure/annoying?

A bulk of membership consists of existing members who are aware of your association and benefits already. How do we deliver more value to them as a member of our association?

What tools and technology we can use to ensure membership growth and what membership systems can help automate/remind members? 

Audience Questions

With how digitally saturated our audiences are, what have you found to be the most successful tool to grow membership?

Is there a difference between retention strategies for digital members vs traditional members?

Special acknowledgement to our guests for providing powerful insights into membership management. 

Follow our podcast for more free educational content.

Visit memberlounge.app to learn more about us.

Contact anika@grype.ca for questions or support.

About This Episode
Everyone in the association world thinks they are member-centric, but there are things associations do that get in the way of prioritizing their members. It’s time to examine the ways associations mistakenly take their members for granted and how to fix it!

Listen in as we discuss how to align the goals of your board, executive director, membership manager and your members. Let’s create a robust membership program that serves members and brings revenue to your association!

About Our Guest 
Carol Hamilton is a strategic planning expert with over 20 years of experience with nonprofits and associations. She is a podcast host at Grace Social Sector Consulting and partners with associations and non-profits to help them envision their future direction and design key goals through strategic planning. 

Carol is an expert in strategic planning, organization development, and nonprofit management and is a frequent speaker and trainer on these topics. Her mission is to help associations to have a greater impact in fulfilling their mission.

Full List Of Questions We Asked Carol
Tell us about yourself and what you do?

You say that strategic planning should be member-centric — why is that and why is that difficult for associations?

What key member data is important to consider in strategic planning?

If we don’t already have the data we need, what do we do?

What is the difference between a member-focused association and one that is not? How does the management differ?

Do you have a framework that you use for associations to be more member-centric?

There is so much content online. What can associations do to set them apart from the sea of free content? How do we make value out of things that are free?

Which staff roles are most important to include in the process and who do you listen to?

We see it every day that membership managers want changes in the membership experience, but the staff that controls the budget won't green light it — is there a way to convince the higher-ups?

What membership technology or tools should we use in making all this happen?

What is the role of the association’s membership website?

What about the members who are not engaged at all? How do you find out what they want?

Audience Questions 
How can you show value to members that you are doing advocacy when they think you are doing it anyway, so why be a member?

How can we convince members to actually fill in surveys?

What is the best way to deliver/communicate a strategic plan to members other than newsletters or email?

Do you have any suggestions on how to include membership marketing in the plan?

How do we find out what members truly want?

What is the best way to make data-driven decisions when members don’t provide input?

What size organization do these ideas apply to?

How do you address a member or group of members if they disagree with the strategic plan?

How can an association bounce back from mistakes they have made and what measures can be put in place to make sure they don’t happen again?

Can you over-communicate with members?

Tell us about your tool, the strategy screen?

What is the best way to influence decisions when you are not in charge?

How to represent the needs of members that are not represented on the board?

Closing Questions
Key takeaway for the audience?

Can you share a personal habit that has contributed the most to your success?

How can people get in touch if they have any questions?

Special acknowledgement to our guests for providing powerful insights into membership management. 

Follow our podcast for more free educational content.

Visit memberlounge.app to learn more about us.

Contact anika@grype.ca for questions or support.

About This Episode
Member retention is not the very first step of member experience. Renewal is determined in the first 30-90 days. How do associations ensure that members will retain themselves?

Our special guest, Chris Vaughan, Membership and Marketing Consultant answered this question and more during this exclusive podcast interview. Chris explained how retention is not a communication channel but an engagement channel and why engaged members retain themselves.

About Our Guest 
Chris Vaughan is a high-level strategy, technology, and marketing consultant for growth-focused associations such as AARP, IEEE, AMA, and SAE International, with over 20 years of experience. His expertise has also been sought out by select Global 500 companies, including Google, IBM, and Allstate.

He used to lead strategy at a big consulting firm, but left and launched his own firm to help associations grow membership and revenue. He is an expert in market research, strategic planning, and marketing strategy that can help deliver increased revenue, growth through innovation and an engaged and loyal membership.

Full List Of Questions We Asked Chris
Tell us about yourself and what you do?

You mentioned Member Engagement leads to Retention, can you explain why this is?

What are the top challenges associations face with member engagement?

Let’s talk about the Lifetime value, and why it is important?

It costs more to acquire new members than to keep existing members. Do you find this?

About your new fly-zone for the first 90 days, what communication do you recommend?

You mentioned the first 90 days are key, is there one golden strategy that words?

You mentioned engagement scores. We can get fancy and track everything. What do you recommend? Track every try of engagement or bullet it out?

