Archive for August, 2008
August 29, 2008
Life On the Speaking Circuit
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To those of us who hire speakers, this is depressingly unsurprising: “… [John] Edwards’ agent replied that the former North Carolina senator is looking to add more speaking engagements and raise his fee.”
August 29, 2008
The Biggest Myth About Online Publishing
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No, I don’t mean those myths you can debunk on snopes.com. I mean one of the most common myths that I hear, often from otherwise very smart people.
It’s this: “People aren’t willing to pay for content on the Internet.” I have no idea why this myth is still propagated when it’s so obviously untrue.
Just a few examples:
- CooksIllustrated.com has over 150,000 online subscribers at around 20 bucks a year — that’s $3 million for essentially recycled, “repurposed” magazine content.
- Consumer Reports has over 3 million online-only subscribers paying either annually or monthly.
- MarketingSherpa sells access to thousands of reports, surveys, case studies and samples for a little under $400 a year. Couldn’t find a number of subscribers but they’ve been going strong for years (with events, publications, workshops, even a certification program, they are similar to a lot of associations except slightly more useful than some).
- Speaking of MarketingSherpa, yesterday they reported that consumer review site Angieslist.com has 330,000 paid members (the site lists fees ranging from around $9/mo or $82/year plus signup fees).
- Lynda.com offers online training on a huge number of subjects, mostly related to software and technology, for fees ranging from $25/mo basic memberships to $375/year premium memberships. They claim “tens of thousands of subscribers” and have been around for 13 years.
What we’ve learned in online media during the last several years is that big “general interest” websites of any kind — those aimed at huge consumer audiences, like newspapers, networks, etc. — are not able (or at least have not been able) to charge successfully for content. But more targeted, niche websites can be very successful in charging for different types of content aimed at a specialized audience — and even small subscriber bases can be very profitable.
The good thing is that associations are the definition of niche. Are you taking advantage of that fact?
August 29, 2008
The Difference Between Someone Who Makes Something and Someone Who Sells Something
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In a world where people love to talk about “decentralized” this and “open source” that, Rohit makes the excellent point that much of Apple’s success comes as a result of its tight-fisted control over “distribution” — which doesn’t sound as sexy as “design.”
August 27, 2008
Back to Basics: The Elevator Speech
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The “elevator speech” is a cliche among professionals of all stripes, including association executives — you know, how can you explain what it is you do in 30 seconds or less? The purpose is not really to spring it on unsuspecting people riding down with you to the parking garage, of course, but to help focus your marketing and communications efforts on the things that really matter.
Though it’s a well-known concept, many associations get it wrong — let’s face it, many of us do a LOT of things for a lot of different constituent groups within the markets we serve. This form of feature-creep can actually be crippling in our marketing, especially when we focus that marketing on what it is we DO. Many associations, when asked what they DO, will spout off a few vague concepts that really mean little to those who aren’t already in the fold — things like education, promoting the industry/profession, or worse, words like “advocacy” or “networking.”
Here’s a better way to do it: When someone asks “So, what does your organization do?” (or when you are attempting to craft a marketing piece as if the recipient had asked such a question), you should actually answer a completely different question, which is: “What challenges do you solve?”
On one of the ASAE listserves today, Vinay Kumar offered a similar take on this concept, complete with a lengthy example, which he agreed to let me reprint as follows:
For example, let’s say I am an association that represents chiropractors and one of the versions of my elevator speeches can go something like:
“We work with overwhelmed chiropractors who are sick and tired of not having enough clients. Every time payroll comes around, they are worried if they’ll able to meet along with their other expenses. Our association, The Association for Successful Chiropractors” develops and provides ABC solutions that help our chiropractic members double their revenue, allowing them to easily make money and have the life they dreamed of when they first became chiropractors.”
Of course, if the person is interested, then they will ask “Geez, how do you do that?”. Then there is another set of conversation that can take place but we won’t go there for now. All I can say is that still don’t go into what you do. Instead turn the conversation around ask about their situation and learn about their issues. If you ask, they’ll tell you and that’s very valuable information.
What you DO should not be your focus. Instead show how you solve the real challenges of your market and help members and customers reach their individual goals.
August 27, 2008
Information Wants to Be Free — But Everybody Has to Eat
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The real lesson here for those of us who sell intellectual property and don’t feel particularly guilty about it: Any business model that depends somehow on stuff that someone else creates and owns is always in danger of toppling. This includes associations. Own your stuff.
August 27, 2008
The Emotional Connection
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Suffice to say that I am not a Democrat, however, I watched the first part of Hillary Clinton’s speech at the convention last night, including the tribute video that they played as her introduction, narrated by her daughter. I have to say it was a very effective introduction, and I can only imagine that, at the event, on the big screen, it must have made a powerful connection.
It was an excellent example for associations of an effective “opening” — of a conference, of a general session, of a chairman’s term, of a speech — because of the way it combined substance (the video leaves no doubt as to what Hillary believes about several issues) with humor and emotion to make a genuine connection with the audience and put them in the right mood for what’s coming next. Since many of us witnessed a not-so-good example recently, I thought perhaps it would be nice to emphasize a good example.
You don’t have to use video in your conference intros, of course; there are any number of ways to set the stage for a good experience, as long as you remember the point is to excite, to make people laugh, to make that emotional connection. Walking up to the podium and saying, “Good morning,” is definitely not one of those ways.