|
|
|
|
Prospective Members
Benefits of Membership: Brochure w/benefits of membership; “free” admission / prize drawing ticket form for them to put their name, address, e-mail address on for future mailings & 10 Reasons to Join the Group on the back.
Acknowledge guests at meetings; have them fill out a form with same info as above & have a ‘guest’ drawing. Put category .... where did you hear about the group so you will know where your new members are coming from and where to advertise. Use info on form to send future meeting announcements.
Have greeters at the door welcoming & directing guests to table to fill in nametag, Guest Info form, pick up copy of newsletter, brochure, application.
Introduce guests at meeting; have BOD members take turns making sure someone talks with all guests at break time.
Give something free when they join: T-shirt, bag, discount magazine diskette (can get from Christopher Sarson and also used as a fund raiser); contact SmartComputing.com user group program and get magazines to give new members; make a shareware CD (Fresno PCUG will provide you with one for $2.50 .... can also be used as a fund raiser).
Acknowledge new members in the newsletter.
Present Members
Hardest group to market to. Well worth the effort
Get members involved ... “ownership” of club. Give them small responsibilities that can lead to more participation in running the club. Acknowledge members in the newsletter (even if it’s just a thanks for renewing their membership).
Offer an extra month for each new member they recruit. Someone in the group said they won’t be paying their dues for 2 years.
Evaluation each month with ‘what would you like to have presented?’ (I tried this at my December meeting and got 4 ideas for future meetings. If I asked the members what they wanted, they probably wouldn’t have said anything.)
Questionnaire about why they aren’t renewing
Special incentive to come back (most of the attendees at the workshop thought this was a bad idea; they felt members would not renew in a timely manner so they could get the incentive).
Vendors / Speakers
Make sure your UG attitude is ‘what can we do for you?’ so it’s a win-win situation.
Offer focus groups for Vendors - give feedback on product.
Offer added value to local merchants. UG members are influential in the community and are often asked to recommend products, repair services, etc. Try to obtain member discounts from local computer stores.
For speakers:
Review product in meeting month’s newsletter
Offer ad space - reduced rate
Be a courteous host. Confirm booking with e-mail. Send welcome packet nearer time of meeting ... letter / e-mail to vendor with web site address, directions, club equipment, contact people, local hotels, cell phone # to call in case of an emergency while they are on the way to the meeting. Follow-up with a thank you, give certificate of thanks, club t-shirt, etc. at the end of the presentation. Give members a form to complete regarding the presentation and share the information with the vendor. (This goes along with above eval form.) This gives them additional info to share with their supervisor. Offer to meet at airport. Take to dinner. Have after-meeting dessert Pig-SIG.
Note: At the Vendor Forum, one vendor said it would be a good idea to put a Vendor Link on group web sites with the directions, club equipment, etc. so the vendors could access that info directly.
Potential Donors (Windows on the Rockies gets free meeting space & web site)
Phone first to find out interest level so as not to waste their time and yours
Write letter showing it’s a win-win situation
Follow up. Confirm deal with letter.
Massage. Take to dinner. Send Holiday greetings.
Community at large. Make the UG a presence.
Newspaper columnists. Send meeting details. Don’t send e-mail or fax at end of working day when they are on deadline. Send at night or early morning. Columnists love to eat. Take to lunch so they have a face to match with the PR being sent to them. Give them a packet of info ... brochure, newsletter, website address, any type of PR you give to prospective members, club t-shirt, etc.
Offer to become their experts .... up-to-date virus info, someone they can contact when they need more info about something happening in the computer world.
If there isn’t a computer column in your local newspaper or magazine, offer to write one.
CompUSA and other stores. Offer to demo products. Include computer stores, book stores, libraries, Chamber of Commerce on your newsletter distribution list.
Radio-TV computer talk shows. Offer to do an interview so the community can find out what a UG is.
Put together a computer Q&A show for your local public TV station. Make up the questions .... the station usually has all of the equipment and people to videotape the show and are looking for content to fill the time. Put together a PC .... lots of different ways you can go with this.
Offer services to general audience (computer show/swap table); seniors (through AARP, SeniorNet or local retirement homes / senior centers); schools (get computers donated by local businesses and make ready to be given to schools); disadvantaged (repair computers).
Volunteer for public TV and radio pledge weeks. Your group will be acknowledged on the air.
Put a meeting notice on the community/public TV station; in the local recycler, free classifieds booklet, etc.