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    4 trends you should look out for as you head into a year of growth and success. .     Hello and welcome to JP Moery’s Association Hustle Podcast. Founder of The Moery Company, JP’s mission is to arm today’s associations with insight and strategy to thrive and a progressively complex and competitive business landscape. 21st century associations must move forward with a little bit of hustle and revenue development at their core. Here’s JP. Here are four or five items that I expect to be trends as you head into a year of growth and success.   Member dues escalation and implementing cost of living increases will be more prevalent in 22. From all the client activity that I'm seeing right now, membership dues escalation and implementing cost of living will continue to become the norm. Another part of that is that associations are looking at new and adjacent membership groups or demographics they may not have served before. Once that starts to happen, we have more influence, more grassroots networks, and more capacity to reach folks that our benefits and services can serve. Eventually, they'll want to attend meetings and events.   Continued growth of micro-credentialing from associations. You're going to see these little areas of emphasis, expertise, small training classes, little micro-credentialing, and certifications. I think it's going to become the norm for not only this being offered by associations, but by all sorts of educational groups.   Increasing surge volunteerism. One of the things that we're starting to see from our younger demographics is they necessarily don't want to stay around for 20 years to be on our committee. They want to get involved in something that they're passionate or interested in, and then they want to move on. This is specifically going to be designed to connect younger members with our organization.     We will continue to see soft event participation from a live event perspective. Some organizations will see a surge in activity and high attendance rates, but I think we'll see soft attendance by large. Probably off maybe 10% of our previous 2019 levels. Membership development is an ongoing process, and that will be one of the themes of this year.   There's one thing that we know, membership segments, membership development, recruitment, retention, and engagement is going to become much more ingrained in association DNA.   Those are some of the items I look forward to seeing in 2022. I look forward to being with you on the journey. Talk soon.     We hope you enjoyed this edition of JP Moery’s Association Hustle Podcast. We’d love to connect with you! Connect with The Moery Company on Instagram, LinkedIn,Twitter, and our Facebook page.  Subscribe to our Moery Company News Briefing.

    Here are multiple ways to assess the state of the association industry for 2022.   .     Hello and welcome to JP Moery’s Association Hustle Podcast. Founder of The Moery Company, JP’s mission is to arm today’s associations with insight and strategy to thrive and a progressively complex and competitive business landscape. 21st century associations must move forward with a little bit of hustle and revenue development at their core. Here’s JP. A prelude to the state of the industry.   First, attention to association work is going to increase over the next several years.    There is a lot of attention on the stories of organizations, what they do, and how they lead people, but sometimes we only get half the story. There's a lot of coverage of stories with members leaving trade associations. The attention is always on the folks that don't renew or quit.   If a large company chooses to leave, it's news. It's a reflection on the association's CEO's leadership and the direction of the association, but my point is, where is the reflection on the corporate CEOs leadership and the company's direction? They're the ones choosing to leave that great organization.   Let's keep our eye on the ball on who we should be asking the questions. Not only the association but more so on the company that's leaving.   Next, entrenched issues are now being addressed, that can't be avoided or ignored any longer.    Unprecedented adjustment in our governance models, to diversify our leadership, to address the market realities of better company representation, but most importantly finding the skills that our associations need within the executives to lead the board and manage the governance of that association. Too many times we are focused on the company and the executives within the company, and not the skills that we need to take the organization forward.   Membership growth and proactive membership development programs are being assessed by CEOs. Languishing membership programs drag down supplier relationships and partnerships, which is important to our top-line revenue, and our event and program attendance because we don't have engaged members.   Workforce. I see this oddly in our motor racing sponsorships that I'm working on. These companies are using the sport to engage employees, recruit new ones, be a part of the team, and showcase that company for people that may want to work for it. They're doing it at the track, they're doing it through social media, and they're even taking the car and the driver to plants to engage with employees.   Finally, a new leadership paradigm is emerging.   CEOs are going to be assessed in a lot of different ways. Do they have diversification on their staff? Do they have diversified views on that team? It’s the end of looking over your shoulder leadership, in place we have remote teams. How are remote teams managed and led? The more flexible you can be, the more likely you’re going to keep your best people.   Overall associations have been slow to change, but we have been through so much unprecedented change our staff and members don’t seem like it’s a big deal. They're going to apply that to their association relationship. Adapt, be self-aware and watch the market. It's your choice, you can decide whether to do that or continue to operate the way you used to.

