Next Level Executives

Think about the groups and business organizations that you currently belong to. Do you have goals set forth for how they will positively enhance your business? Becoming a “Joiner” should be goal and results driven like any other business or marketing strategy you put in place in your business.

Many students fresh out of college will graffiti their resume with listings of activities they were involved in and sports that they played for a whole semester. While, I never wrote that I was the worst player on my intramural whiffle-ball team which lasted for a total of 6 weeks, I certainly gave more due than was worth to a number of clubs that I participated in on my entry level resume. “Participated in” is really going too far, passively sat through about 50% of the time is a more appropriate definition. I watched as other students made it to the top of the heap and devoted their whole lives to Student Activities Boards and Student Council, and just couldn’t bring myself to muster up the energy needed to be the president of anything.

I often thought that I wasn’t the go-getter that I needed to be to get the great job and be the excellent student. But the truth was, I was an excellent student and I loved being one. After all wasn’t that why I was going to college in the first place? I wasn’t studying Politics (like the Student Council President) or seeking out a career in events planning (like the Student Activities Board President). I realized (maybe a little too late) that they knew something I didn’t. They were joining the groups and organizations that mirrored their interests in the “Real World” and could help them most in providing experience in their field. They were embarking on a journey of personal branding while I, on the other hand, enjoyed painting big signs and getting free t-shirts.

Now, with a couple years of working with membership organizations under my belt, I have come to find that there are many business people that do the same thing when it comes to joining networking organizations and business groups. They join without first assessing the ways in which they can leverage their membership to better enhance their business goals. Sure, there are not as many big posters to paint or free t-shirts but there are plenty of other reasons that one might join a networking organization that is destined to make you disinterested within the first six months.

So how does one go from merely being a “joiner” to someone who uses their membership with a business organization as a strategic component within their business plan?

They Ask The Right Questions Before Joining

Questions for you and your business:

• Am I looking for a business organization that helps me to cast a wide net or cater to niche market?
• Am I looking only to gain new referrals or would I like to be part of an organization that also develops my business through other means, like collaborative strategic planning?
• Am I looking for opportunities to build my business on the web ?
• Am I looking for opportunities for Professional Development through my business organization?

After deciding which of these things are important to your business it is much easier to assess which business organizations can best fulfill your needs. For some folks a group like Next Level would not be a good fit because what they would like to get out of a business organization and what the group offers do not match up. For example, if you are an employee without profit and loss responsibilities your interests in a business organization would not necessarily include collaborative strategic planning and you might not be interested in professional development opportunities that are specifically designed for the business owner. On the other hand, a small business owner who is looking for a collaborative environment where they can gather advice from other business owners, build their web presence and participate in professional development opportunities specifically for them, might find Next Level to be a viable option.

They Set Goals For Themselves and The Organization

Some examples of goals:

• I will attend 6 events or meetings the next three months
• I expect to meet at least 20 new business folk through my affiliation.
• I will make a specific change to my business that I can accomplish through the tools and network of the organization.
• I will improve my web presence by being the the first page of listings when someone googles my name.

They  Reassess their Membership and Involvement on a Scheduled Basis

At three or six months you should take the time to assess what the organization has provided for your business and what efforts you have put in. You take a look at your marketing strategies to see if they are working, right?

Some Questions to Ask:

• Did you meet your goals?
• Did you live up to the participation standard that you set forth?
• Were there enough opportunities available to you to live up to the participation standard you set forth?
• Where do you think the organization could have been more effective?
• Did you pick the right goals?
• Did you pick the right group?

Being clear about what you want out of an organization will help you better determine whether or not your money is being well spent.

I finally picked up Seth Godin’s book “Meatball Sundae” yesterday after listening to Mitch Joel pimp it (albeit gently) on Six Pixels several times over the last few months. As of this morning I am about half-way through the book and I find myself compelled to get a conversation going on the book’s thesis.

Old Marketing (mass marketing) is dying or at least shrinking in relevance and New Marketing (permission based marketing) is the future.

The good news for business, small businesses in particular, is that new marketing is much more cost effective and has an exponentially higher response rate. One example Seth uses in the book is a comparison of response rates for direct mail versus permission based (opt in) email marketing. The typical direct mail campaign costs $1 per recipient and has an expected response rate of one percent. Compare this to a permission based email campaign where the recipients have asked to receive information about your products and services. The cost of crafting the email is most likely the same as the cost of designing the mailer in the direct mail scenario but there is virtually no cost of distribution. Sending an email to one person or one hundred thousand costs the same. Here’s the rub, according to Seth the response rate for email is often 20 to 30 times higher than snail mail.

The cost component in the above scenario, while significant, is not the point. The point is the response rate and what it means to your marketing strategy. In today’s world, people can choose to not be interrupted. Think about it:

• Radio - People have iPhones, podcasts of radio broadcasts and XM satellite radio.
• TV - TiVo, iTunes and other on-demand delivery systems make sitting through ads unnecessary.
• Telemarketing - The “do not call list” makes dinner interruptions a thing of the past.
• Spam - Unwanted email marketing (no permission given) is swept up via spam filters.

New Marketing, as Seth suggests, eschews yelling in the faces of people who would rather not hear what you have to say in favor of engaging people who have a problem you can solve. It’s the old “fish where the fish are” axiom taken to the next level.

Fish where the fish are but be sure to have the bait the fish like to eat.

My father and I took my son Jackson fishing for the first time recently. The first stop we made was the local bait shop where I asked the guy behind the counter for the best place to catch trout. Then we bought our worms and headed to the pond he suggested. We knew where the fish were.

When we got to the pond, set up and baited our hooks with several options. In addition to the worms we had brought other options such as PowerBait and salmon eggs. Sure enough the fish started biting but only the hooks baited with worms. Nothing else was drawing even the slightest nibble. But we had all that other bait. What to do?

We could have developed an aggressive marketing strategy to push the PowerBait as an attractive alternative to worms. And salmon eggs are so European and chic, they are like caviare. I mean come on, we had all that inventory. Certainly if we yelled loud enough the fish would try our other products.

But wait, there was a guy with his son fishing right near us and they were using worms. Just what the fish wanted. Hmm…maybe we should position ourselves as the best place for trout to fill their worm needs.

And this is the most important part of the “Meatball Sundae” message. New Marketing, is not about selling what you have or what you want sell to people through new marketing tools. It is about identifying what people want to buy, finding out where these people are and structuring your marketing and business strategy to maximize the engagement of these customers.

So, have you read “Meatball Sundae”? I would love to hear your thoughts.