We are often asked, “What are the YTheyJoin profiles of various associations?” YTheyJoin™ identifies nine types of members based on their professional needs and motivations. Each association has a unique mix and an organization dominated by Relevant Participants and Shapers is very different from one dominated by Altruistics and Boosters. After doing the research, we give each association a pie chart to show their mix and here are the top three categories for three national associations.

An association of land developers:

Relevant Participants

Shapers

Altruistics

An association of doctors:

Cognoscenti

Altruistics

Relevant Participants

An association of nurses:

Altruistics

Boosters

Mailboxers

Some associations also like to break out a profile of full members and associate members, or national members and local chapters, and the differences can help you provide more effective services and spend money more efficiently.

Our program shows how to do target marketing based on the nine member types. For example, the first paragraph of renewal letters should change for each member type: a letter to Relevant Participants should emphasize meetings and speakers; while a letter to Cognoscenti should emphasize publications and opportunities to write.

Learn more at www.YTheyJoin.com or call us at 703-772-5362.

Dispatch from Washington, DC also known this week at Snowmaggedon! Yes we are still here but life has become eat/sleep/shovel then eat/sleep/shovel. Up to 30 inches of snow in many places and drifts up to five feet.

During this time I re-discovered a favorite place on the web and you may also enjoy it. It is www.Ted.com and it features lectures by influential and innovative thinkers on a wide range of subjects. Some of my favorites are scientists and the woman who brings a brain into the room and sets it on a table. This week was especially interesting because they held their annual conference and it was covered in the press. Keynote speakers included Bill Gates and Jamie Oliver.

Jamie Oliver, a famous chef, also received the annual Ted Prize and he talked about his mission to teach children about food. He has a project in West Virginia and has brought fresh foods into the schools and also teaches children how to cook healthful meals. His goal is to cut obesity-related illness in this country and he talks about the related challenges. He wants every child to know how to cook ten healthful meals by the time they graduate high school, he wants a Food Ambassador in every supermarket, he wants truth in labeling.

A conference theme this year was simplicity over complexity. I love simplicity and believe that anyone in the research business, such as me, should strive to keep things simple and transparent. Explain findings simply. Explain how many people are in a study, how they were selected, and if it is scientific or not. Too many people say “this is what most associations do!” when in reality they do not know that for a fact – and then you in good faith believe them and make decisions based on misleading information.

Want a simple member segmentation and target marketing program? See www.YTheyJoin.com

By Dale Paulson, Ph.D., President of Allegiance Research Group

This article is a continuation from the previous article and shows another 5 ways to use your wit to defend the status quo.

Help your CEO maintain their privacy. I mean if the CEO is too accessible, what is this going to do to his/her golf score? Your evaluation could hinge on keeping a low profile.

Show hostility to new ideas. I mean there are some really great ideas out there. But, wait, don’t get in a hurry to find them and remember the Hummer ain’t dead yet.

Re-cycle the same old speakers. How do you find new speakers with fresh ideas? You got speakers, why change? Simply have them change the title of their speeches and seminars. What’s the problem?

Keep your dues inflexible. Don’t go there. You are losing members as it is. Association money is short. Flexible dues? What a dumb idea.

Make your Web site as bloated as possible. I mean it is hard to prioritize, let alone customize according to what people need. Throw stuff in there and they will find it – if they want it badly enough.

Now you have the 10 ways to keep your job simple. Remember “Change is Pain!” But should you be an association executive who wants to make a difference, I invite you to visit www.YTheyJoin.com

By Dale Paulson, Ph.D., President of Allegiance Research Group

Let’s face it, there is some pretty lousy assn marketing out there. You can always blame poor economic times and if the boss is happy and the board is not complaining, why change? Occasionally a committee chairperson gets ambitious and asks “Why can’t we grow?” This is when your wit should hit the sham. In other words, use your wit to defend the status quo. Here’s how.

Outsource is what you should be doing. Yep, there are some good outfits that will do mass marketing for you. Take a company like Churn’em and Burn’em Inc. They will mail thousands of letters about your assn and a 2% response is considered wildly successful. Never mind that you can do the same thing yourself, and that 98% of the prospects say “No” to you because the mass mailing did not say the right thing to them. As a bonus, when things don’t work out you can blame your outsource buddy.

Assume that all of your members are basically the same. After all, they all paid dues didn’t they? But what if your members are different and have different needs? You must figure out what they want. You’ve got enough to do without opening that “can of worms.”

Forget preferred channels of communications. People like to get their info in different ways. What a hassle. I mean there are some great e-mail churners who will do all your communications. If people don’t want info the way you want to send it, ignore them.

Take your time responding. Some people are excited when they first see what you offer, but there are only 8 hours in the day and they can wait.

Make your assn like junior high. We all fondly remember jr high when it was important to belong to the right “clique.” Let some of your more aggressive members run things. They will like you better and it means less work for you.

There you have it, 5 ways to keep your job simple and 5 more in the next article. Remember, “Change is Pain!” But should you be an assn exec who wants to make a difference, I invite you to visit www.YTheyJoin.com

By Dale Paulson, Ph.D., President of Allegiance Research Group, Here is a Humorous Look at Hiring

If you wanted, for some unknown reason, to hire the worst possible employee how would you proceed? I’m talking the worst, the absolute worst. The type of person with their own agenda, impossible to supervise, petty, quick to take offense, and on their best days hinting that they have a great lawyer and that they know their rights. But how do you know that you’ve found a really bad employee? Much like jury consultants who ask prospective jurors about their attitudes related to our legal system, you should ask prospective employees about their work-related attitudes.

Some problematic work-related attitudes include the following: an over-developed sense of importance; a sense that they are special; and a belief that they don’t have to do anything extra because they are already there. We see this in the former beauty queen who refuses to give up her tiara. It’s called deservedness or a sense of entitlement.

As we continue our search for the bad employee, we look for a lack of empathy. The inability or disinclination to see things from the other person’s perspective. Rhett Butler’s famous comment, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn” is humorous in movies but not on the job. “Do you have this in a size five?” “Frankly, my dear . . .” We also need some pettiness and a good memory for remembering slights. If you can’t hold a grudge, you don’t qualify here. “Tower, this is Aardvark 551, requesting permission to proceed to runway one eight.” “Aardvark 551, do you remember what you said the last time you were here?”

There you have some contextual attitudes that identify bad employees. It works the other way too-we can help you identify good employees. We use the contextual attitudes of the workplace (we have identified nine) to evaluate potential employees. All you need to do is have the job candidate take our Workplace Attitudes Test of 45 questions and we’ll evaluate it for you. You receive a bar graph that summarizes the individual’s work-related values and an overall score. This makes you a better interviewer. Now you can use the Workplace Attitudes Test to hire really bad or really good employees, the choice is up to you. The neat thing is, you won’t be doing it by accident. Remember, just because Ben Franklin wanted to make the turkey our national bird doesn’t mean you have to hire one! Call 703-772-5263 or visit www.WorkplaceAttitudes.com