    Thank you for listening to the 300th episode of Association Hustle podcast, we are so grateful that you've been along for this journey! JP shares some exciting news about The Moery Company and its future.     Hello and welcome to JP Moery’s Association Hustle Podcast. President of The Moery Company, JP’s mission is to arm today’s associations with insight and strategy to thrive and a progressively complex and competitive business landscape. 21st century associations must move forward with a little bit of hustle and revenue development at their core. Here’s JP. The Moery Company has been acquired by the association consultancy, Advancea, which provides technology solutions, affinity programs, member benefits, sourcing, and consulting for associations.  When you think about what they're doing in terms of technology, affinity solutions, and cost savings for association members, and then combine it with the Big Red M’s sales, marketing, strategy services, and growing research component, we've got a perfect complement of a dynamic association industry combination. Here's how it is rolling out: For our association clients: * The same team is in place, all our people have been retained, they're hired in their current roles. The Moery Company Brand: * The Moery Company brand will continue in the industry, and that meant a lot to me. You'll continue to see The Big Red M around the association industry, it's going to evolve into a new era. Personally: * My Moery Company work continues. I'm still working on client association projects. I'm will also be running alongside this transition to make sure it's successful. Our firm began its professional practice in 2010 and its growth and reputation over the last 11 years has been built from association hustle, hard work and a great team and collaboration with many organizations. Opportunities: * I could see associations client's needs were evolving and expanding into some new opportunities for us. I thought we needed a partner that can provide the company with an opportunity to become a larger organization and offer a wider array of services and more depth. * Finding and retaining great people is a challenge right now, and an organization that has more capacity means my friends on the team can benefit from stronger growth and career opportunities in a new and expanding organization. What does this mean to the Association Hustle podcast? * I'm going to continue to produce this podcast every week. I want to make it more candid and more authentic. Final thank you’s… Kerry Doyle, thank you. Grace Lynch, thank you. Jackie Bessette, thank you. Amelia Mazza, thank you. Joe Bates, thank you. Matt Kerr, thank you. Bethany Murphy, thank you. Elizabeth Johnson, thank you. Mike Thomas, thank you. I want to thank you all for listening to the Association Hustle’s 300th episode, and I want to thank the entire Moery Company team for being on my journey. See you next week. Read full press release here.  I want to run up the score on downloads. So if you like this episode, would you share this on social media? Share it to your LinkedIn account! We hope you enjoyed this edition of JP Moery’s Association Hustle Podcast. We’d love to connect with you. Check out our blog at moerycompany.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter. You can also connect with JP on LinkedIn and a href="http://twitter.

    As associations are holding in-person meetings, focus on the content of the meeting and learn how to best prepare for association presentations.       Hello and welcome to JP Moery’s Association Hustle Podcast. President of The Moery Company, JP’s mission is to arm today’s associations with insight and strategy to thrive and a progressively complex and competitive business landscape. 21st century associations must move forward with a little bit of hustle and revenue development at their core. Here’s JP.  In-Person Meetings * Implement your COVID policies so folks can get the great content that you have to offer. Some associations are hiring a third party organization to help implement those COVID safety policies. * Overall registration numbers seem to be down 25%, from what we had pre COVID. Some of that might be safety, hesitancy, and the ability to travel. Other reasons might be there's so much work to do, that folks just can't even take time away from the office right now. * Tradeshow floors are bustling, and they're ready to do business. I'm really kind of enthused about the new era of meetings. * I think meetings will continue to be a hybrid, you've got a virtual component, and you've got an in person component. This might actually help those meetings extend themselves in terms of their value to the association. You might be able to deliver that content instead of over a three day period for the entire year. Preparing for Presentations at Association Meetings *  Know the audience, is this a committee that's never heard anything about the association topic? Or is it a task force that has been involved in the project, and they kind of know what's happening? * I love to use a scene setter about association trends and how it relates to the topic. I found that context helps, and it builds credibility of the speaker. * I present is qualitative information. What have people in the association told me about the topic, staff and members alike? * What's the quantitative information? Do I have math and data that supports some of the components of what we're trying to address? * Finally, what are my recommendations based on all this information? * Don't forget to smile! I want to run up the score on downloads. So if you like this episode, would you share this on social media? Share it to your LinkedIn account! We hope you enjoyed this edition of JP Moery’s Association Hustle Podcast. We’d love to connect with you. Check out our blog at moerycompany.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter. You can also connect with JP on LinkedIn and Twitter at @JPMoery, as well as The Moery’s Company’s Instagram and Facebook page.  Get a complimentary copy of JP Moery's Association Hustle book. Subscribe to The Moery Company's bi-weekly newsletter.

