Membership Database

Technology surrounds us everyday.  Most of it is even beneficial. :-)

It seems like just about everything is now being hosted in "the cloud" or turned into "as a service."  

There is even a company called Dollar Shave Club that recently began delivering razors to your door each month - for a low monthly fee, of course.  Razors As A Service - what's next?

Over the last 10 years or so, association management software and membership database software have followed this trend so association executives...

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I was looking at the list of top 100 brands the other day and how they do what they do. Sure, we all know that companies like Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Nike, Disney, and Apple have great brands. When we think of them, we’re instantly flooded with the feelings that their marketers have taught us to feel. But these are large companies. And associations and chambers don’t have nearly the budget or resources to put into branding.

So, what can associations learn from these megabrands?

1. Live and breathe...

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With all the buzz in associations about social media and digital communications, now is a great time to swim upstream a bit.  Seriously, when is the last time you received a great print marketing piece?  One that not only stays on your desk, but as a membership or marketing professional, you show off to other association professionals. 

In a world of 140 character messages that are likely viewed while you are in line at the grocery store or waiting for an elavator don't you occassionally want to...

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You've heard of the book "Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers," right?  What things are you doing today that seem a "must do" that you can stop doing to help you serve your members more effectively?   Or, what changes can you make that will help your organization adapt and thrive? 

Social media – and technology in general - has made it easier than ever for business associations, chambers of commerce and membership organizations to reach more of your audience more often AND when and where they...

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A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about vendor vs. partner relationships in regard to associations and their members. Today I want to expand on that and talk about how a redesign for your association’s website can help support your efforts.

Of course, having a website is important. But having an effective website can mean more members, more engaged members, higher retention, and more non-dues revenue.

Are you considering a new association website? Here are six tips for establishing a website that...

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By Pam Sefrino, National Sales Manager

We all know that one of the primary reasons that companies join business associations and chambers of commerce is to network, have access to resources and grow their own business.

One very simple (but often overlooked) thing that business associations do unknowingly to hamper members’ opportunities for business growth is unintentionally hide their member directory – which is essentially a business directory – on their web site. More on this in a minute.

Some...Read More » »

WebLink is proud to announce the winners of our big contest conducted at the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) Convention in Raleigh, NC.   Please read on to see if any of your peers were winners.

iPod touch Garmin Nuvi GPS system
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Last week at the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) Convention in Raleigh, I sat in on Rahaf Harfoush's presentation on how the Obama campaign used social media, websites and email to connect to and engage voters during the 2008 Presedential Election.

She explained several ways that the campaign created online connections to facilitate offline actions by voters.  These included extensive use of technology and social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, a dedicated social...Read More » »

Chambers of commerce have long held a physical presence in their communities.  Their offices have been a central meeting point for business leaders, small business owners and elected officials to network and discuss local business issues.  And, the chamber office is usually a resource to visitors in town looking for maps, guides or other local information.

But, does the chamber of commerce need a building or physical offices to provide benefits to their members and their community?

The Goleta...Read More » »

I've been working with chambers of commerce and membership organizations for nearly 15 years. I've never seen anyone hug their computer, let alone hug their member database. Oh sure, there have been some who've said they LOVE their database (WebLink clients, of course!) ;-), but mostly it's viewed as a necessary evil.  Let's change that!

First, why do you have a database? Or member management software? Or a customer relationship management system?

What do you do with it?  Do you:

• Create mailing...

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If your chamber is like most, you go through a certain process to sell memberships to local businesses.  At some point in this process, the business will decide to join or not to join.   If the business joins, you can be well on your way towards gaining member intelligence for your chamber.     But what if they don’t join?  What can you learn from these businesses?  Plenty!

Let’s start with this, “Why not?”  Ask them why they didn’t join.  AND, record that information in your database!  You’ll...Read More » »

You might have heard about the recent password hacks or phishing scams for Twitter users.  Several news and celebrity accounts were taken over by hackers including Barack Obama, Britney Spears and FoxNews. 

Turns out that one of the hackers ran a simple password guesser on Twitter’s administrative control panel and gained access to one of Twitter’s support staff’s accounts.  He then could access any other Twitter account and post using that person’s account. What was the Twitter staffer’s...

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As we’ve mentioned before, many chambers of commerce and business associations are jumping into blogging as a way to reach out to their audience and engage them with social media.   However, many organizations have just one person blogging due to time constraints or familiarity with social media.

Today, Seth Godin posted about the death of the personal blog.   (Don’t worry – there’s still room for your own blog about your personal interests.) However, his point is that the top 10 blogs are all...

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By Pam Sefrino, WebLink Director of Sales, Northeast Region (formerly with Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce)

 

In this tough economic climate, member retention rates are falling and even long-time chamber members are scrutinizing every dollar they spend and looking at the return on their annual membership investment. What are you doing to ensure that renewing membership in your chamber is an easy decision, even when belts are being tightened?

No longer are chamber professionals able to get...

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What can you learn from dropped members?   Plenty!  IF you track and report on just a few items in your membership management software.   For this post, we’ll consider“dropped” members as members that have cancelled their membership or those who you’ve dropped because they haven’t renewed their dues.  (You are dropping them after they are past due, aren’t you?  You should be!)

This two-part post will first deal with Drop Reasons.  Part 2 will deal with Additional Potential Lost Revenue.

Drop...

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No, segments are not just something you get from oranges and grapefruit.  Hopefully, you're able to segment your membership in your member management software or reports. 

Why is segmenting your membership important?  By grouping your members into segments you can see how they relate to each other and even how valuable they are to your organization. 

How should you segement your members?   Any way that can help you gain insight into how a group is valuable to your organization.  Some examples are:

• N...

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I'm sure you know how much each member pays you in dues each year.  But, can you somewhat easily find what other revenue each member brings to your organization?    Can you calculate, on average, what each member pays your organization over the life of their membership?

In other words, do you know who the most (and least) valuable members are?   

If you can find this, it can open a whole new world of member recruitment and retention.  You can begin to show that members in a certain demographic are...

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This is the first post on the brand new WebLink International blog.  Our intent is to use this blog to deliver best practices for marketing and managing member-based organizations through technology, including membership management software, websites and releated services.

We'll post information on how to use your member database to find member intelligence, increase new member sales, generate non-dues revenue and more. 

There is a shift in association management sofware packages as well as...Read More » »