I came across an interesting letter the other day, while cleaning out an old file in my desk . It was a response letter addressed to Marc Paquette, the council chair at the time, from a marketing guru in Scottsdale stating, “Lions are the best-kept secret to most of those 40 and under.”

The letter was dated June 5, 2017. Not much has changed in a decade. The writer was describing a few techniques Lions (and our Multiple District) could do that were (A) simple, (B) cost-effective, and (C) manageable. With a little effort, he wrote, we would gain better visibility in our communities, help grow membership, and work to eliminate that “best-kept secret” label – specifically, “(with techniques) that really engage with people under age 50!”

Ten years later, we’re still talking about Communications – not necessarily doing something WITH it. The expert suggested we “…design Facebook ads to reach our different target niches.” Have these be targeted, he wrote, “as mobile phone injection ads to persons who volunteer for charities.” He suggested eight different “injection ads” directed toward four website landing pages.

Each of these four website landing pages would be targeted (or niched) to specific age ranges and interests. “Great landing pages with dynamic, niched images would be hosted on the Lions of Arizona website,” he added, “and would include a contact us form with strong promotional language. All of it would include spot-videos” (a concept suggested long before today’s ‘Reels’ and Tik-Tok messaging became popular).

According to the expert, these are proven tactics and strategies “…I’ve used to sell over $561 million of goods and services, including memberships, for myself and my clients.” (That’s about $1.2 million in today’s value.)

Ten years ago, MD21 had more than 4,500 members in three districts – now, we’re about 2,500 members in two districts. Imagine where we might be today if we’d taken advantage of the expert’s suggestions and grown our membership to the 6,000-member level Marc was saying we could achieve with a little effort.

We need to Build a Team – of Lions who want to shout, “We Serve!” Then, we need to Build a Vision of “WWWWHW” we want to be in one, two or three years. We can Build a Plan to achieve that vision and implement it, and then Build for Success moving forward.

Has anyone in Arizona “got game!”? We’re already Lions… let’s pull a Nike and “Just Do it!”

We look forward to seeing you at the November 7 council meeting and the November 8 MidYear Forum and Leadership Conference. More than 36 different learning opportunities on a wide range of topics will be presented throughout the day.

At the Council meeting, we’ll be addressing the challenges facing the Multiple District and the association of Lions in Arizona. That includes our sharing of resources, administrative issues associated with our Constitution, By-Laws and Procedures, as well as initiatives in developing a new, five-year strategic plan and a MD21 Foundation.

With one-third of the year concluded, we are all deeply encouraged by the support of all Arizona Lions in our districts and MD efforts to build clubs, by the growth in membership, and with the many great service activities in-the-works. Keep up the GREAT work.

Check out the schedule of classes in this edition of Canyon State Lion, and click the links on the lionsarizona.org website to register for the event and pre-select the sessions to attend.