How To Increase Sales by 66% Using Tribal Association Marketing

Posted by James in Guru, How To, Interview, Lifestyle, List Building, Marketing, Membership, PPC, Resource, Review, Traffic

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26 Months average continuity for members is a pretty high ’stick rate’. Tim Schmidt from TribalMarketingAssociation.org averages that easily with his profit pulling association business model.

Behavior of members…

Tim has tapped into the hard wiring of humans to come up with an extremely effective business model that turns traditional KPI numbers upside down. In this interview about Tims tribal marketing secrets I leave no stone unturned as we delve into the hidden world of tribal associations.

Tim was losing money fast

Tim had his back against the wall because he was losing 15 – 20 k per month on his dream publishing business. The household finances were straining under the pressure to a point where something had to give. Listen to the interview and hear how Tim was at the edge of financial ruin before he turned things around.

Why can other people make a profit and not him?

He noticed other companies getting along ok and then he found a way to blend a few ideas together in a super powerful combo. The new recipe for the publishing business was very solid. Tim had combined several aspects of direct response marketing, membership forums and offline magazines to form an ‘association’. The good news is, the success is replicatable because all the systems are checkbox documented. Tim has tested the model several times for the same results.

To revamp your business you just inject a ‘need to belong’

Clients care about products and services. You can have clients turn into fanatics and true believers if you inject a reason to belong. Associations allow members to have an identity and a feeling of tribe. Whatever business you are in you can wrap one around it. Members buy 66% more stuff. Tim says there are seven essential factors for creating a tribe:

- common enemy

- story

- reason

- ritual

- language

- jargon

- leader

Who Can Profit From An Association Business Model?

Tim says a lot of times people dismiss the idea of association marketing however it could work in a huge number of specialties. The list of opportunities is endless. If there is an association in your space this is a great sign because you have a market worth serving. If you are first in, even better. If there is an existing association you can come in and do it better. There is almost no chance they have stumbled across this powerful combo.

Layer upon layer

The different elements of association memberships give people a way to communicate and grow. You can step in the modules of the association such as publishing magaizines for members. With just a slight shift in perspective customers become believers. Add the layers as the association grows.

Benefits of using association marketing

Association marketing is very simple to implement and it is not like a fad or a technique – this is a lifestyle which will be strong and survive many different economies. Tim says you can use it to build a business that is real even in the worst recession the U.S has seen for decades.

What if you are not a leader?

Tim was not a leader and he spent ten years avoiding people. Leadership is not about convincing people to do your work for you. Tim is not sure how he switched but decided to lead by example and inspire people. He wanted to put his people in a position where they were set up to succeed. This is real leadership. He quit fighting and decided to be responsible.

The personal touch

Tim has an interesting technique he uses to contact his members and it is super powerful. You need to listen to the call to discover what that is.The response he gets is amazing and builds a huge loyalty with the members, No wonder they stick around. Having really interesting promotions is a great way to spread the belief. You have a feeling of friendship with members. Once Tim did a promotion where he interviews Turkeys. The graphics were very comical and his members loved it. He also did a ‘Tims broken toe’ sale including an xray!

Nuts and Bolts

For payment, Tim sets up recurring monhtly or annual invoice fees. The membership revenues equal roughly 50% and the other 50% comes from backend sales. Members decide what titles they want and how much they would pay for them. The products are physical multi media products. Workbook, DVD and CD’s etc… Titles are on topics members find of high value. Tim gets experts to help him prepare them.

Affiliates optional

The affiliate program is very tightly run and the association does not require sales from affiliates. Tim does a lot of PPC marketing and direct response advertising in magazine memberships. Once you know your aquisition cost you can measure advertising very effectively.

How to get started

For hardware and software you can spend as much as you like or you can duct tape some software together and make it work. You can use Wordpress and Amember to make it integrate or a professional solution like membergate. The most important thing ever is how you communicate with yoru members. It starts with how you integrate your message into the belief system. This is more important than the way the system is built.

User Generated Content

The forum has over 600 posts a day and the members generate an enormous amount of content which is special since people are paying to be there and they care about it. Content is very good quality and members are highly protective of the environment. Once you get momentum your members will protect the environment.

Summary

You get results long term. The business grows and grows and grows. The developement of a strong association can recession proof your business. You are truly building a massive asset. Tim gives a huge amount to others and he has a lot of passion. He is now keen to give back. If you want to start a highly profitable association I recomend you seek the world expert – Tim Schmidt He is the go to authority on the subject of tribal association marketing.



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Tags: association marketing, association marketing tips, direct response marketing, financial ruin, forming an association, household finances, how to form an association, how to setup a membership site, james schramko, membership sites, offline magazines, tim loves guns, tim schmidt, tribal associations, tribal marketing

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