Think about it...when you dive in to your network of colleagues, customers, family, friends, business associates, etc...you will find that many of the people you interact with are members of Associations. Some are members of more than one and some often pay a yearly fee to be part of their Association.

I believe that people value their Association Networks, especially if they are paying a monthly or yearly membership to be part of them. Someone told me a long time ago that what one really values is something they pay for.

open-to-partnership-lrg by cquarles

Professional Associations for lawyers, doctors, accountants, entrepreneurs, marketers, engineers and software developers are all around us and they are great places to target audiences for both consumer and business propositions.

I read recently that an Accounting Association in the USA claimed that it had over 1.5 million 'paid' members who earn an average of $187,000 per year. Not a bad demographic to be going after!

The other thing is that Associations - especially those that are well funded now have more robust websites and email communications as well as other marketing vehicles that can be leveraged to communicate your product offering to them. In these economic times, it's a good channel to target as people who pay a yearly membership, will certainly value anything that their Association is communicating to them.

association

Still, one needs to be smart about this. Not every Association has experience with Partnerships and not every Association is going to just let anyone target their member base with an offer. When looking to approach an Association, you need to think about the following:

1. How many members do they have and is it worth Partnering with them for their category?
2. What communications vehicles (web, email, etc...) will they make available for promotion to their member base?
3. Will your offering 'add value' to the Association and give their members something special that they might be looking for?
4. Is the Association a credible Association and are they good at marketing to their members?
5. What is the Association looking for from their Partners?

In our current economic environment, people are looking to network more than ever before and stay connected to those that have common interests or share a professional designation or simply work in a similar field. Offering up a strong value proposition to an Association and a great proposition for their Members can prove to be quite a cost effective channel for a business to acquire customers as the Association can leverage their existing communications to market your products and services. Also, it may provide you with a discreet marketing channel to Test certain offers before rolling them out!

About the Author: Ron Kunitzky

Ron has extensive knowledge of sales, partnership marketing, account management, business development, affiliate marketing, brand licensing and channel marketing, including working on programs with companies like Wal-Mart, Dell Computer, Carphone Warehouse, Hewlett Packard and Choice Hotels who have all reaped the benefits from the strategic programs that he has created. Over the last few years Ron has worked with leading North American companies that include 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, Coastal Contacts, Aeroplan, Linens N Things, Ubisoft, The ALDO Group, NASDAQ OMX, Roscan, Export Development Canada, Cardinal Watches, Track It Back, DiscoverWare and MBNA-Bank of America and has helped them generate incremental revenue, acquire new customers, open new marketing and distribution channels and add value to their existing propositions. Ron is in great demand as a public speaker and can be regularly heard speaking passionately on his areas of expertise at various seminars and events from leading associations. Ron has been featured in several publications including The Sponsorship Report, Marketing Magazine, The Advisor and Les Affairs. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Concordia University, a Graduate Certificate in Marketing from McGill University, and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing in the United Kingdom and is a B2B Council Member of the Canadian Marketing Association. In his spare time, Ron likes to spend time with his wife, travel the world, play drums in his band and attend his weekly recreational ice hockey game.