How to Start A Movement

If you were a conscious adult in the 1980s then you might be all too familiar with the term NIMBY which stands for "not in my back yard." Although there are a lot of negative connotations associated with that acronym, I generally like to think of it as a symbol for community activism, which can often be a very good thing.

(You might recall I mentioned in an earlier issue that I went to UC Berkeley, well known for being the site of some notable protests including the Free Speech Movement in the 60s. Plus, I worked for the publishing house of Sierra Club in San Francisco, another organization known for bringing people together to take a stand.)

Rallying around a cause do several things for your business:

1. Stir up emotions: Think about some of the most effective marketing campaigns you have ever experienced, whether it was a TV commercial, magazine ad, or billboard.

What made it memorable for you? Was it the funniest thing you ever saw? Or the most bittersweet or controversial? What do you feel right now when recalling that moment? YouTube is a great place to witness silly, bizarre, or super cool marketing videos that go viral quickly because they make an impact and get passed around.

Generally, the stronger the emotions, the more memorable the experience. The last thing you want is for your message to be bland or tepid.

2. Polarize your audience: When you convey a strong message or point of view, prospective members will find it easy to love you or hate you (and that's a very good thing--see point #1).

3. Bond members of the community together: When you start connecting people together and cultivate a sense of family, a wonderful thing happens...members start bringing more members to you and people stay longer because they have a sense of belonging.

   • What do I stand for?

   • What does my business stand for?

   • What cause do I already help advance with my clients and customers?

   • What specific topic needs an advocate to advance the cause?

   • Who's already in my community?

   • Who needs to stay and who needs to be kicked out?

   • Moving forward, what's the purpose of my community?

   • With whom do I want to surround myself?

   • What sort of environment do I want to experience?

   • What sort of environment do the members of my community want to experience that they currently can't get anywhere else?

   • Who's going to lead this community? (Will it be me or somebody else?)

   • How can I be of service to my community?

   I'm going to cover some of these points in more depth over time. But a good place to start cultivating your own community right now that is also directly related to supporting and growing your business is via social networking sites like LinkedIn and Twitter.

   These sites are great places to do research to see how others lead their tribes as well as experiment with and receive instant feedback about your message.

   If you're trying to be funny, are your messages landing the right way? Do people naturally gravitate towards your movement or is that the sound of crickets that you hear when you get up on your soapbox?

   A great example of effective social networking leadership is the highly profitable group that my colleague, Donna Kozik, created on Facebook. I recently interviewed her about how she created her group on a whim and how she then turned it into a vibrant community with members who asked her how they could pay her to lead them further. How cool is that?

   To gain access to this interview as well as receive the complete transcripts and my personal Success On Facebook Cheat Sheet, click here.

   Think about the questions in this article and understand that you already have a community of some sort.

   The trick lies in taking responsibility for purposely evolving that community into a network that supports you and your business instead of waiting for someone else to take a stand or hoping a spontaneous movement for your business will spark on its own.