It’s true that most people favor email as their preferred method of communication; it’s immediate and versatile. That said, this… READ MORE>

How are you going to get people to your association’s event this year? If you’re not asking yourself this question… READ MORE>

Trust is the foundation of just about any relationship. This is true in life and business. It’s true for your… READ MORE>

Are you actively recruiting small organizations to be members of your association? It’s okay. You can be honest. We know… READ MORE>

So your in-person event is back on. Great! Now you need attendees. READ MORE>

If one of the main benefits of your association or your annual conference is “networking” you have a problem. LinkedIn… READ MORE>

In the post-COVID-19 world, your website takes on new significance. It could be years before people feel comfortable interacting in… READ MORE>

And 4 Things to Add to Attract, Retain, and Engage Members of All Ages

4 Things to Throw Out of Your Association’s Broken Business Model

In the past, associations thrived on in-person events, networking, education, and certifications—the more the merrier. But for years there has… READ MORE>

As if you didn’t have enough to worry about with COVID-19, you suddenly find yourself working from home. That means… READ MORE>

6 Ways to Help your Association Thrive

Part 5: Events and Programs

This is the fifth post in our series 6 Ways to Help Your Association Thrive. To get started, establish your… READ MORE>

6 Ways to Help your Association Thrive

Part 4: Prospecting

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6 Ways to Help your Association Thrive

Part 3: Marketing Assets

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6 Ways to Help your Association Thrive

Part 2: The Plan

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6 Ways to Help your Association Thrive

Part 1: The Cause

So you need more members. And more non-dues revenues. And you’d like to boost engagement while you’re at it. To… READ MORE>

Angelo is a bus driver for a small tour company in Ecuador. Quite often the tourists’ breakfast comes with a… READ MORE>

When I interviewed for my first job out of college, I had a strong resume and a few good references.… READ MORE>

My neighborhood is crawling with door-to-door salespeople. They come selling everything from television and internet services to home security systems.… READ MORE>

4 Steps to Heal your Brand Breaks to Drive Membership and Non-Dues Revenues

Why you need a consistent brand story

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Engage your Audience with Holistic Digital Marketing

6 Ways to Reach Your Marketing Goals in Uncertain Times

When I was a kid, Valentine’s Day was one of my favorite days of the year. I would spend hours… READ MORE>

One-off campaigns or clever sales pitches just don’t work anymore to convert prospects into attendees, members, and loyal brand ambassadors.… READ MORE>

In fashion, everything old becomes new again. Thin ties were out, and then back in. Glasses were oversized, then small,… READ MORE>

Once you’ve outlined your holistic digital marketing strategy, it’s time to choose the platforms and tools that will propel your… READ MORE>

How to Maximize your Outcomes and Budget

Holistic Digital Marketing Part 1: Strategy

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Why You Should Market Holistically for Long-Term Sustainability

What is Holistic Marketing?

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So you Can Make Smart Decisions to Reach your Goals

12 Marketing KPIs Every Association Should Measure

KPIs, or key performance indicators, can help you track the success of your event, marketing, and organization so you can… READ MORE>

How to Track Ket Metrics to Make Better Strategic Decisions

Key Performance Indicators for Event Marketers

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How to Move People from Prospects to Attendees, Members, and Ambassadors

Member journeys in the digital marketing world

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Strategic Event Marketing is About Inspiring and Connecting Potential Attendees

4 Pillars of Event Marketing to Fuel Attendance and Engagement

Strategic event marketing is about inspiring and connecting potential attendees. It goes beyond facts and “stuff”—all that networking, education, and… READ MORE>

Increase Attendance and Find New Prospects with Personalized Marketing that Aligns with your Buying Cycle

How to Promote Your Event on Facebook (in just 5 simple steps)

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Facebook Canvas is an immersive storytelling platform you can use to communicate with your base, drive event attendance, and build… READ MORE>

Nowadays you can’t have a conversation about event marketing without mentioning digital. As part of the Engagement Assessment Survey, we… READ MORE>

Remove Common Barriers to Event Attendance and Engagement

How to overcome event marketing challenges

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Drive Attendance and Engagement Using a Time-Testing Technique

Why event marketers need more storytelling

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Insights to Help you Bridge the Gap Between What you Want and What you Have

How Organizations Drive Membership and Attendance

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You Know your Event has Value, But Can you Prove It?

