Find Your Niche

Editor’s Note
A niche is a place suitable for a person, thing or concept. Nature tells us that if two species compete for the same food, one group may cause the extinction of the other group. Business tells us that competition for the same customers may cause unsuccessful companies to go bankrupt. In this newsletter, the Totem Toastmasters identified a niche, marketed themselves and found unprecedented demand for their club. Read this story to determine if a niche product or niche marketing will work for your club too.

Assessment

Totem Toastmasters Club #41, was founded in December 1935 as one of the first community clubs outside of the state of California. After many years, the club transformed into a specialty club focusing on leadership. The club had a small but loyal base of members who studied and discussed specific topics related to leader- ship each month. Unfortunately, the club’s membership numbers were dwindling, and it reached a low of nine members in October 2009.

Totem had defined its specialty niche as leadership. The members were committed to that decision knowing that it narrowed the target audience to current Toastmasters interested in leadership. They knew that leadership training is an important part of the Toastmasters program and that Totem could provide a valuable service to the district. The primary membership building tool was the Leadership Boot Camp, a program modeled after Toastmasters Speechcraft. The Boot Camp program is an intense eight weeks covering 16 specific leadership topics that must be researched, presented, and discussed. The Boot Camp was being used as a membership recruitment tool but was turning into a lot work for Totem’s members and was not very effective in membership building. In each of the three years it had been offered, the Boot Camp resulted in only three or four participants with about half of them continuing as members. The Boot Camp needed some minor repackaging and major marketing.

Planning and Implementation

Phase 1: Define the product. 
The club surveyed previous Boot Camp participants and learned that while the curriculum was solid, the participants were exhausted by the eight-week schedule. The members agreed. The participants also wanted Boot Camp mentors so they could turn to a specific member for help in researching and presenting longer speeches as well as advice on incorporating the lessons in other situations.

The first step was to address the scheduling. Previous Boot Camps had been offered in eight consecutive weeks in September and October. The new schedule was split into two four-week segments. The first segment was scheduled in June which facilitated specific marketing targeted to newly elected officers. The second segment was scheduled in September, allowing the new officers two months of real world leadership application while they transitioned into their new roles.

The second step was to create a Boot Camp mentor program. With the change, participants of the Boot Camp now receive two mentors – one for giving presentations and one for asking leadership questions. This was also a way to keep the club members involved and interested in the Boot Camp – which they would be doing for the fourth time.

Phase 2: Market aggressively

With the changes in place, the only thing left was marketing the new & improved Totem Leadership Boot Camp. And boy did the club do some marketing! Everyone pitched in to create a multi-channel approach to attracting guests to the Open House which kicked off the 2010 Boot Camp.

The members took personal ownership of one- to-one marketing. Totem members sent personal invitations to more than 75 members in District 2 who might have an interest in leadership skills, especially the people who were taking on new officer and district leadership positions. The members also “talked up Totem” at other Toastmaster meetings they attended during the months leading up to the Open House.

The team also advertised the Open House and Boot Camp in the District e- newsletter. They actively posted to Facebook . When the event was added to the District’s Facebook page, it was sent to the 100+ members on the site. Individual members updated their personal Facebook status to invite people to the Open House and Boot Camp, resulting in 400 more people being exposed to the club’s advertising.

The big marketing event was at the leadership-themed district spring conference. Totem wanted to be seen and heard. While the dress code was business casual and most of the presenters dressed in formal business attire, the Totem members ar- rived dressed in military camouflage and fatigues. The club rented a vendor table, decorated with camouflage and balloons, and members gathered near the table during all breaks. The Boot Camp marketing statement was printed on business cards that members handed to everyone they spoke to. (A Boot Camper recently mentioned that
at the conference she had been given six of the cards because she talked to six different Totemites.) The team also secured an education session at the conference which highlighted the lessons to be learned in Boot Camp. That session was opened by the members marching in to a cadence
which began “I don’t know but I’ve been told, Totemites are mighty bold.” They were seen and heard. The conference gave Totem members a chance to talk to more than 300 people who were already active in Toastmasters and had an interest in leader- ship. Talk about finding the perfect audience! The final event in the marketing strategy was the Open House on the first night of Boot Camp. This was advertised extensively. The members also sent personal invitations to their contacts.

Results

With several months of hard work and creative marketing behind them, the club was ready for the Open House on May 25th. All of their plans came to life as the room filled with 18 guests wanting to learn about the Boot Camp and see it in action. The club welcomed 15 new members that night! Those new members represent 22 unique clubs geographically scattered throughout the district. No single marketing technique brought them to Totem. Each of the marketing events attracted only two or three members. The outstanding response was the result of the total combination of events in a carefully man- aged and well executed marketing strategy.

Totem embraced their niche as the place to turn for leadership lessons and they marketed the heck out of it. Given the caliber of participants drawn to this year’s Boot Camp, there is no doubt that the club has attracted future area governors, division governors and perhaps district governors; all learning to lead at Totem. The club, now President’s Distinguished, has proven that our members want to be better leaders… especially when it can be creative and fun.

Lessons Learned

To effectively market and build membership in specialty and advanced clubs it is important to clearly understand the club’s unique niche and to aggressively market to the specific target audience. If we had to do it over again, the club would try to be more prepared for the incredible excitement that great marketing can generate, and possibly even put a limit on the number of people that Boot Camp can effectively accommodate. The club’s original goal was to attract six members which would be the plus five required to be eligible for the DCP recognition. On the Saturday before the first Boot Camp session, the team assembled 11 binders for committed Boot Campers. W e were wildly celebrating the success! The additional four Boot Campers that came forward nearly put the team in shock. Totem went from 11 active members to 26 in the space of two weeks. The club was overwhelmed by the response and organizers found themselves scrambling to create additional binders for participants and to add lessons to the curriculum schedule to accommodate the extra members. There was even concern as to whether or not the venue could handle that many people. Were we too successful? No, but we are certainly more aware of our limits. This experience also clearly demonstrated the potential of a well-crafted marketing strategy. The Totem team has already started talking about marketing for next year’s Boot Camp.

A Letter of Praise
In the life of every club, a time may come when members have to stop and consider whether or not it’s time to call it a day. A group of steadfast District 2 members just weren’t ready to give up, so they changed the focus to leadership. Member Jack Buce, DTM, PDG, created a leadership curriculum that increased membership a bit, but soon leveled off again. Our membership recruitment tool was not working as well as we had envisioned. That all changed this year when new members beat down our door because of the “over the top” promotions the Club members planned. The team really sold District 2 members on the value of the Boot Camp and of becoming members of the only Club in our District to focus strictly on leadership. Was it successful? Absolutely! We went from not distinguished in 2009 to President’s Distinguished in 2010. And there is no question we will continue to meet those DCP goals because of “old” members inspired by the Boot Camp process and the exciting infusion of “new” members! As a member of Totem, I could not be more proud of the members who’ve worked so hard to make this venture a success. Yes, it was extra work for all of us, but it was worth it! The rewards to us all are ongoing.
Sincerely,
 Betty W . Eisenzimmer , DTM
D2 PDG, 1992/1993 PID, 2001/2003