So, in fact, we are all salesmen. During World War II, many soldiers with young families wouldn't buy government subsidized life insurance even when they were headed for battle. Still Must Be Sold Your user group may be topnotch, but you must not forget your customers. New members, long-time members, and prospective members are all customers whom you want to buy your product, i.e., the user group. And you want them to keep buying it-that is renewing their membership.
Many user groups report difficulty maintaining their customer base.
Our user grouphad that problem, too. Since we switched to a tabloid format newsletter and began distributing it widely around town, we started having six to sixteen visitors each month. Unfortunately, many visitors were not joining or coming back. We were also losing some members after the first or second year. Despite having good meetings and helpful SIGs, the membership was not growing.