This post is a window into how we are leveraging visual thinking to generate and prioritize ideas. This exercise comes right out of the book “Gamestorming” by Dave Gray, the founder of XPLANE, from Page 69. The exercise is called “Post-Up”. The goal is to generate ideas silently by writing them on a sticky note, and then categorize them as a team.
Backstory
Since we started our first major paid marketing campaign, we thought it was fitting to make the topic of today’s Post-Up game “Free Ways to Generate 100 New Members,” a modest target for new members that will keep us focused on ideas that are quick and easy to execute. We decided not to make the goal time-bound because this is the first stage of brainstorming.
We’ve been in business for almost 3 years. Up until now, we have generated all of our members from referrals and a few JV webinars. We have kept our marketing activities to a minimum because we almost imploded after our first co-sponsored webinar about 2 years ago that generated over 300 new members 60 minutes. Since then, we have been building out our internal knowledge base and the infrastructure of the company to ensure we can handle surges of new customers when we switch on the spigot again. I can’t say that we have it all figured out yet, but we do have a solid piece of software and a training program that enables business owners to build trust into their sales process by leveraging video email, and when you have trust you have sales!
For those of you who do not know what we do here at jiveSYSTEMS, here is a snapshot:
We can teach you how to shorten your sales cycle and increase conversions by supplementing text-based emails and autoresponder sequences with video email messages. The jiveSYSTEMS video email software has a rapid-authoring workflow that allows you to record straight from a webcam or flip style camcorder, and also creates mini landing pages with customizable exit links to make the videos actionable. Plus, video emails sent through jiveSYSTEMS can be viewed on PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, and Android devices.
The Exercise
Step 1 – Sit in silence for 10 minutes and write our ideas down on a bunch of sticky notes.
Step 2 – Present our sticky notes to each other and stick them on the board.
Will Franco aka Flywheel posing for his mug shot
Step 3 – Organize the ideas into the categories.
Reed “Propellerhead” LaFerriere giving you the big cheese
Step 4 – Prioritize the ideas.
The final product in less than 30 minutes
Conclusion
Ideas can be generated, organized, and prioritized more efficiently and effectively by leveraging sticky notes, a big whiteboard, and creating a simple game around the process. The result greatly exceed that of a conversation alone. We identified 5 key areas that will have a positive impact on our goal of generating 100 new members. You will notice none involve selling or sales – we don’t believe in that approach. Our goal is to educate business owners about the value proposition of our service so they can make an informed decision, resulting in a low churn rate and a high level of member satisfaction.
P.S.
We use a special Ceramicsteel whiteboard that doesn’t ghost. You can learn more about our whiteboard in the post The Ultimate Whiteboard: Melamine, Porcelain, or Ceramicsteel?