    Entrepreneurial, sales, networking, and personal advice that will accelerate your growth.     Hello and welcome to JP Moery’s Association Hustle Podcast. President of The Moery Company, JP’s mission is to arm today’s associations with insight and strategy to thrive and a progressively complex and competitive business landscape. 21st century associations must move forward with a little bit of hustle and revenue development at their core. Here’s JP. 3 most important characteristics to lead a business #1: Authenticity. Be authentic with your team and be honest with yourself. #2: Transparency. Be honest and candid with your team and reveal more about the business that you're running. I can guarantee you, you'll get their help and they'll understand why you're making decisions. They want to be a part of the team, you've hired them and you're making them a part of the entrepreneurial journey. #3: You have to be energetic. Don't wait to be motivated.I want you to be the most energetic person on the team, folks will tend to follow you when that happens. How have you made professional connections during the career? #1: My best personal connections came from doing the best job I could possibly do. You have credibility, when that happens, it will keep you getting paid for doing work. It builds the opportunity for reputation and referrals. Do good work, and then give them a referral for being a good collaborator with you. What is the best professional advice you've ever received? People are joining associations for two reasons. They want to make money, or they want to save money, and the associations that can demonstrate that, the more successful they'll be. As a sales person, take the role of a sorter. You're separating people that are interested from those that are not. It keeps you from taking sales personal. The ability to embrace silence. If you know me at all, that's really hard for me to do. Pose a question for the team and let them answer it. Best personal advice I've ever received: If you've met more than one a*****e today, maybe it's you, huh? We hope you enjoyed this edition of JP Moery’s Association Hustle Podcast. We’d love to connect with you. Check out our blog at moerycompany.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter. You can also connect with JP on LinkedIn and Twitter at @JPMoery, as well as The Moery’s Company’s Instagram and Facebook page.  Get a complimentary copy of JP Moery's Association Hustle book. Subscribe to The Moery Company's bi-weekly newsletter.

  Transparency and aligning external and internal sales goals is essential to having successful client relationships.       Hello and welcome to JP Moery’s Association Hustle Podcast. President of The Moery Company, JP’s mission is to arm today’s associations with insight and strategy to thrive and a progressively complex and competitive business landscape. 21st century associations must move forward with a little bit of hustle and revenue development at their core. Here’s JP. #1: The importance of transparency. Don't be hesitant to reveal your value proposition challenges to your sales partner. #2: Focus on the goal, not who gets the credit for meeting the goal. Make sure that the goals of the internal and external teams are aligned.If you hire business development partners, let them do the sales work. If the internal team has separate incentives, it could result in a lack of full collaboration. We had an experience like this, where the point of contact had similar incentives. They were actually keeping leads from us because they wanted to get the credit. It's not a sin, it's just not great collaboration. #3: Communicate at least weekly, if not daily, about sales momentum. And, make it a two way street. We hope you enjoyed this edition of JP Moery’s Association Hustle Podcast. We’d love to connect with you. Check out our blog at moerycompany.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter. You can also connect with JP on LinkedIn and Twitter at @JPMoery, as well as The Moery’s Company’s Instagram and Facebook page.  Get a complimentary copy of JP Moery's Association Hustle book. Subscribe to The Moery Company's bi-weekly newsletter.