You mentioned having 3 main buckets for topics? What is your approach?

Do you recommend making a few phone calls to inform your survey?

For large associations, we recommend calling 10 people to help you inform your understanding of your unengaged members. What do you think of this?

What are programs that are actually working?

How would you combine tech for associations in an ideal way?

Is there a manual way to do engagement scoring?

Do you have a formula or ratio you recommend to determine a reasonable budget for associations to invest in keeping their members happy?

What is the secret to getting boards to approve a budget for tech?

Audience Questions 
We will never have all members fully engaged, where do we focus our efforts?

Are there simple tactics that can be implemented with little cost and effort?

What can we learn about members who are not engaged in the first 60 days?

How can we best engage members so they retain themselves?

If your goal is to expand membership to underrepresented communities, how would you find out what they are looking for?

How do you deal with Zoom fatigue?

How to build a membership communication strategy?

Closing Questions
Key takeaway for the audience?

Can you share a personal habit that has contributed the most to your success?

How can people get in touch if they have any questions?

Special acknowledgement to our guests for providing powerful insights into membership management. 

Follow our podcast for more free educational content.

Visit memberlounge.app to learn more about us.

Contact anika@grype.ca for questions or support.

About This Episode
Associations are busy trying to make small changes to impress members and stay relevant, but is it enough? Our special guest, Randall Craig, Advisor on Digital Strategy and Hall of Fame Business Speaker, answers these questions and more during this exclusive podcast interview. Listen in as Randall shares his experience and explains how using digital trust strategies can improve member engagement and retention. Watch this episode to hear Randall share his unique perspective and question conventional wisdom.

About Our Guest 
Randall Craig, Author and CEO of Pinetree Advisors, is a serial entrepreneur. He continues to carve a path as a digital innovator. Randall has taught at numerous executive education programs, hosts Professionally Speaking TV, and frequently appears as an expert in the media with over 350 national news network interviews. He has served at the board level for several national organizations, is a member of the Global Speakers Federation and has also been inducted into the Canadian Speaking Hall of Fame.

Full List Of Questions We Asked Randall
Tell us about yourself and what you do?

Can you tell us why you think the membership model for many associations is broken?

What do you see as successful strategic planning if not incremental change?

We know that association leaders are very passionate and care, why the hesitancy to try a revolutionary strategic plan?

If an association needed to do digital transformation at this time, where would you start?

Can you tell us why you think the membership model for many associations is broken?

Association leadership is hesitant to make changes that will help their members. Why do you think that is?

Can you help explain for our audience what digital transformation means for associations?

How should we approach our association marketing and what role does technology play here?

What are the different elements of digital transformation that are key to increasing member engagement?

Discuss the problems with one size fits all AMS systems and what are the different tools an association should use to deliver a great member experience.

Let’s talk about the membership website. Which is different from the public website. We believe that a good member portal is instrumental in engaging members. What are your thoughts?

What’s needed in a good membership website?

How to use digital tools to build trust with members at scale?

If part of your membership is not tech-savvy how do you reach them?  

Audience Questions 
We are facing challenges getting organization members to renew. Without them, we would have to sell many individual memberships to make up for the loss of revenue. Should we still focus on changing the organizational members?

With so much free content and other learning opportunities out there, is providing learning opportunities still a priority?

Do we really need a social media presence?

Associations are using a mix of marketing tactics. Which ones do you see as most successful?

Closing Questions
Key takeaway for the audience?

Can you share a personal habit that has contributed the most to your success?

How can people get in touch if they have any questions?

Special acknowledgement to our guests for providing powerful insights into membership management. 

Follow our podcast for more free educational content.

Visit memberlounge.app to learn more about us.

Contact anika@grype.ca for questions or support.

Did you know that Alloy Personal Training Franchise has an industry-leading retention rate? 

This is our claim to fame and a powerful reason people buy our franchise because they can actually run a fitness business, not a marketing business with fitness on the side like some gyms do. 

But our customers don't just stick around longer than in any other fitness facility for no reason….

In this episode, Rick and Matt explore the 3 techniques we use to keep them. 

These are simple strategies that other fitness brands probably use, but our secret lies in using them consistently and ingraining them in our culture.

Besides keeping people around and reducing the amount of marketing required to replace people, a high retention rate is excellent for building a strong community. 

Listen in to learn how we do it!

