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Connectiv To Merge With Major B2B Publishing Associations

by Media

Editor’s note: The following is an announcement from Jeff Joseph, President of Connectiv parent SIIA; Meg Hargreaves, SIIA Board Chair; and Kevin Novak, Connectiv Board Chair. 

We hope that this email finds you and your organization in good health and steering to solid ground during this time of upheaval and transformation. We have seen Connectiv members move with impressive agility and originality in accelerating and shifting strategies and operations and we have been pleased to see strong response to Connectiv programs designed to help you navigate these turbulent times.

We are excited to announce change is coming to Connectiv as well. SIIA, the parent association of Connectiv, is pleased to announce the consolidation of Connectiv, Association Media and Publishing and the Specialized Information Publishers Association into one newly branded association, designed to bring greater value to your membership while retaining the high value programming, content and networking opportunities that have long been hallmarks of each division. This change follows a vote and passage by the SIIA board of a streamlined FY21 budget (effective July 1) and a strategic plan framework that included both this merger and the elimination of two other separate divisions, ETIN and SSD.

The board moved with both strategic and financial considerations in mind as the organization seeks to shape a compelling future-focused value proposition, retain popular programs and conserve resources under a single leader, unified brand and updated website. These efforts were obviously accelerated following COVID-19, which has dealt the Association as well as our members difficult challenges around live events. We are confident this new streamlined and consolidated membership group will be the premier membership organization for the specialized publishing, content, and media community, as we convene, develop, educate and advocate for current and emerging leaders of an industry undergoing rapid and continuous change.

This important effort is not taking place in a vacuum. We have convened a working group consisting of board members and representatives from the three associations to help develop value-added programming, content and a governance and operating structure that provides myriad volunteer opportunities. As we move forward, your interests will continue to be well represented via a new advisory board, which we expect to announce in the coming weeks – along with the new association’s branding, staff leadership and additional volunteer opportunities for you.

Of course, we need and desire current and recent member input as we take the next steps toward building the new organization. To that end, we are working with Readex Research to conduct an online survey designed to probe on membership benefits, service gaps and needs. The insights gained from your survey participation will help ensure that SIIA continues to serve as a valuable resource to you and others in the media, content and publishing industry.

Kindly be on the lookout for a survey link from Readex this Thursday, August 13. The short survey can be completed in about 10-12 minutes, and your participation is greatly appreciated.

This letter is the first of regular updates you will receive throughout August discussing the changes and our new path forward. On August 31, we will hold a live webinar providing an update, further describing the rationale and strategy, and taking your questions. FAQs, which may answer other questions, are now available on the SIIA website.

As our members have long recognized, SIIA operates at a pivotal and difficult juncture for trade associations, exacerbated by the pandemic. We believe this consolidated approach sets a strong foundation to launch a new division, poised for the growth, serving both for-profit and non-profit entities. We hope you will share our excitement as the vision takes shape.

Please feel free to reach out to Jeff or SIIA staff with your questions, comments, or concerns. We greatly welcome and value your input as we move forward. And please let us know if you wish to opt out of future communications on this matter.

Jeff Joseph
President
SIIA

Meg Hargreaves
Chair
SIIA

Kevin Novak
Chair
Connectiv

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BVR’s Virtual Pivot Offers ‘More Value’ and May Yield More Profit

