It’s a fact of life: If you’re an association leader, you’re going to have to ride through waves of change. So you might as well get comfortable being uncomfortable.

A recent piece in Forbes by author and leadership expert Bruce Weinstein features a series of tips culled directly from association execs doing their best to help their members survive and thrive through disruption. One of the most interesting was inspired by John Barrett, executive director of ISSA—the Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association.

“I can’t believe how uncomfortable business has become for everybody,” Barrett said. “We have 9,000 member companies, and they’re all being disrupted. Whether it’s industry consolidation, the internet of things, or just reduced cycle times, companies have to assume more risk than at any time in their histories.”

Weinstein framed ISSA’s resulting strategy as a “ride the lightning” approach. Rather than staying stagnant, the association is embracing “very deliberate diversification” in its revenue picture, relying less on its tradeshow and more on certification, education, and media.

It’s one of many enlightening insights Weinstein has gathered from association execs from across the spectrum.

Working Harder for Less

Since Q1 2017, the top 20,000 brands on Facebook are posting 24% more, but engagement has dropped by a staggering 50%. @buffer teamed up with @BuzzSumo on a brand new study looking at what brands can do to succeed on Facebook in 2018. https://t.co/Z1RmpU7pSq

— MaxB (@Iam_maxb) September 19, 2018

If you want to stress yourself out, check out this tweet.

Recently, the social companies Buffer and BuzzSumo teamed up on a survey that highlights the need to increase your social media mix. A key—and very scary—finding is that marketers are posting way more on Facebook but getting way less engagement.

It’s not good news, but it’s definitely news you can use.

Other Links of Note

Think like a newsroom. At Kivi’s Nonprofit Communications Blog, digital strategy expert L. Danielle Baldwin describes ways to get your content machine working like a full-on newsroom.

Plan your schedule. Blogger Deirdre Reid highlights the wide array of brain food for association pros over the next week.

Analyzing a poorly received redesign. CMS Wire excavates lessons from the unpopular Skype redesign, which was recently rolled back after widespread user complaints.

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