Key Takeaways

- Set the right expectations (03:06)

- How unrealistic expectations will increase your churn (04:37)

- Poles in the ground (11:15)

- How to make your customers feel good (13:32)

- Finding common ground (18:02)

- How to facilitate a community (27:13)

Additional Resources:

• Alloy Personal Training
• Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity

---------

You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

About This Episode
Let's understand how to plan and execute a thriving membership program and what is required to achieve long-term membership resiliency. Our guest, Tony Rossell answers these questions and more during this exclusive podcast interview. Listen in as Tony shares practical guidance and reflections from his book, Membership Recruitment, which explains why an effective membership recruitment program is the key to association growth, financial health, and mission success.

About Our Guest 
Tony Rossell serves as the Senior Vice President of Marketing General Incorporated, a Direct Marketing Agency in Alexandria, Virginia.

A frequent writer and speaker, his recently published book, Membership Recruitment: How to Grow Recurring Revenue, Reach New Markets, and Advance Your Mission, offers a practical guide to help membership professionals. He is the past chair of the ASAE Membership Council. In his work at MGI, Tony launched the annual Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report and developed the membership framework he calls the “Membership Lifecycle.” Over his 30-year career, he has consulted with hundreds of associations helping them diagnose and solve their membership marketing challenges.

Full List of Questions We Asked Tony
Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do?

Can you tell us a bit about your book on membership recruitment?

Many technology companies are moving towards a recurring revenue model and I think associations are sitting on a goldmine with their loyal membership. Why do so many associations struggle to grow their membership?

You talk about the economic driver for member marketing and why the investment must generate a return. Can you tell us more about it?

You also talk about the value proposition - why should a prospect join and the power of a strong message! Can you tell us more about creating the value proposition?

Is there any formula for value proposition that you follow?

How would you create a member recruitment program for an association, say the association has some budget and some staff capacity to take on something new?

How do you get buy-in from management to work on the recruitment program?

Can you share some recruitment programs that have worked great for your clients?

Where can associations find their target market?

You developed the membership framework called the "membership lifecycle". In that lifecycle is there a way of sunsetting certain memberships so that we don’t chase after the wrong prospects?

How do you find out who are not the right members for your association?

Since we build membership websites for associations can you tell us about the importance of a membership website?

What are your thoughts about public website and membership site or a members only area?

You have an annual benchmarking report for membership marketing. How has covid-19 impacted association membership and will there be any long lasting effect on associations?

You have a marketing benchmarking report for member recruitment. Can you tell us more about it?

Audience Questions 
How do I find out where potential members hang out?

How to get the buy-in from the decision-makers in your organization to invest in IT and digital marketing?

Beyond financial benefits of membership, how best to sell the less tangible benefits of your association?

How to do grab the attention of your prospects when there is already so much noise? How do you reach out to try and attract new members without coming across as spam?

Does membership recruitment require different tactics for gen z vs older age cohorts?

How fluid are most recruitment campaigns that you've helped to create?  Are they planned in advance with every step concretely established, or, are they adaptive based on the results of prior actions?

Can I use training opportunities to bring in new members, what does that look like?

In the new digital world, how do renewals cut through the clutter and are calling and mailing invoice campaigns still effective for renewals/retention?

For A/B testing emails, how much time you let pass before you decide which one to choose? Is one day sufficient?

How do you align the membership and marketing arms if they are led by different people and have different priorities?

What are your top three most successful membership recruitment procedures/campaigns?

What is the recommended size of a membership team, and what are the specific roles to play when executing a membership?

Closing Questions
Key takeaway for the audience?

Can you share a personal habit that has contributed the most to your success?

How can people get in touch if they have any questions?

Special acknowledgement to our guests for providing powerful insights into membership management. 

Follow our podcast for more free educational content.

Visit memberlounge.app to learn more about us.

Contact anika@grype.ca for questions or support.

Retention is the core of your business: Keeping clients longer means you're not constantly at the mercy of the marketing flywheel.

So what keeps clients around?

It's not great programming or coaching. It's not great community. It's not even great results. All those things are necessary, but they're not sufficient to keep clients for the long haul.

Here's what is.

Links:

Gym Owners United

Timeline:

1:05 – The biggest retention myths.

3:23 – Getting to the 50-yard line with the prescriptive model.

4:45 – One-on-one onboarding to the 70-yard line.

5:56 – The power of the triad.

7:33 – How referrals keep both parties longer.

9:10 – The final five yards: the finishing touches.

9:59 – Consistency over time.

About This Episode
Let's understand how to scale your membership using a high-tech business model and member feedback to drive member engagement. Our guest, Laura Buhler, will share her expertise on how to create a vision that people want to be a part of. Laura believes that it is all about the people. You can grow your association by investing your time and resources in understanding your members and having a "product" mindset.