by Media
According to new virtual conference benchmarks from Nucleus Analytics, the average daily view time for a live virtual conference is 2 hours, 10 minutes and 56 seconds. In scheduling their upcoming Virtual Divorce Conference Sept. 9-11, Business Valuation Resources has adhered to that, scheduling days of 2 hours five minutes, two hours 10 minutes and 3 hours 20 minutes.
To add even more value to their event and keep within a reasonable daily view time, BVR has added bonus sessions both before and after the main event. So there was a 50-minute conference preview on Aug. 27, and then three 100-minute, follow-up programs will take place Sept. 17, 24 and 30.
It’s a great idea. There are no ground rules to virtual events. As has often been said, we are all wading in uncharted waters. These sessions allow BVR to showcase even more good speakers and then also does something many experts recommend—keep the engagement and community atmosphere going.
“We feel that people are getting a lot more value [this year],” Jared Waters, training director for BVR, told me last week. “We can do a lot of things to add value to an event. So we figure a price point—[they are charging about half of what they charged last year]—and then throw a lot of value on it. It really is a great deal for our attendees.
“We have also shortened everything down as far as length,” he added. “There will be three lighter days [than last year].”
That added value includes:
A strong speaker and content lineup with a constant nod to COVID-19. Virtual does often allow for easier high-quality speaker gets—in this case matrimonial lawyers and financial experts. Most of the content will have a crisis influence to it. “Maintain your competitive edge with a wealth of sessions focusing on the issues most impacted by COVID-19, taught by top experts in the profession.”
Extra credits. An opportunity to earn up to 16.5 CPE/CLE credits. “This year no one’s really taking on a lot of new initiatives,” Waters said. “It’s not about personal growth. It’s ‘What do I need to know to survive?’ All COVID-19 related.”
A known and respected partner. They’ve partnered with the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML).
Money off a future in-person event registration. Attendees will receive a $200 credit on their registration to the next in person AAML/BVR event. Why not? It’s a generous incentive that can be price-adjusted later.
Those bonus sessions. The Aug. 27 preview was free, which makes sense as it is still a time when they are trying to get registrants. The three follow-up sessions in the weeks after the main three days are all quite substantial.
An attractive sponsors page. The Divorce Marketing Group has a marketing guide available for download. Soberlink includes a link to a video presentation.
Another good point that Waters made is that because virtual events can work with live or recorded sessions, why not ask the speakers how they are at their best. So it will be about half and half for the divorce conference. (I would also advise that, if possible for recorded sessions, have the speaker/s available for a live Q&A after.)
BVR has used the platform BigMarker for their virtual events. “We’ve been using it for about a year,” Waters said. “It works for mobile phones and computers. There’s no software to download. You can drop a video in there, or use slides and screen share.”
Waters is optimistic for the success of the conference. “We won’t have to pay a Las Vegas casino,” he said about the event’s previous locale. “There are no travel expenses. We think our profit may be higher. We’re shooting for 100-plus paid. There was about 320 paid the year before.”
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Winning Podcast Shows That You Can Achieve High Quality in Short Time

by Media

Cue the up-tempo music. “Welcome to ASME TechCast, bringing you the innovators, the innovations and the issues that push the envelope of engineering.”

Then we hear John Kennedy’s iconic, New England-tinged voice. “We choose to go to the moon and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they were hard.” Then we hear more famous space voices—“one small step…”; “the eagle has landed…,” and then some not-so-famous ones. Because this stirring podcast—titled Engineering the Apollo 11 Lunar Module—spotlights the engineers who made the1969 moon landing happen.

That episode won ASME a 2020 Gold EXCEL Award (from another division here), and they just started the podcast in 2018—showing that you can achieve high quality in a short time. (And the podcast doesn’t have to be long—more below.)
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“We had to ask ourselves, ‘What is our mission? Why do we want to do this?'” Chitra Sethi, executive editor, media, for ASME, said during a session last year. “Is music important? [Yes.] Do you need a logo? [Yes.] And what format do you want? Solo, segmented, interview?”

They chose segmented. “Music can help your podcast connect,” said Sethi. “And what’s in a name? Everything. It took us weeks to pick a name. We had Geek Speak and Mechanically Speaking. Once we picked ASME TechCast as a recommendation from Lower Street, we had our designer create a logo for it. We launched with a pilot episode on diversity in the industry” featuring an Interview with a woman engineer.

Talk about being ahead of your time. And speaking of time, they realized after recording a few episodes that a long podcast was not in their cards—or 8-hour workday. “We did like a 45-minute interview that we had to cut down to 12 minutes,” she said. “We did not have the time for that going forward so decided to try to keep the recordings short.” Now the podcasts average about 10-12 minutes with this winning one just a quote or two over 10 minutes.

While in-person events may not happen for a while, podcasts are getting even bigger audiences. So if you don’t have one yet, this may be a good time to start one.

Here are some of Sethi’s DO’s and DON’TS:

DO’s
Conduct a pre-interview with your subject. Help them shape their story. Question: Can they tell it themselves or do they need an interviewer to draw it out of them?”

Choose your where-to-record wisely and always listen before you record. Wear headphones of what the actual recording will sound like.

Include a call-to-action on every episode for something you want listeners to do.