  Associations can promote new membership by tapping into their unique attributes regarding data, government relations, and the power to bring people together. Learn more in this week's podcast.         Hello and welcome to JP Moery’s Association Hustle Podcast. President of The Moery Company, JP’s mission is to arm today’s associations with insight and strategy to thrive and a progressively complex and competitive business landscape. 21st century associations must move forward with a little bit of hustle and revenue development at their core. Here’s JP. Associations have unique attributes that have been consistent over time and I'm going to talk to you about them today. #1 The power to convene We hosted a briefing for non-members regarding government relations and 60 non-members showed up. We've converted members from that call since then. We still have that power to bring people together and address a common issue or concern. #2 Government relations Develop your own advocacy program. People that are members of different industry groups understand who the real players are. You can take that content and pitch it to non-members #3 Industry data and research. The ability for us to tap into our membership base and develop trends and industry data from it is incredibly valuable. I've got one association that has a Consumer Confidence Index of their member businesses. Hey, when are you going to start traveling again? Are you going to go to the annual convention? What do you think about the prospect of business over the next several months? #4 Talking about the benefits of membership. Avoid a menu of items, and talk about how the member will actually benefit. They want to be on a committee, they want to be on the board, and they want company legitimacy through your association. We hope you enjoyed this edition of JP Moery’s Association Hustle Podcast. We’d love to connect with you. Check out our blog at moerycompany.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter. You can also connect with JP on LinkedIn and Twitter at @JPMoery, as well as The Moery’s Company’s Instagram and Facebook page.  Get a complimentary copy of JP Moery's Association Hustle book. Subscribe to The Moery Company's bi-weekly newsletter

  What is happening in the association market with meetings, association staffing, and  membership? Listen to JP's insights on this week's podcast.         Hello and welcome to JP Moery’s Association Hustle Podcast. President of The Moery Company, JP’s mission is to arm today’s associations with insight and strategy to thrive and a progressively complex and competitive business landscape. 21st century associations must move forward with a little bit of hustle and revenue development at their core. Here’s JP. The best thing we can do right now is listen to customers, prospective members, sponsors, and advertisers, because what we hear and what we might see from their action, could contradict some of the long held biases that we may have had before. Meetings Virtual and hybrid events are here to stay. Some big companies are not traveling. I know associations want to start those in-person meetings, and we're seeing a lot of those being planned for the third and fourth quarter. Associations are seeing the value of putting on these digital events, because they're getting so many more people participating. Associations are concerned about the expanse of putting on two different events because it's a substantial investment. Membership The return on investment of membership can't be vague or broad. One thing drives their participation in membership is marketing. This week, we had a 78% open rate on a marketing piece. Let me say that again. This week, we had a 78% open rate on a marketing piece. How'd that happen? We drove them into a new marketing channel around the theme, which delivers value in the area that they were interested in. This emphasizes the whole idea about recruiting on narrow issues. Association Staffing Staff responsibilities are quite more expansive than they may have been a year ago. The association staff member may be doing two jobs with one title because of cuts and new programs. There's unprecedented value in the work. If you don't report to your managers on your productivity and results, they're not going to see your influence. Every Friday with our client work, we send a weekly report with activity and the sales pipeline. We hope you enjoyed this edition of JP Moery’s Association Hustle Podcast. We’d love to connect with you. Check out our blog at moerycompany.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter. You can also connect with JP on LinkedIn and Twitter at @JPMoery, as well as The Moery’s Company’s Instagram and Facebook page.  Get a complimentary copy of JP Moery's Association Hustle book. Subscribe to The Moery Company's bi-weekly newsletter

