How to Attract a Younger Member into a Networking Group

How to Attract a Younger Member into a Networking Group

The winter of 2014 was spent on the phone talking to networking organizations all over the world. I try to interviewed them with the goal of trying to understand how they operated and what their fears and worries were.

The type of networking groups I told with had been in existence for twenty to one hundred years. These are established networks of business owners who join and often remain for their entire career. The bonds are strong and the business swapped between them is impressive. The membership in these groups is highly valued.

But the one confession I heard repeatedly was that they are fearful of losing a large number of members to retirement in the next Five - Ten years. That would deplete their members substantially.

Naturally, a common goal is to try and attract a younger entrepreneur. But how?

Well, you need to know what young entrepreneurs really want.

A 2011 study by IMD discovered that young entrepreneurs don't want capital, office space, health insurance, or compensation.

What they want is a MENTOR. They would actually choose advice over capital!

We know that these organizations are full of mentors (whether they call them that or not). You see them at work every week in the meetings; guiding and helping other members. Sometimes even the mentors have mentors.

Mentoring is a natural bond that forms. There is no need to say
'Hey, will you be my mentor?' Those that can help and those that need help are naturally attracted to each other.

These networking organizations are full of the very thing young entrepreneurs want. But nobody is talking about it.

I believe these groups need to draw out the stories of their current members by asking them about their mentors in their networking group:

• How did that relationship form?
• How did the mentor help?
• What was the result?
• Do you have more than one mentor for different situations?

These stories of mentoring need to be shouted out on social media and on their websites. The word needs to get out that these in person networking groups are and excellent place to find mentors, and that they are overflowing with business expertise and people willing to guide. 

Zig Ziglar once said, 

"A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else else though they could."

Do you have a good mentorship story?
Do you have a unique way to attract a younger member?
Please let me know. I'd love to share and inspire others.