Paying your dues is not the same as showing up
I’ve spoken at a few local association meetings lately and it got me to thinking. Are you, or have you been a member of an association or group? Are you getting out of it what you want, and are your expectations aligned with the mission of the group? Do you know the mission of the group? It’s likely that education and networking are at the top of their mission statements. Bringing you more business isn’t likely on their list, but is it your expectation?
Listen to this new, 8-minute episode for some perspective on getting value from your association memberships.
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– Paying your dues is not the same as showing up. Listen to this episode, see where I’m going with this one.
Hi, it’s Alan Berg. Welcome back to another episode of the Wedding Business Solutions Podcast. I’ve been to a few association events recently and it struck me in just the overhearing the conversation from the board members and some of the other members there. How they were surprised at how many people didn’t show up for this particular event. And it wasn’t like there wasn’t enough promotion for it. It wasn’t like there wasn’t enough time to get the word out. And sure, there were some people that won’t be able to make it through to other obligations. But with the, given the size of the membership, and not just for these particular events where I was at or where I spoke, but just in general. They talk about people who join, but then they never come. And you know, some people feel better because they get to say, “I’m a member of this association.” But what’s the real value?
I was having conversation with different people at these events, and I remember years ago when I was at The Knot, when I was vice president of sales at The Knot, I was having conversations with a bunch of different associations and I actually did a survey, and I was asking people who were members of a group, what do you expect to get out of this? And it was surprising how many people said they expected to get business. And that’s not in the mission of any of the associations, not in the associations that I know of, not the ones I belong to, and certainly not the ones where I go and speak.
Bringing people together, networking, certainly, education was at the top of the list of many of these groups. And there’s kind of the irony. Education’s at the top of the mission of many of these groups. It’s also one of the things that people say they most want to get out of them. And then when given the opportunity, they don’t necessarily show up. But if you want to get business from an association, from being a member of an association, the best thing that you can do is show up. Because people refer people they know, like, and trust.
If you haven’t read the book, “The Go-Giver” by Bob Burg, B-U-R-G, Bob Burg. If you haven’t read that he mentions that, “People refer people they know, like, and trust.” If they, you know, somebody needs a fill in the blank, they need a floral decor, they need an officiant, they need a band, or a DJ, or photographer, a videographer. Who are they going to refer? You know, the people that are top of mind. And who’s going to be top of mind? People that they’ve seen recently. People that they’ve either seen at an event, or they’ve seen at their association. And when you’re a member of an association and you show up at events, don’t show up with a handful of business cards handing them out. People are going to refer people who are seen as givers, not as takers.
If you haven’t read the book, “Give and Take” by Adam Grant, you want to read that. So, joining an association is great and it’s probably a tax deduction for you, and that’s fine. If you’re not the owner of the business, maybe the owner of the business invests in you by letting you become a member of different groups. But if you really want to get anything out of it, you have to show up. I’ve always said that the, when you join an association, when you first join, and you may not know a lot of people there, the best thing you can do is volunteer. Volunteer to be the person that signs people in when they come to a meeting. Why? You’ll meet everybody. I mean, everybody who walks in has to go to you to get signed in, to get their name badge or whatever, and it’s your opportunity to meet them.
I also did an episode here with Rod Baker where we talked about networking for introverts. And what Rod had said is, when he goes to an event, he looks for the most uncomfortable person there and goes over and talks to them. And if you are the most uncomfortable person, find the next most uncomfortable person and talk to them. That’s how you’re going to expand your circle. That’s how you’re going to get into these, some people call them cliques. And there are some cliques for sure, but there are also just groups of people that know each other and show up to events and then they talk to each other when they get there. It doesn’t mean you’re a clique. I know when I go to a National Speakers Association meeting, if I see somebody kind of hanging outside of a group of people that I’m talking to when they’re not talking to anybody, I wave them in. “Come on, come on in and talk to us.” I remember being the person on the outside 15, 16 years ago when I joined that group. And now I’m on the inside, but I’m still not part of every group, so I try to go to more meetings.
I’m going to go to three speaker meetings this year. One in Orlando, one in Dallas, and one in the Birmingham, UK. And I’m going to meet other people. I’m going to get outside of the circle that I have and expand that circle. And the way you expand that circle of influence and that circle of referrals is by showing up. So, if you’re a member of an association, think about the last time you went, or think about the last time you got an invitation to go to some type of an event. You saw it and you go, nah, I’m not going to go to that, right? What did you do instead? What did you do instead? Did you stay home and watch TV? Did you, you know, what did you do? Because there’s always something to do. And when you choose to go to a networking meeting, you are making a priority of that as opposed to something else. So, you don’t have to go to everything, for sure. You don’t have to go to everything. Although I know people that do and those people get referred a lot because they’re the people that show up. But you do need to show up if you want people to refer you.
Remember the association’s mission and purpose is not to bring you business. It’s to bring people together for networking, for education, right? That’s what their purpose is. Ask them, look up the charter, look on the website of the association you belong to and I’ll bet you that it doesn’t say, our purpose is to get you more business. Now, indirectly, will you get business through people that you meet here? Maybe.
Will you get business through the education that you learn? Sure. But it’s not the purpose of the association to directly bring you business. That’s up to you to invest your time, not just your money for your dues, to invest your time to show up. So, if you haven’t gone lately, I suggest that you go. If you’re thinking, I’m not getting anything out of this group, ask yourself, have I been showing up? And have I been showing up and contributing? ‘Cause again, people like to give to givers.
So, have you been contributing, or have you been just showing up and hanging out in the corner, and you know, not really engaging with other people and finding out what’s going on with them. And when you find out what’s going on with them, then you might say, hey, you know what, I might be able to help you with that, right? Which then gets you business because you’re helping someone else, right? Who is it, Zig Ziglar, I think, who said, “You can have anything you want in this world as long as you’re willing to help other people get what they want first.” So, I know I paraphrased that.
So, if you haven’t shown up lately, I suggest you show up. I suggest if you’re not getting the value you think you should be, talk to the board members of that group and find out are they aligned with what you’re supposed to be getting? And maybe they have some ideas on how you might be able to get what you’re looking for, other ways than what you’re doing now. Hope they gave you something to think about.
I’m Alan Berg. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions about this or if you’d like to suggest other topics for “The Wedding Business Solutions Podcast” please let me know. My email is [email protected]. Look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Thanks.
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