Marketing Through Associations

If you're in absolute marketing, you're always searching for new list
sources -- everybody's annoyed of commitment to the aforementioned lists. If you're not in
direct business and cerebration about putting a commitment together, here's
something a little different: yield a attending at business through
associations.
Why would anyone anytime bazaar to associations? They're abundant targets:
try sending a columnist absolution to an association's advertisement - whether it's
a newsletter or a magazine. Why, you can active an absolute industry of your
products or casework with one or two well-placed account releases.
Since the magazines and newsletters of associations are not the
mainstream prospecting accoutrement of a lot of marketers who bazaar through
more acceptable channels amalgamation publications accept just a fraction
of the columnist releases and promotional online writing that go to major
publishers. Yet the absolute lists of over 23,000 associations go
astonishingly abysmal in a lot of aloft and accessory markets. In addition,
association publications are usually able-bodied admired and accommodate excellent
credibility to the firms that get ink in their abode publications.
Why abroad would you bazaar through associations? Maybe you're an
affinity banker - and you'd like to accept the 96,000 associates of the
American Speech-Language-Hearing Amalgamation administer for the special
trial amount of your new acclaim card. Or, maybe you'd like the National
Electrical Contractors Amalgamation - with 80 humans on staff, and a
budget of $10 to $25 actor to abutment their 4,000 affiliate firms that
comprise 118 bounded capacity (along with the absolute cadre of each
member firm) - to administer for your new buzz service. Associations can
deliver bags of their associates - new barter for you - with a just
a few contacts and a bashful budget.
You'd absolutely bazaar through associations if you're allotment of the
hospitality industry and would like to align a assemblage - complete
with auberge rooms, ballrooms, and casework for the complete screaming
regime of whoever shows up - of the 2,300,000 associates of the National
Education Amalgamation of the United States. Or go for a abate section of
their $100,000,000 account - accord or yield a few actor - get assassin as a
speaker or on-site entertainment, or snag some of the the association's
printing business. Amalgamation lists plan for all the above. Associations
are key targets for the absolute accommodation industry sales force: hotels,
convention space, caterers, promotional products, printed material,
ballrooms, arena services, and on-site entertainment, to name a few.
Quite frankly, I apprehend the big organizations are not for everyone. Not
everyone is searching for the big numbers, even in lists. Some humans are
just searching for a abbreviate cut - an admission block into an industry at the top
level. For this purpose, amalgamation lists are aswell advantageous in business to
the aristocratic leaders of baddest industries.
For example: If you capital to get in bed with all of the 53 companies
who accord to the Biscuit and Cracker Distributors Association, a
reference book assuming abundant advice about their association
may be just your cup of tea. You'll acquisition their abode - forth with their
association size, anniversary budget, history, newsletter and publication
detail, affair and assemblage dates, website, email address, and their
executive director's name - on page 179 of the Civic Barter and
Professional Associations of the United States directory.
The 828-page Civic Barter and Able Associations of the
United States ($99) advertence apparatus lists 7,600 associations, and is
published annually by Columbia Books, Inc. (www.columbiabooks.com;
888-265-0600, fax 410-810-0911) forth with its companion, the State
and Regional Associations of the U.S. agenda ($79). The accompaniment and
regional amalgamation adviser is decidedly advantageous if you are targeting
specific geographic areas and wish admission to top bounded association
contacts not included in the civic book. The Accompaniment and Regional
Associations of the U.S. agenda aswell has a college allotment of
association managers who, while managing assorted associations, cross
many industry curve if sourcing vendors or affection marketers.
Information in both Columbia Books directories is cross-referenced by
association index, accountable basis (500 subjects/alpha), aswell by budget
index, geographic index, controlling index, and acronym name index.
Association administration companies are aswell shown. All of their abstracts is
available on disk. These two advertence accoutrement fit in your briefcase, and
make decidedly abundant reading, if - like me - you're a banker and
have no added activity alfresco of business and occasionally watching cat-
dog on TV (ask your kids!).
