It’s no secret that associations must adapt and innovate to maintain member engagement and satisfaction. One effective way to achieve this is by offering webinars and lunch and learns as part of their membership benefits. These learning opportunities not only provide valuable knowledge but also foster a sense of community and camaraderie among members.

Investing in virtual events are not only an effective bridge between your “big conferences,” they are also an important tool to warm-up your membership ahead of them!

Convenient Learning Opportunities

Webinars and lunch and learns provide members with convenient access to educational content, without the need for extensive travel or time off from work. These sessions can be easily attended from the comfort of one’s home or office, allowing members to participate without disrupting their daily schedules. By offering these flexible learning opportunities, associations can cater to the needs of busy professionals who may not have the time or resources to attend in-person events.

Cost-Effective Education

Organizing webinars and lunch and learns can be a cost-effective way for associations to provide professional development and educational resources to their members. By leveraging technology and virtual platforms, like Zoom, associations can deliver high-quality content at a fraction of the cost of traditional conferences or workshops. This cost-saving approach allows associations to offer more frequent educational events, enhancing the overall value of membership.

Increased Networking Opportunities

Webinars and lunch and learns offer a unique opportunity for members to network and collaborate with peers in their industry. Through interactive sessions, live Q&A segments, and online discussion forums, attendees can connect with others who share similar interests and challenges. These connections can lead to new business relationships, partnerships, and career opportunities, ultimately adding value to the membership experience.

Some of the technology is truly amazing. I host a monthly networking event myself for my membership community using a platorm called RunTheWorld. We start each event with a short seminar and then the platform matches individual attendees for private on-on-one networking sessions.

Over the last two years I’ve made loads of connections and even made a few friends! Just imagine how this could impact your organization.

Expertise Sharing and Thought Leadership

By hosting webinars and lunch and learns, associations can showcase the internal expertise of members, vendors and thought leaders from around the country. By inviting industry experts and professionals to speak, associations can provide members with access to cutting-edge information and insights. This, in turn, elevates the association’s reputation and enhances the perceived value of membership.

Customizable Content for Diverse Interests

Webinars and lunch and learns can be tailored to address the specific interests and needs of the association’s membership base. By offering a diverse range of topics and formats, associations can cater to various learning preferences and professional backgrounds. This customization ensures that the educational content is relevant and appealing to a wide range of members, increasing overall engagement and satisfaction.

Ongoing Access to Learning Resources

Recorded webinars and lunch and learns can be archived and made available to members for on-demand viewing. This not only allows members who were unable to attend the live event to benefit from the content but also provides an ongoing learning resource for all members. By building a library of educational content, associations can continue to add value to the membership experience long after the event has taken place.

Reducing the membership churn is the goal of every association. You can’t simply rely on one or two live events to keep your members engaged. They expect more and you need to deliver. Scheduling regular virtual events is the simplest way to deliver exception value that won’t break the bank.

If you’re interested in a webinar on engagement for your members – I can help! Just send me a quick note and we’ll create a virtual event everyone will be excited to attend.

What’s your superpower? If you’re an entrepreneur or business owner, good fortune and connections will only take you so far.

At some point your business is going to float or sink because you are better at doing something than someone else.

Maybe it’s something really complicated. But it doesn’t have to be.

I’m a writer. I’ve paid my bills for over 25yrs hacking out content as an employee and then as a marketing guy with his own little agency.

But my superpower isn’t writing. Let’s face it, there are better writers reading this piece right now groaning about how I’ve shot through 5 paragraphs without actually getting to a point.  

My superpower is using my skill as a writer to articulate clients’ value propositions in a way that speaks to their ideal clients.

I don’t just take what they say and clean it up. I go deeper to understand who it is they need to connect with and then make their content relatable to the people who are most likely to hire them.

If I’m going to be really honest I didn’t come by this power because of a radioactive spider bite. But like Peter Parker it did start in high school.  In fact I can trace it back to my experience in drama class.

As a young actor I embraced the Stanislavski Method. If you’re unfamiliar with the term it requires an actor to portray emotions on stage by imagining themselves in the same emotional state as their character.

It was useful on the stage then and it’s useful on the page now.

When I engage with a client I use the same device that got me through Tom Stoppard’s The Real Inspector Hound and Thornton Wilder’s Our Town to put myself in the same head space of the people my clients need to reach and impress.

Over the last 24 months I’ve used this superpower to expand my business and deliver strategic business coaching to independent consultants, trainers and speakers.

I suppose the only real surprise is why it took me so long to see the opportunities right in front of me. I’m a writer and I’ve always been fascinated with other people’s business models. In fact I’ve always done this kind of work with friends in the “the biz.” It’s just that up until now, I didn’t charge for it.

As something that came so easily to me, I didn’t recognize my own value. My own superpower.

So helping fellow business owners articulate a stronger value proposition that resonates with their ideal clients is really a no-brainer service I should have been offering for years.

I show clients how to see their business from the perspective of the people they need to hire them. Once they understand this everything that needs doing becomes much clearer.

The next step is rewriting content and marketing material to align with this new perspective through a series of calls.

Then, because I’m also a tinkerer, I go in and update their websites myself.

I love what I do. It’s always interesting to engage with experts and show them how to market themselves better. But it’s absolutely thrilling when it becomes clear that “they get it.”

What’s your superpower? What special trick do you have that you take for granted but is actually a valuable, marketable skill? How can you leverage this into future business opportunities?

As the year ends, I’m looking forward to doing much more of this type of work. I’d love to talk to you about how this hybrid service of coaching/doing could help your business break big in 2019.

Book a complimentary 15 minutes and let’s talk about what you need.