How to fuel attendance and engagement with an ROI Toolkit

Attendees don’t buy products (a.k.a your event). They buy outcomes. They don’t really care what you have to offer. They… READ MORE>

Prove the ROI of Attending your Event to Drive Attendance and Engagement over the Long Term

Why Your Event Needs a Value Proposition

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7 Strategies for Improved Engagement and 7 Bonus Tips

How to Use Engagement Marketing in Your Emails to Drive Event Attendance

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A Plan for Starting or Overhauling Event Marketing that Drives Attendance and Engagement

Engagement 101

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Meet Luke Brandwalker, one of the profiles you might see when you take the Rottman Creative Engagement Assessment. If you’re… READ MORE>

How to Measure Engagement to Improve your Events and your organization

Are your members engaged?

When we talk about your audience’s level of inspiration, we’re really talking about how engaged they are. Do members just… READ MORE>

Forge Connections to Further Your Mission and Sustain Your Organization

How to Create High-Quality Connections

Imagine your event is THE place for connecting—for meeting like-minded individuals who are open to new ideas, ready to work… READ MORE>

How to Build Loyalty, Drive Event Attendance, and Further Your Mission

Motivation vs. Inspiration

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TO MOVE MEMBERS FROM AN INSPIRED STATE TO TAKING ACTION, YOU NEED A TRIGGER AND A TARGET.

Triggers, Targets, and Inspired Journeys in Event Marketing

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Generate Specific Actions Through Inspiration

Mastering Triggers and Targets in Your Event Marketing

Knowing how to use triggers and targets in your event marketing will result in inspired members ready to create high-quality… READ MORE>

Get off the acquisition and retention roller coaster and learn how to inspire your members with effective strategy. How many… READ MORE>

WE’RE OFTEN TOLD “A PICTURE IS WORTH 1000 WORDS,” BUT WE SELDOM STOP TO THINK ABOUT WHY THAT’S TRUE.

Tap into the power of visual storytelling to inspire members, connect them, and demonstrate the value of your organization.

We’re often told “A picture is worth 1000 words,” but we seldom stop to think about why that’s true. Psychologists… READ MORE>

If you decided to give brand storytelling a try but you’re not really seeing results, don’t give up. Finding great… READ MORE>

Drive Attendance at your Next Event with a Visually Compelling Fact Sheet 1. Data is intimidating. Data alone won’t fill… READ MORE>

And Why It’s Easier Than You Think Forbes says 2015 is the “Year of Video Content Marketing.” So just how… READ MORE>

Physically engage your audience to get more from your marketing. As a limited-time holiday promotion, coffee shop chain Caribou Coffee… READ MORE>

We know that visual matters. If your brand doesn’t engage with the eyes, any words you use to tell your… READ MORE>

As we were going through the process of reinventing our online image, I came across a cool design story about… READ MORE>

People go with their gut. We make decisions, even big ones, in a matter of seconds mostly based on emotion… READ MORE>

We know storytelling technology shapes and enhances the stories we tell. One of those technologies is Twitter. While it might… READ MORE>

Storytelling Isn’t Enough Telling your brand story is only part of your job as marketer. Another important endeavor is to… READ MORE>

SEVEN STORIES EVER Author Christopher Booker had always heard the popular notion that there are really just a handful of… READ MORE>

Just how effective is storytelling compared to a straightforward presentation of information? The bloggers at BufferSocial recently completed an experiment… READ MORE>

A few times a year, Mary and I head up to Baltimore Print Studios to use a traditional printing press… READ MORE>

Our lives used to be ruled by something we called NEC. Networking, Education, Certification. We preached it to clients, defended… READ MORE>

