Matrix Moves, Membership Magic, and Association Insights!

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Welcome to Association Chat Podcast.

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This is the podcast for the association
community where each episode

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brings something new and exciting.

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I'm your host, KiKi L'Italien.

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Before we get started, I want
to give a big shout out to our

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visionary Voyager sponsor, Big Red M.

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Big Red M is your
association growth partner.

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Big Red M offers consulting, sales,
research, and publishing services

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for associations that want to grow.

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If you want to learn more
about Big Red M, visit BigRedM.

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com or reach out to me and I'll
connect you with the right people.

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Big Red M stands for membership.

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And it could also stand for
money to support your mission.

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Check them out.

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Check them out.

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Bigredm.

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com.

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All right, let's dive
into this week's episode.

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It has been an incredible week and
it's also been a short one because I am

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actually releasing this one earlier than
usual in the week, because tomorrow is

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Independence Day in the United States.

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And this week, I already interviewed
Jeff De Cagna about the three stewardship

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imperatives for fit for purpose
association boards, which I mean,

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that's a meaty topic in and of itself.

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And also one that has
talking for one full hour.

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It really helps have a
little processing time.

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You know what I mean?

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Yeah, so today I want to focus on some
questions we received from our amazing

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community because this is our shorty
episode and so first up, we have a work

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related question that came from Emily
and Emily asks, what are some effective

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strategies for retaining members?

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in associations.

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It's a great question because
membership retention is a huge deal.

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It's crucial for the long term
success of any association.

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Here are a few strategies that can
make One, consistent communication.

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I am not talking about just programming
your automation, your email automation

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and getting your like, yes, we all like
our drip campaigns and stuff like that.

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I've actually been thinking about
these touch points, not just with

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member in terms of membership, but
also with any kind of communication

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and your personal relationships and
these touch points of communication

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can be really meaningful for folks.

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And they can be even more powerful
when they're simple and consistent.

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What about consistent communication
that where you're not asking for a

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lot of time or energy, you're actually
communicating in a positive, consistent,

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and rewarding for the member kind of way.

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I share a picture of a cup of
coffee that I'm having with a

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friend of mine every single morning.

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And it's this check in, right?

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It's a check in to say, I
care about you and I'm here.

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It's positive.

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It's consistent.

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It's rewarding and it just
communicates care, right?

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How are you doing that same sort of thing,
that same sort of positive, consistent and

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rewarding communication for your members?

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All right, so I went deep on that one.

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Of course, you want to provide
programming and like events that are

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going to provide real value That align
with your members needs and interests.

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So always thinking about
what do those look like?

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Doing regular assessments to
see are they still connecting?

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Are they still the right mix?

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How can we improve them?

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And making sure that the
format for those things work.

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Should they be retooled?

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Should they be reimagined?

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Member recognition, acknowledge
and celebrate your members

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achievements and contributions.

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Say, thank you.

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Say, good job.

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Do this through awards.

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Do this through spotlights.

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Do this through special mentions.

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People love to be recognized for
the things that they contribute.

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And I think that it's a really powerful
way that we can regularly show our

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support and give people the acclaim
and the attention that they deserve.

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And then feedback mechanisms.

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That's a thing that I think is regularly
missing from a lot of associations

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a way to provide regular feedback
and to show that you're listening,

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what do you do with that feedback?

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How do you make improvements
based on the suggestions?

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How do you basically report on
your own progress with this?

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Is there some sort of Process, system,
mechanism in place where you are able

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to regularly show your community that
you're listening, you're thinking about

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what they're saying, and then you're
putting some improvements into practice.

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And then facilitating
member to member connection.

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That's such a huge driver for
value for association members.

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When you facilitate relationship
building, that fosters growth

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and opportunity for your members.

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You win loyalty, and as you should,
because when you're creating these

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relationships that have value for people
that wouldn't exist otherwise, then

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what could be more meaningful than that?

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Now let's move on to the fun question,
this one comes from Mark from Facebook.

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Mark asks, if you could have any
superpower, what would it be and why?

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If I could have any superpower, I
would like to order it up right now.

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It would be the ability to learn any
skill I needed to learn instantaneously.

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It's I remember what was it?

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Matrix and the Matrix?

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It was in the Matrix, right?

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Where Keanu Reeves character Neo learned,
he can be like, I know, I don't know,

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I can't even remember, it's been too
long, I'm too old like ninjutsu, I'm

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now a karate master, I don't know, but
the ability to download any sort of

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skill and just learn it instantaneously.

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Imagine being able to instantly
play piano beautifully.

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Or I've been trying to learn
how to juggle for a long time.

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I would love to be able to do that.

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juggle, or just suddenly have
the skill to edit this podcast

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episode to a genius level without
spending a bunch of time on it.

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It would be amazing.

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Instantaneous skill knowledge.

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That would be my superpower choice.

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So before we wrap up make sure
to check out our episode with

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Jeff De Cagna early next week.

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If you enjoyed this, please leave us
a review please, it matters so much.

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And don't forget to sign up for
the Association Chat Newsletter.

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This is where I share my top five
association podcast listens every week.

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Next week, I'm excited to bring you an
interview, a live stream to interview with

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executive coach and career strategist,
Jen Lewi from passion to paycheck, turn

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your side hustle into a full time dream.

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And this is for anyone considering taking
a leap forward into entrepreneurship

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or considering doing a career pivot.

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I've done a couple
career pivots in my life.

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And it's also for somebody
who might have a similar And

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they're like, should I do this?

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Should I not?

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Should I, should I just
stay with what I'm doing?

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Is it time to branch out?

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Especially in the association industry.

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There are a lot of people who
dance back and forth between

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I'm an association executive.

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I'm a consultant, I'm a
consultant, I am an industry

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partner and, work in this space.

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Thanks for tuning in.

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Remember to stay curious, keep
asking questions to learn every day.

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As Joseph Campbell once said, the cave you
fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.

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Have a great rest of the week, everyone.