Promote episodes on social media.

Track your metrics—how many listens, how long are they staying, where are they dropping off?

If you are speaking, find your personal mic distance.

Have a strong introduction. Just like everything else that’s digital today, people want to be engaged quickly—especially now.

Practice your part.

DON’TS

Don’t touch the microphone once it’s set up.

Don’t go on without setting a script agenda.

Avoid the yesses, nos and uh-huhs. This isn’t like regular conversation, Sethi said, though it does need to sound off the cuff.

Don’t read from the script.

Avoid long recordings. You will spend too much time editing it down.

Here are more tips from others:

Fit your schedule to your audience. You don’t have to pump out a podcast every week. Think what your true podcast value is, what the audience is, and whether a time-limited series is a better fit.

Over-explain how to listen. There’s still a gap in podcast awareness and listening, particularly among older audiences—who listen least, but like Facebook, will most likely be jumping more on board. Podcast creators still need to explain to potential listeners how to find, subscribe to and download their show.

Celebrate your launch. Put ads throughout the month on your website, in your newsletters and magazine. Go crazy on social media and, ahem, talk it up on Zoom.

Look inward for talent. Ask your staff, in all areas, who might be interested in hosting. You never know. They probably know the subject, which is a big bonus.

Capitalize on your legacy brand but… There’s a temptation to launch a new brand around podcasts, rather than using your legacy brand. Not smart. But, Althen recommends giving your podcast its own url.

Get some advice on selling ads or sponsorships. The SIPA Discussion Forum might be the best place for that.

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‘Meeting Quota Is About Behaviors’; Study Finds Disconnects in B2B Sales

by Media
“Now is a good time to ‘be human’ when talking with prospects,” said Julie Thomas, CEO and president of ValueSelling Associates. “Engage in active listening, employ empathy, ask informed questions and elevate conversations to a business level. By forging a human-to-human connection, you may learn how to provide value to the buyer when they rebound. Alternatively, you may be working with companies that are suddenly experiencing exponential growth and are in need of your product.”
That’s from an article that ValueSelling put out last week reporting that 69% of B2B salespeople said they do not have enough leads in their pipeline to meet quota. The study revealed that the three biggest obstacles that impact sales quota attainment are:
  • having enough sales pipeline
  • having the right sales process, and
  • the salesperson’s ability to communicate value to the prospect or customer.
“Meeting and surpassing quota is all about selling behaviors,” said Thomas. “Our research demonstrates that salespeople who do not receive the proper training or coaching tend to underperform.”
Some key numbers:
  • 19% – The percentage of sales people who report that they receive no product training
  • 19% (again) – salespeople who get training less than once a year
  • 23% – Salespeople who get training once a year
  • 39% – Those who get training two or more times per year
There are some clear disconnects:
While 72% of sales leaders report they do teach reps how to communicate value, 62% of salespeople who are not on track to meet quota say they are not taught to communicate value. And while 58% of underperformers say they communicate value “very well” when speaking with customers and prospects, only 28% of sales leaders think their sales reps communicate value “very well” in those conversations.
Here are some ways to surmount these issues:
Get everyone together in the same (virtual) room. Try to bridge these  disconnects. Where are the sales calls falling short? Where might more training help most?
Have more conversations with your customers. Pick up the phone. “How are you?” should still be the lead question. “Any vacation plans?” It’s a great time to be human and lead with empathy and understanding. And then transition. “What do you need the most help with?” “What are your pain points?”
Share those conversations with colleagues. Anecdotal information from the conversations/emails your staff is having with your customers should be shared—by everyone.
Learn from your audience. Sales teams everywhere are dealing with cancelled or pivoted events. What are your subscribers saying? Will they buy into virtual events? Can webinars fill the gap?
Get back to your core products. Innovation is good but we also want to get back to what we do well. What go-to product do you have now that you can tune or adjust to solve your audience’s current challenges?
Look at something new. Your events have gone away. But maybe that opens the door to more sponsored webinars, which may have a greater profit margin anyway. Get in information-gathering mode and find out what your audience needs.
Tailor information that is out there to your industry. What can we do now to positively impact the people we serve? The CDC is pushing out a ton of information right now. How can you take that information and tailor to your industry?
Explore your archives. It’s a great time to dig into your files. What do you have that can be recycled and refreshed—maybe a white paper that focused on crisis communications or selling in a downturn.
Salespeople need a simple sales process they can follow easily, according to Thomas. While 70% of sales leaders report they have outlined a clear sales process for sales reps to follow, they are not confident that sales reps consistently (or ever) follow the process with prospects. And almost 90% of salespeople report they have no formal sales coaching program.

