Hi, I'm the creator/organizer of Drinks for Brand & Marketing Managers in NYC. Currently we have 711 members with an average meetup RSVP count of 80 people each month. We're also featured in Gary's Guide often.
Wondering, from your point of view, what is the best way to monetize this meetup, and how would you go about executing that monetization strategy?
Some things I've been thinking about, would love to get your opinion on which is worth testing, or has the highest potential.
Also open to new ideas you might have:
* Getting a sponsor to pay a few hundred each month
* Charging meetup members a $5-$20 fee to attend each meetup
* Hosting separate speaking events in addition to this meetup and charging admission for those
* Offering video or training courses through the meetup's mailing list
Thanks for reading, and hope to hear from you soon!
-Alex
I think sponsorships are your best bet. The only problem is that with 80 ppl per month, you still have a pretty limited audience that might draw sponsorships. I would not recommend charging for regular events as that will likely depress attendance.
Offering separate speaking/seminar opportunities may be a good idea.
I think that in order to increase the value of any of these options you need to increase your regular attendance. The more bodies people can get in front of the more they will be willing to pay for the opportunity to do.
With that number of attendees its tough. Work hard to get over 100 attending each month as a first step. Once you break that barrier you might get a small related sponsor. Use them to also promote the event. Perhaps a matching marketing spend...good for you and them. Where are you holding the meetup? You could try shopping it around to different locations (bars and restaurants) and seeing if you can negotiate a cut of the spend the group makes. If you want to charge those attending you have to give them value. $20 gets you...XYZ. and negotiate a % of sales. Good luck.
Alex,
I love Meetups as a lead magnet for business owners.
Though 80 doesn't seem like a lot, being that it's a specific niche like "Brand and Marketing Managers" its awesome.
Charging $5/$10 isn't a lot and would monetize, but its really not going to change your life either.
Does having these 80 a month help your business currently?
Sponsors are great and because of the Niche you have it wouldn't be hard to monetize that way. Check out "The Phat Startup" in NY and watch how they run there meetings.
You could pull together the 80 a month and pick a few each month to interview. Put that behind a firewall to charge and you can also create an Amazon book Series playing on the fact you've interviewed 700+ Top Brand & Marketing Leaders.
Lastly if you send a newsletter to the group you being that its so targeted (NYC) you can charge Advertisers looking to hire. Simply go to any recruiter sites see who they're advertising for and contact them. They're typically paying a lot for these services and now you've got a targeted list.
Good Luck!
Mike Kawula
