We’ve talked before about the importance of supporting the groups you join. Volunteer to help at events, write articles for the newsletter, or even hold a position in the leadership. That’s all good. Now I’m going to suggest a technique which can be just as powerful.
Invite a guest.
Listen, above all else, an organization exists to support its membership. If the membership starts to dwindle, then the group’s ability to serve the members also begins to fail. As people get less and less out of a group, they start to move on. The downward spiral ends with the group closing its doors and evaporating.
In order to avoid this fate, an organization needs new members regularly. New members fill the places of the older ones who’ve moved on. Guess where a majority of those new folks come from? Yep! From the guests that other members invite.
Inviting a guest benefits everyone. The guest gains the benefit of networking in a group which you obviously value. The group gets the potential for a new member. You? Well, you get the gratitude of both and the increased reputation as a great networker.
Sounds like a pretty good deal.