This all-visual platform is a great chance to connect to your members’ and supporters’ aspirations and interests. Pinterest is less… READ MORE>

The age of social media represents a fundamental change in where power is clustered. A better way to say it… READ MORE>

A quick search in Merriam-Webster’s will tell us that the word “move,” can refer to both an emotional sensation and… READ MORE>

We Want To See You Be Brave:

Vulnerability

Anything But Vulnerability, Please! But here is the central problem. Among people, it’s vulnerability that truly forges connection. It would… READ MORE>

We Want To See You Be Brave:

Fear

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We Want To See You Be Brave:

Professionalism

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The Anatomy of Inspiration:

The LIMBS

Design: The LIMBS Design represents the LIMBS of inspiration, because it’s what carries your message into the world. It’s what… READ MORE>

The Anatomy of Inspiration:

The BELLY

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The Anatomy of Inspiration:

The BRAIN

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The Anatomy of Inspiration:

The HEART

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Since we’ve been communicating our “Inspire Your Base” message, we’ve noticed an evolution in how people are responding. The responses… READ MORE>

Archetype Based Branding:

The Patriarch

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Archetype Based Branding:

The Advocate

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Archetype Based Branding:

The Caregiver

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Fifth Think about ways you can “unveil” your conference. What can you borrow from successful product launches? Find ways to… READ MORE>

Our roots are in design, so we’re biased on this. But we’re also right. Good design is good business. It’s… READ MORE>

6. Inspire confidence in your members that they can anticipate something better than the ordinary. People will open your emails… READ MORE>

2. Don’t be afraid to send more emails (if they are good emails). Associations are sometimes leery of sending too… READ MORE>

4. Build unique offers into the campaign. Offers include things like Early Bird specials, webinars, hotel discounts, giveaways (from iPads… READ MORE>

We should recognize that doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results is foolish. We will… READ MORE>

We accept that late registration is a fact, not a trend. We will not ignore cultural shifts. Instead we will… READ MORE>

6 steps to Inspiring your base to act.

Step 6 of 6: Work with the timing

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6 steps to Inspiring your base to act.

Step 5 of 6: Leverage your offers

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6 steps to Inspiring your base to act.

Step 4 of 6: Develop your voice

People don’t know that you’re talking to them if you don’t actually talk to them. And the way your people… READ MORE>

What your association is doing is too important. The lives you are changing matter too much. What’s really stopping you… READ MORE>

Your registration brochure isn’t just a marketing piece. It’s the face of your conference. A face can launch a thousand… READ MORE>

In the article, “Meeting Apps: Advice from the Trenches,” Sue Hatch details the account of Logan Fleck’s first attempt at… READ MORE>

E-mail and social media naturally complement each other. Data shows individuals who use Facebook or Twitter at least once a… READ MORE>

From the time I started school, I knew something wasn’t right with the blackboard. Or books. Or spelling words. What… READ MORE>

Have you read The Hunger Games yet? If you want to know how to market your event, you should. Yes,… READ MORE>

A recent study found that about 80% of consumers rely on multiple marketing channels when making a purchasing decision. Yet,… READ MORE>

We’ve been doing a little construction on our LinkedIn profiles. Most of the grunt work has been to install apps… READ MORE>

What’s your story? Have you ever had a chance to watch kids during story time? A good storyteller can captivate… READ MORE>

Unless you are in design, you probably don’t pay much attention to the huge array of typefaces that you come… READ MORE>

You’ve created a brand identity for your association that seems to be working. Members recognize your logo when they see… READ MORE>

Focus on 4 crucial areas to increase attendance. And, no, we’re not talking about losing weight, writing that novel, or… READ MORE>

Harness the power of a crowd to reach your attendance goals. We know it has happened to you. You can… READ MORE>

Our most recent edition of White Space covered positioning annual conferences for greater attendance. One of the topics we touched… READ MORE>

It’s time for old dogs to learn a few new tricks. Forty percent. If a school teacher had 40% of… READ MORE>

Let’s not dance around it. The challenges we currently face have left most feeling one pinch too many, and will… READ MORE>