About Our Guest 
Laura Buhler is the President and CEO of C100, a private San-Francisco-based nonprofit on a mission to galvanize global Canadians in technology to advance Canadian entrepreneurship and leadership in tech. Laura also serves on the Investment Committee for Luge Capital, a fintech-focused venture fund based in Toronto. She is a Board Director of Venture for Canada, a national charity which develops entrepreneurial leadership skills and also serves on the Advisory Board for the UCalgary Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurial Leadership.

Full List of Questions We Asked Laura
Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do?

Can you share the names of some noteworthy companies that have participated in the C100 program?

Big names we might know?

What are some key ideas that associations can borrow from high-growth tech startups?

Would you say that the product is finding out your members problems and offering solutions and the product is solving their problems?

Your association serves a global community. How do you give your members a sense of human-touch and closeness when you are so big and spread out over the globe?

Besides hosting your events, how much time does your staff spend managing your members, or can they self manage?

What does a good member experience mean for your members?

How would you define the success of individual products or events?

You said you use a lot of new tech: how do you decide which platforms are good for your members at any given time?

What do your members use to connect?

How can I take action on these ideas if I’m not in a leadership role in our organization?

What are some start up business models we can use to scale our association?

What would you recommend in terms of an engagement with your members to connect one-on-one? Is there an ideal approach to this?

Audience Questions 
How can I take action on these ideas when I'm not in a leadership role in my organization?

Suggestions for maintaining memberships during covid when services are drastically reduced.

What are business models that start ups use that can help me scale business development

What do you recommend in terms of a monthly/quarterly/semi-annual outreach program to connect 1:1 with member organizations?  Is there an ideal approach to this type of 1:1 relationship building?

Closing Questions
Key takeaway for the audience?

Do you have any book recommendations?

Can you share a personal habit that has contributed the most to your success?

How can people get in touch if they have any questions?

Special acknowledgement to our guests for providing powerful insights into membership management. 

Follow our podcast for more free educational content.

Visit memberlounge.app to learn more about us.

Contact anika@grype.ca for questions or support.

Research shows that, to some degree, change instills fear in all of us. Change, however, is integral to an association’s survival. For many membership organizations, the notion of change is disruptive…and scary! Let’s face it - altering the habits, patterns, and behaviors we are conditioned to can be uncomfortable, but it can also yield incredible rewards. In many instances, change can lead to long-term benefits, including membership growth and stronger engagement.

In this episode, we explore the benefits of accepting change, how sticking to the same routines can be detrimental to your organization, and how you can overcome your fear of change!

Visit us at savetheassociations.com

About this Episode

In this episode, we talk about digital sustainability and how sustainable web design can help to improve the user experience​. We will explore how the pursuit of sustainable web projects can produce more functional websites and help associations to drive traffic to their website. 

About our Guest

Tom Greenwood is an author, web designer and activist devoting his time to the field of sustainable web design. His work demonstrates that making eco-friendly choices does not have to be a sacrifice; environmental choices can impact our membership and association's growth for the better!

Full List of Questions We Asked Tom

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your work?

What is sustainable web design?

What are some of the advantages of thinking about sustainable web design?

How popular should a website be to be really serious about this?

Can you walk us through your process: how would you build sustainability into the process?

How would you change the user experience on a website to make it sustainable?

Sustainable web design is a mutual responsibility of both the client and the developers. What can the developers do to impress upon the client that sustainable web design should be a priority?

What is the role of the client?

Should we really cut down the content on our sites and really focus in on a few things that really matter?

We are a big proponent of reducing waste. What practices can designers and developers change about our work to be more sustainable?

We build membership sites where many members visit the same pages. Is there better value to optimize the sustainability of pages that are used more than others?

We are working on a lot of websites where we are trying to include accessibility. Is there a way to include accessibility and sustainability principals hand-in-hand in the design?

For membership websites, are there things they can do to reduce their carbon footprint?

For the day to day activities, what are sustainable choices associations can make?

You mentioned a website that can help people assess the sustainability of their website. Tell us more about this?

Audience Questions

What are some examples of web design choices that people make that they don't realize have a terrible ecological impact?

How can we communicate our sustainable web choices without being pretentious or gimmicky?

Does eco-friendly also mean longterm sustainability of the internet?

Closing Remarks

What is your biggest takeaway for our audience?

Can you share a personal habit that has contributed the most to your success?

Special acknowledgement to our guests for providing powerful insights into membership management. 

Follow our podcast for more free educational content.

Visit memberlounge.app to learn more about us.

Contact anika@grype.ca for questions or support.