 

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Cabot Wealth Still ‘Connecting the Dots’ for its Customers 50 Years Later

by Media
What makes good marketing? It’s a simple question but a crucial one, especially in the unique times we’ve all been trying to navigate the last four-plus months. Do we send more email or less email? Do we strive for clever copywriting and catchy phrases or caring and straight talk? Do we look to do more campaigns, tell more stories or both?
When a news release arrived a few weeks ago titled 7 Launches in 9 Months for Cabot Wealth, it presented a good opportunity for some answers.
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“Being clever is way down on the list,” said Ed Coburn, president of Cabot Wealth Network, which in September will mark its 50th year of advising individual investors. “It’s not about clever copywriting or catchy phrases. A big part of it is understanding who we’re selling to and what they’re going through and what they’re trying to accomplish, and writing copy that appeals to that need. Connecting the dots between what they want and what we can do for them.”

Coburn is not a fan of the recent trend of short bulleted marketing copy. “We’re in the consumer marketing field, where it’s never become fashionable to use short copy. People who are not going to buy from you don’t have time, but the people who want to buy, they want to read. Selling subscription products requires long copy that tells a story and makes an emotional connection.”
He said that one strategy change has been the implementation of more campaigns—three, five, seven days in a row on one topic, “in different bites but building that case over a number of emails. It’s worked well for us. We were concerned about emailing too much but people seem happy to engage. And the campaigns seem to give us a much better chance at selling. We’re very systematic in that we track the results, what worked and what didn’t. And if it works, we’ll use that campaign again. We don’t feel the need to recreate the wheel, but we are constantly refreshing.”
That “refresh-ment” also shows in the product success. Those seven launches included: a limited membership options trading advisory service called Jacob’s Private Circle with a price tag of $10,000 per year that sold out in just 10 hours; Financial Freedom, a digital magazine on financial wellness, that, along with an extensive library of reports and investor briefings, is part of a Gold Membership (though an annual Financial Freedom Federation membership costs just $10.); the Cabot Income Advisor; and the Cabot Retirement Club.
Talk about not resting on your laurels.
“These new services will generate substantial growth for us this year, on top of growing our existing services, and bring the total number of subscription products to 18 from 11,” Coburn said.
“We’re rooted in editorial. Carlton Lutts [father of current CEO Tim Lutts], was a subject matter expert in investing, as is Tim. So we always had products that came from real systems and were validated in their use. That was critically important. But now, the battle is much more about marketing.”
And this is also where a winning history comes in. Coburn spoke about the customers who have been with them for “10, 15, 20, 30 years at a time—not a lot of people can say that.” And even though that loyalty is “rooted in product,” it was clear that they had to step up the marketing. “We weren’t marketing in a way the products deserved. That’s part of why Tim was attracted to me as a buyer.” (Coburn joined Cabot in 2018.)
It’s all quite astounding for an internal staff of just 14. “We’re a small team so this has been a lot,” Coburn said. “It’s forced us to figure out where we best add value and how to leverage the resources of outside firms and freelancers. That will really help us continue our growth in the future. We plan to take a little bit of a breather while we work on our annual investor conference, the Cabot Wealth Summit, which will be held entirely online Aug 18-20.”
Cabot staff tries to have dialogues with its audience whenever possible, through surveys with their subscription products and tracking the webchats or phone calls that editors partake in so they can identify trends. Of course, in olden times, they would have talked to them at their conferences, “spending time with our existing customers and asking people like them who aren’t yet customers what they’re looking for and what do they want to see,” Coburn said.
“We’re not the most aggressive publisher in the investment space when it comes to marketing and making outlandish claims. Our focus is providing investors with excellent investment advice using proven systems we have developed over years and decades. So it’s nice to know that almost 50 years and hundreds of thousands of customers later, our reputation and excellent team of investment analysts are still producing the results for our subscribers and reaping benefits for Cabot as well.”