Promotion of Small-Scale Organizations

Generic link: http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/commentary/games/2007/11/gamesfrontiers_1105/

Seriously, does anyone actually click it? Well, just in case, it’s an interesting article connecting Halo 3 over Xbox Live with the mentality behind terrorism, and suicide bombing in general. Very interesting article. Go read it.

So yeah, it’s been a while since I said anything, and even longer since I’ve said something serious. (aka. not gaming). Due to some recent events that have popped up, I decided to write this article on how to market a organization so that people actually want to join. Basically, how to attract people to your cause.

Firstly, your club must have a purpose. A “let’s hang out and talk” club or “cool people” club won’t get anywhere. The more specific your club is, the more likely it will attract an interested person. Realize, however, that the more specific a club gets, the smaller its possible audience becomes. A generic club has a huge audience, but no one comes. A really specific club has a tiny audience, but everyone in the audience comes. The goal is to find the perfect point where you will get exactly the number of dedicated people you want for your task. A video gaming club, or an anime club will have somewhere around the maximum number of participants possible (it’s on the “point” for specificness), while a Super Mario gaming club will have less people who are more dedicated to Mario.

Your club must benefit its members in some way. Whether it’s meeting new people (a horrible reason, no one would join such a club), learning new things (ehh, an okay reason), feeling good (a great reason, whether it’s fun or doing what’s right), or actually earning stuff (money?), your club needs to appeal to your audience.

Your club must DO STUFF. Meetings don’t count as doing stuff. Go out, have a party. Do something. Keep the interest in your club going, and give them something to look forward to, rather than the next discussion of politics.

Your club must have a specific audience, and market only to that audience. I went over this a bit before, but having a specific audience matters. It allows you to have all of your members specialists in their field, and improves efficiency dramatically. If you market generally, generic people who aren’t really motivated will come, and your club will suck.

If you decide that you MUST advertise your club, do so discreetly. Personally, I think word-of-mouth works fine if you know enough people, but if you don’t, it’s fine to put in an announcement over lunch: “Whatever Club will be meeting Tuesday after school in room 999 to discuss why life is horrible.” Just don’t say, “EVERYONE COME TO THIS AWESOME CLUB! You must come, it’s a chance of a lifetime! Meet awesome people, learn new things, explore new ideas! Join us today, in room 999 after school!” If I’m genuinely interested in your club, I’ll come if I hear the first announcement, but I might not if I hear the second. If I’m kinda ehh about life, I might go only if I hear the second, but since that means I have no clue what I’m doing, your club gets dragged down. Plus, it’s really annoying.

So yeah, I guess this is all I have to say. Go organize fun activities now.

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Semiahmoo Student Ventures
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