Association lists and abstracts are aswell accessible in the Encyclopedia of
Associations by The Gale Group (800-877-GALE) on disk, CD, and on-
line through Lexis-Nexis. This hardbound, three-volume set ($505) is
the motherload of associations - assuming abundant advice on more
than 23,000 local, state, national, and all-embracing associations. Gale
says that seven out of every ten Americans accord to an association,
and now I accept it: they all appearance up actuality in this all-encompassing agenda set.
Referenced and cross-referenced in every which-way possible, you can
reach the 30,000 associates of Retinitis Pigmentosa International, the
200 associates of the 1954 Buick Skylark Club, the 20 associates of the
Vacuum Cleaner Manufacturers Amalgamation (VCMA), or the 10
members of the Holy Innocents Reparation Committee with according ease.
Another abundant ability of associations is The Associations Yellow Book
from Leadership Directories. While it doesn't accept the amount of
associations begin in Gale's Encyclopedia of Associations, it has an
exceptional abyss of advice about the top thousand or so
associations, abiding and presented in an adorable and logical
manner. So if you're searching for the top players in the amalgamation field,
this ability apparatus may be just what your doctor ordered.
The Associations Yellow Book is 1,400 additional pages, and profiles 1,045
of the arch U.S. barter and able associations. Included within
these profiles are 42,159 officers, agents and lath members, 263 political
action committees, 437 foundations, and 725 annex offices. 1,036
associations with Internet sites are included.
To be listed in The Associations Yellow Book, associations must
operate on a civic akin and accept anniversary operating budgets of at
least $2 million. Anniversary advertisement is torn down into 10 analytic sections: 1.
Name and communications advice 2. Description (association
mission, amount of members, amount of full-time employees, operating
budget) 3. Chief Agents Controlling - which abnormally abundant provides a
photo of the controlling administrator printed in the agenda forth with his or
her accomplishments advice 4. Admiral and Administration - including
direct-dial buzz and fax numbers and e-mail addresses 5. Government
affairs appointment and buzz 6. Committees 7. Foundations - research,
education, fundraising and contacts 8. Branches 9.Publications
including editors, frequency, and agreeable 10. Lath 11. Meetings -
conferences, seminars, dates and locations and 12. Commitment list
availability and contact.
The listings in The Associations Yellow Book are supplemented by
eight indexes: Industry; Geographical--alphabetically by state;
Budget--alphabetically aural 5 account classifications; Political Action
Committee; Foundation; Personnel--all names are listed alphabetically;
Acronym; and Master Basis of Associations.
One of the a lot of outstanding appearance of this simple to use agenda is the
quality and abyss of advice about anniversary association. For example:
the abounding page and one-quarter advertisement for the All-embracing Amalgamation for
Management Apprenticeship shows not alone the 18 admiral and
management cadre with their alone absolute punch buzz numbers
and extensions, their affiliations, apprenticeship and email addresses, but the
listing aswell contains the names and amalgamation of anniversary of their 23 board
members. Even the agent gets her name mentioned with her
phone number. So if you're searching for the being who just handles the
conventions, or the publications, you can abode or alarm anon to him.
The apple-pie blueprint and all-encompassing advantage in anniversary advertisement (plus all those
photos that we anticipate are a nice beheld touch) accomplish this excellent
reference apparatus one of the favorites about our offices. I can assure you
it's heavily used, and we acclaim it.
The Associations Yellow Book is accessible from Leadership Directories,
Inc., 104 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. 10011; Telephone 212/627-4140,
Fax 212/645-0931; web address: http://www.leadershipdirectories.com.
Published semi-annually, the cable amount is $245 for two issues.
Additional subscriptions to the aforementioned abode are $172. Subscriptions
include admission to their Internet amalgamation database which is updated
daily.
Marketing to - or through - associations may about-face out to be a key
component of your campaign; don't discount these abundant assets for
their associates lists or for opportunities for collective ventures in affinity
marketing.
Association admiral represent key players who are in allegation and in
tune with around any industry, so they accomplish abundant assets if you
need information. Sometimes commitment or faxing a few simple questions
to an amalgamation address may aftermath added advice faster
than an absolute year of researching books or account barter periodicals.
The foremost ambition of a lot of associations is to brainwash their associates -
might as able-bodied accept them brainwash their associates about your products
and services.