  Association problem-solving means that you may need analyze your business model. Are these industry biases prevalent in your association?       Hello and welcome to JP Moery’s Association Hustle Podcast. President of The Moery Company, JP’s mission is to arm today’s associations with insight and strategy to thrive and a progressively complex and competitive business landscape. 21st century associations must move forward with a little bit of hustle and revenue development at their core. Here’s JP. I have five themes that I hear on a regular basis, that in some ways I think are industry legacy bias that we can address and maybe get some different results out of the issues. #1: "We want to keep it in house".  Get the best results and impact for your members over in house out of house. Take a look at the best possible option in solution, rather than an administrative bias. #2: "We need someone with industry knowledge to do membership sales". Why don't you get somebody that's good at membership sales, rather than the industry knowledge? My research shows that it takes somewhere around seven to eight contacts to actually close a member, so you need to find somebody that has the ability and the capacity to do that, rather than someone that has industry knowledge. #3: "We just get the same sponsors over and over again". It's usually a symptom of three things. If we do the same thing over and over again, then it's probably designed to get the same sponsors year after year. We're likely calling the same people over and over again to get the same scenario, and it's odd that we would expect something different happen. #4: "We haven't raised dues since the big eight conference was still around". The raising or decreasing of dues is not really an answer right out of the gate. Is your value proposition resonating? Should there be services that no longer are part of our portfolio? Compare your programs, dues levels, and other benefits with associations that your members might be joining and look at their business model #5: "Government relations is hard to sell as a part of membership".  Likely not a member or another entity can accomplish what we can in the area of advocacy, influence, and government affairs. I want to leverage that and I want to showcase it. We hope you enjoyed this edition of JP Moery’s Association Hustle Podcast. We’d love to connect with you. Check out our blog at moerycompany.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter. You can also connect with JP on LinkedIn and Twitter at @JPMoery, as well as The Moery’s Company’s Instagram and Facebook page. To purchase a copy of JP’s book, Association Hustle: Top Strategies for Association Growth, go to JPMoery.com. Subscribe to The Moery Company's bi-weekly newsletter: https://www2.moerycompany.com/l/76152/2020-02-24/5m62v9  

Lack of revenue is often a symptom of an association business model issue, not a sales problem. Here's how you can identify the real problem.           Hello and welcome to JP Moery’s Association Hustle Podcast. President of The Moery Company, JP’s mission is to arm today’s associations with insight and strategy to thrive and a progressively complex and competitive business landscape. 21st century associations must move forward with a little bit of hustle and revenue development at their core. Here’s JP. Why is this sales thing so difficult for associations? Lack of revenue is often a symptom of what is right underneath the associations nose. These are sources of the problem that we often see: #1: The data is not very good. The contact information is old. If you've been contacting the same people at a prospective member business, and they're still non-members, and you expect something different; well, you know what they call that. #2: The pricing and the dues levels are out of whack. You've got to make sure that the pricing structure is relevant. Often what I see is that the dues levels are too low.  The difficulty of selling a $200 membership compared to a $20,000 membership is not that much. It's about the same. #3: Must have the ability to ID your value proposition, your benefits, and then find the companies that are the best fit for that program. What do you have in place that will really move the needle for that company? What are the benefits? Who do we help the most? And what other companies would that be a fit for? #4: Very little processing or reporting. The leadership in the organization has no idea what the sales team is doing. There are no reports. There's very little feedback. How do we unpack the black box? Well, I've got some ideas. First, what is the clear benefit? What are the stories you have of delivering on that benefit for a specific company? Have them give me a testimonial about it and how you crushed it for them. Is the price right for the membership or the sponsorship program? And is it relevant? Get a list of the best companies that will be aided by this clear benefit that have the resources available to pay you to do that. Do I have the right point of contact? Finally, develop a sales process. How are we going to connect all these dots and clearly record every step of the way? We hope you enjoyed this edition of JP Moery’s Association Hustle Podcast. We’d love to connect with you. Check out our blog at moerycompany.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter. You can also connect with JP on LinkedIn and Twitter at @JPMoery, as well as The Moery’s Company’s Instagram and Facebook page. To purchase a copy of JP’s book, Association Hustle: Top Strategies for Association Growth, go to JPMoery.com.   Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss a beat on the latest association insights from JP Moery and The Moery Company:

