You want to help your colleagues and friends promote and improve the general well-being of your industry, but you’re not sure how. It can be a little daunting when others are throwing out ideas and organizing get-togethers. Here are a few things you can do in your professional organization to help out more.
1. Promote In Your Office
Make sure your store or office displays a placard or sign for the professional organization. It may not seem like much, but a little promotion in your place of business can go a long way. For one, others in your field might not be aware of the organization, and would like to join up. More participants can lead to better things in the long run. For another, customers might become interested as well. It might also help your checkbook if they know there’s a group improving your industry.
2. Write Articles
Another easy form of promotion for your organization is to write articles or press releases for it. The others in your group may not have thought about this yet, but consider writing up some of the news or plans you discuss in your meetings. Magazines or newspapers might pick these up, especially if there’s any sort of local tilt to them. Make sure to keep detailed notes of the meetings.
3. Offer to Take Notes
Speaking of writing down notes, every group needs help keeping track of what occurred during meetings. There may be a stenographer already in place, but you can still keep an active record yourself to verify any discrepancies later. This really helps when arguments arise!
Alternatively, instead of taking notes, offer to set up a video or audio system to capture the meetings. Cameras and audio equipment get cheaper every day, and you don’t need anything particularly fancy to record the sessions.
4. Organize Off-Site Meetings
Volunteer to organize some non-official meetings of the minds to help figure out certain problems in the organization. There’s only so much time that can be spent during the monthly or bi-annual meetings, so a few off-the-calendar gatherings might help. (More regimented organizations might have rules against this. Be sure to look into that before having what might be perceived by elders as off-the-books meetings.)
When the issues or problems get resolved in a much more timely manner than expected, you might be the talk of the organization! But don’t stop when all is well; continue these “extra” meetings to ensure the gears are still nice and oiled.
5. Spruce Up the Digital Version
You may have noticed your professional organization’s website looks like it was last updated during the days of Geocities. Maybe the main email account is a Hotmail or AOL account. Volunteer your time to redo the digital version of your organization! It may not take a lot, really. Set up a new and improved email system, or start a social media campaign for it so followers can keep up with news. A little bit of time and effort can really help bring your organization into the 21st century, and it may bring new members and volunteers to the cause!
This article is written by Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases (https://www.ereleases.com), the online leader in affordable press release distribution. Download your free copy of 8 Shocking Secrets Press Release Distribution Firms Don’t Want You to Know here: https://www.ereleases.com/landing3.html