About This Episode

In this episode, we talk with association management royalty, Velma Knowles, about the four pillars of membership growth, discussed in her latest best-selling book about how to scale your membership. We start by busting some myths associations hold around membership and replacing them with data-driven pillars that are universal to all associations.

About Our Guest

Velma Knowles is a coach and consultant to associations and non-profit leaders around the what, when and how of growing membership, engaging boards, and delivering member relevance. Velma works with leaders to create sustainable membership growth by focusing on the 4-drivers of growth: Clarity in Numbers, Alignment in Resources, Relevance in Value, and Accountability in Planning. She is a speaker and best-selling author.

Full List of Questions We Asked Velma

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do?

What are the biggest misconceptions around membership growth?

Can you tell us more about how association employees can avoid working in silos and how to break down those silos?

You mentioned that there are 4 key ingredients to membership growth. Can you talk about those key drivers of growth?

Out of those 4 key drivers, where should associations start?

How can we be sure to listen to the voices of members?

When we are onboarding new members, what can we do to ensure a good member journey and start building the relationship right away?

For a large association that has many new members, it may not be realistic to reach out to each new member. How do we build relationships at scale?

What are the key metrics associations should track about their members?

Why do you see a membership website as important for associations?

What features should associations have in their member portal?

We hear often hear from clients that having a login area is a barrier for members. Do you think it is inherently a barrier?

Many associations have benefits that are not being used or only used by a few members. Is there value to keeping those benefits around or time to retire them?

What universal benefits should be in an association’s portal?

Audience Questions

Are membership drives out of fashion?

How do we engage members with limited resources?

How often should we add to our different membership tiers?

What are some valuable strategies to recover members that were lost during the pandemic?

How can we turn engagement into revenue opportunities?

Closing Remarks

What is your biggest takeaway for our audience?

Can you share a personal habit that has contributed the most to your success?

Special acknowledgement to our guests for providing powerful insights into membership management. 

Follow our podcast for more free educational content.

Visit memberlounge.app to learn more about us.

Contact anika@grype.ca for questions or support.

About This Episode

In this episode, we talk with an experienced association executive about how to assess the value of your membership. We talk about creating valuable member benefits, the best ways to find out what members want, and how to engage members. See below to learn more about our very special guests, Aviva Rotenberg, and see a full list of questions we asked our very special guest.

 

About Our Guest

Aviva Rotenberg is the executive director of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. Prior to this, Aviva was the executive director of the Canadian Bar Association and helped establish their online professional development arm. Aviva is a lawyer, MBA and speaker.

Ready to Improve the Experience of Your Members today?

Get your copy of the Member-Centric User Experience Checklist & Worksheet to get you started on impressing your members today!

Full List of Questions We Asked Aviva

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do?

In our discussions earlier, we discussed that creating value for your members is more important than the cost of membership — can you tell us a little more about that?

How would you define value?

Would you say that a member of a professional association would be able to apply what they learn from their professional association and make their money back?

How do you go about understanding your audience’s needs?

To gather information about your audience, do you have any particular tools you like over others?

How can we offer services and benefits that the audience can’t get elsewhere?

How would you promote an initiative to your audience?

Do you have any preferences or suggestions for how your “champions” can help promote your initiatives?

Do you have any particular way that you build your community?

We often notice that our associations advertise their member benefits are advertised on their website, but members are not using the benefits. At a closer look, we find that the benefits are not easy to engage with. What are your recommendations to avoid this?

Do you have an example of a member benefit that was made easier to use for your members?

How much more time was spent making the service easier for members?

Do you think there is an opportunity for associations to look at their member benefits and repackage them in a way that is more interesting to members?

If an association is looking to increase their member engagement, where would you start?

What are some things that associations do that devalue the value of their membership?

What can we do to market our membership without being too sales-y?

How do you sell advocacy as a member benefit when prospects know they will benefit from your advocacy whether they are a member or not?
 

In the eyes of membership, how do you make the appropriate connection between the cost of membership and the value of membership? We often find that members want a lot of add-ons without an increase in fees.

If your current membership and your target membership are different, how do you balance your resources?

How do you find the right price point for your organization's membership fees?

In 1983, our dues were $30 a year. 40 years later, our dues are $36. Our board is very hesitant to raise dues. What can we do?

What is your biggest takeaway for our audience?

Can you share a personal habit that has contributed the most to your success?

Get Started

Get your copy of the Member-Centric User Experience Checklist & Worksheet to get you started on impressing your members today!

Special acknowledgement to our guests for providing powerful insights into membership management. 

Follow our podcast for more free educational content.

Visit memberlounge.app to learn more about us.

Contact anika@grype.ca for questions or support.