From years of experience, JP debunks old views on associations that do not apply to the changing business times.             Hello and welcome to JP Moery’s Association Hustle Podcast. President of The Moery Company, JP’s mission is to arm today’s associations with insight and strategy to thrive and a progressively complex and competitive business landscape. 21st century associations must move forward with a little bit of hustle and revenue development at their core. Here’s JP. Here is some bad business advice and association myths that I've heard: #1: "You can't charge a retainer for sales work". We charge a retainer for sales plus commission for all the work we do, because we work hard. And sometimes we've got an inherent an uneven and not consistent value proposition, maybe a dues structure that's not that relevant to the industry that we're in, and maybe an advocacy program that does more reporting than advocating. But I'll tell you what; the model has been successful for us and in fact, during the pandemic, if we were a commission only sales entity, we'd probably be out of business today. #2: "You can't give it away for free". You can't give away too much content, or you're not going to be valuable anymore. Actually, it's the opposite. I give away the advice because that content helps to build your credibility and your thought leadership. However, I just don't implement it for free. #3: "You have to be in Washington, D.C. and close to customers to be successful in the association space". The further away that I moved from Washington D.C., the more business I get. #4: "Selling membership is a long sales cycle". Actually, the people that don't join are a long sales cycle. We make a couple 100,000 contacts a year selling memberships, sponsorships, ads, and exhibits for people. What I've learned from that is companies that do join, do so in less than 50 days. The challenge for the sales team is to move on and not keep selling folks that aren't going to do it. #5: "No one looks at emails". We deliver our own bi-weekly newsletter, send email campaigns out to prospects, and we have generated millions of dollars in revenue because of our ability to monitor what people open and click. So that's wrong. #6: "Chapters are dead for associations". One of the things that I've seen in this pandemic era is how chapters are actually delivering great value, connection and familiarity. The chapter model is thriving, and I think the organizations that can find the connection between national and chapters and really identify the role each one of them play, will be very successful. #7: "We don't allow vendors to speak at conferences because they're just going to give a sales pitch". That is terrible business advice for an association in particular. Why? Many of the vendors and suppliers in the space know much more about the industry than the core members do because they're working with multiple people in the ecosystem. They actually have more insights and in business intelligence that can be helpful and make content better for you. #8: "We don't want too many vendors in the membership, because it's going to water down the value". I see these vendors now as more business partners and we need more of them. #9: "Our dues are too high". We've done a lot of dues reviews over the years, and larger members tend to pay a lot less based on the scale of their business. A $500 membership for a $1 million business is much more expensive than a $5,000 membership for a $50 million company. #10: "We want to hire someone in-house for this job". Based on what?

Develop a robust and invaluable sponsorship program that will thrive even with the uncertainty of events.           Hello and welcome to JP Moery’s Association Hustle Podcast. President of The Moery Company, JP’s mission is to arm today’s associations with insight and strategy to thrive and a progressively complex and competitive business landscape. 21st century associations must move forward with a little bit of hustle and revenue development at their core. Here’s JP. How to sell more sponsorships in 2021: #1: Develop a simple digital or in-person meeting inventory for sponsorships side by side. Keep it fairly simple with similar price points, so you can go from digital to in-person fairly quickly if you need to, and I think sponsors will understand that. #2: Put a big emphasis on segmented audiences that you can reach through your association. Regardless of whether events are digital or in-person, you're still bringing the industry together and their customers in larger numbers than before. Make sure that you're talking about that segmented audience. #3: Tell sponsors about the enhanced data and information that they're going to receive. Some associations will never send a list of attendees and contact information for an in-person event. With a digital event, they're more than happy to do that. This can be really helpful for the sponsor, so let them know. #4: Be aware that smaller companies may not have all the resources to conduct a full session or optimize thought leadership opportunities. They may need smaller opportunities to be the panelist of a website or a program rather than doing an entire webinar on their own. #5: Examine the non-event inventory you have. Newsletters, online industry trend surveys, or sponsored social media posts are just a few ideas. What are we already doing that someone would want to support, get good data, and reach a segmented market because of it? #6: It's time to establish a year round sponsorship program with special benefits, including those not tied to events. Maybe it's a briefing for the board of directors, or maybe it's a focus group. #7: Find a new approach and sales methodology Some of your traditional sponsors don't want to do digital events. Companies that have never sponsored before want to sponsor digital events because they want the data and information that they can receive from it. So, you need to prospect and update your data list because there's been a lot of changes within companies. If you send me your address to [email protected], I will send you a complimentary copy of my first book Association Hustle. Here's how you pay me for it: zero dollars. Instead, please share this podcast on social media, with a friend, or your audiences. I would be grateful for it. We hope you enjoyed this edition of JP Moery’s Association Hustle Podcast. We’d love to connect with you. Check out our blog at moerycompany.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter. You can also connect with JP on LinkedIn and Twitter at @JPMoery, as well as The Moery’s Company’s Instagram and Facebook page.    Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss a beat on the latest association insights from JP Moery and The Moery Company: