10 Lessons Businesses Can Learn From Greek Recruitment

Anyone who has ever said that Greek Life doesn’t prepare you for the real world either isn’t Greek or never got involved inrecruitment for their chapter. The following are 10 things that the best Greek organizations across the country do to recruit high quality members to their chapter and are great lessons for any business to follow when selling to consumers, regardless of industry or what product/service is they sell.

1. Cold Calling Isn’t Effective - Your chances at closing a sale are significantly lower if you cold call someone, as opposed to if you were referred to them by someone that they know/like/trust. In addition to being ineffective, cold calling is also a huge waste of time because it takes so many calls to actually generate a sale. This is why effective Greek organizations recruit people they already know or were referred to by someone they know – it is more effective, takes much less time and there is a much better chance that it is a high quality individual.

2. Have Great Referral Sources – You will save yourself a lot of time in business by simply building up relationships with key people who can introduce you to the right people. Fraternities that have good relationships with sororities often get many of their best referrals from those women. If you are a business, you need to have relationships with people that can make your life easier and feed you referrals, and vice versa.

3. Utilize Cross Promotion – If a sorority wants to reach a new group of people on campus that aren’t away of their organization, they will form a partnership with a service organization, sports team, academic club or another group that is outside of Greek Life. Businesses should also find complementing organizations that they can do cross promotions with; examples could include a mini golf course and ice cream shop, or a gym and a healthy restaurant. Think about businesses that provide a complimentary service and partner with them… its a win-win!

4. Have a Specific Target Market - The very best Greek organizations have a specific target in mind and focus on recruiting those types of people. If you sell a product, you should never say that “everyone” is a good prospect or referral for you. That is too vague and makes it difficult for someone to refer business to you. A better answer could involve the age, profession, sex, interests and characteristics of your ideal client. Having a specific target market makes it much easier to refer business your way.

5. Don’t Accept Everyone – If you want to position your product/service as being something special, then you can’t allow anyone and everyone to have access to it. Strong Greek organizations have a screening process in place and won’t just let anyone join. You need to be selective as to who you allow to be a client of yours and purchase your product/service. You may think this will limit your sales, but it actually will increase them because it makes what you offer appear exclusive… we all want what we can’t easily have.

6. Market a Variety of Ways – The best fraternities and sororities will market themselves using banners, t-shirts, websites, social media, flyers, events, word of mouth, press releases, advertisements and many other ways. The more ways you can effectively market your business, the more people you can reach and more impressions you can have on them. We all like to be marketed to in different ways, so just focusing on one way will exclude a significant amount of people.

7. Have a Strong Brand – You must have a strong brand that is consistent across all methods you use to market yourself. The colors, font, logos, taglines and other ways you brand your product/service must have consistency and be the same everywhere. The best Greek organizations have the same branding on all of the different marketing materials they utilize and it makes it much more recognizable to the consumer.

8. Let Quality Drive Quantity – The Greek organizations that focus on recruiting only high-quality individuals are the ones that ultimately end up with a high-quantity of members as well. By surrounding yourself with the best of the best and building an elite organization, you will have an increasing number of people that want to be part of it. This benefits a business because they will have more of the right people who want to work for their organization, as well as more people who want to do business with their organization. Quality drives Quantity!

9. Everyone Has a Significant Role – To be successful at Greek recruitment, each chapter member needs to have a specific responsibility. If every one in an organization has a role and is working towards a common goal, they will be more likely to be successful than an organization that has a few people at the top trying to do all the heavy lifting while the rest of the organization sits around and does nothing. A successful business works towards a common goal and engages everyone in the organization with specific responsibilities that they must execute.

10. Bigger Pipeline = More Success – Greek chapters that are most successful at recruitment generally have a list of prospects that is at least 3-4 times the size of their chapter size. Would a business have a great chance at successful if they had a sales pipeline of 3-4 times the size of their client base? Absolutely they would! The more active leads you have and the bigger your sales pipeline, the more chances you have at being successful.

Is there anything missing on this list?

Lessons for Young Professionals from the NFL’s Nnamdi Asomugha

I recently came across a great article that was written by Nnamdi Asomugha, a premier athlete in the National Football League.  He was reflecting back to his rookie year in 2003 and sharing hid advice to the incoming rookies this season.  I thought all of his lessons for NFL rookies were extremely applicable to young professionals after college.  Below is his advice for NFL rookies in BOLD, followed by my thoughts on each and how they apply to young professionals:

• SET YOUR ALARM FOR A REASONABLE TIME – Make sure to show up early every single day.  How difficult is it to show up 15-30 minutes before everyone else?  If you have trouble waking up in the morning, then go to sleep earlier.  Showing up early gives you a big advantage over your colleagues and will help you separate yourself from the others.
• BE CONFIDENT IN YOUR ABILITY TO PLAY THE GAME – There is a fine line between arrogance and confidence….  You must be confident in your abilities and have a chip on your shoulder to be successful.
• BE SMARTER THAN YOU WERE THE DAY BEFORE – Imagine how much better off you will be in 5 years if you learn something new each day.  Knowledge is power and it will give you a tremendous edge as you work hard to quickly advance your career.
• DONT LIMIT YOUR EXPOSURE – Be as versatile as possible and volunteer to do anything and everything you possibly can.  Learning a variety of skills and areas of your occupation will only help you and potentially open up doors you never knew existed.
• STAY OUT OF THE TRAINING ROOM AS MUCH AS YOU CAN – When a football player is in the training room, he is unable to compete for a starting position and impress the coaching staff.  The same goes for your career – if you aren’t playing the game well every day, you won’t be visible to your employer and will miss out on great opportunities.
• DON’T COUNT HEADS – A significant number of rookies in the NFL don’t make the roster out of training camp.  In many businesses, younger employees come and go pretty frequently.  Don’t waste your time worrying about what other people are doing, just focus on your own success.  If you show up every day, work harder than those around you and constantly strive to get better, it won’t matter what others are doing because you will be way ahead of them.

The bottom line is that there isn’t much difference between professional athletes and any other young professionals, the same rules apply.  And the truth is, the same mistakes are being made and the same types of people are successful.  This isn’t overly complicated – if you work hard, give your best to your work, have a great attitude, learn every day and surround yourself with the right people, you will undoubtedly be successful in your career!

You can check out the full article HERE.  Hope you enjoyed!

Why CrossFit Scottsdale Has Been an Excellent Investment in my BUSINESS

When I signed up with CrossFit Scottsdale five months ago, I told myself that it wasn’t just something to look/feel better, but was ultimately a terrific investment in my business.  I figured that it would allow me to be more productive, which over time would make my business grow faster.  Five months later, I am 100% positive that I was correct and it has been an excellent investment from a business standpoint.  Here are 7 reasons why CrossFit has helped me grow my business:

1. I come home and get a heck of a lot more work done from 8-10pm after a CrossFit workout than I do after going to happy hour.
2. I sleep significantly better at night, which allows me to be well rested and ready to hit the ground running the following day….  Probably because I usually can’t feel my arms, legs, back, core or in most cases, any of them.
3. It is easier to build a professional network in a small group class than it is when everyone is lined up doing bicep curls in front of the mirror at GloboGym wearing iPods.
4. As someone who works from home, it oftentimes breaks up my day and allows me to talk face to face with people, which is helpful during some very long days.
5. As a speaker, I feel much better in front of an audience when I’m in shape, my clothes aren’t tight and I’m moving around easily.
6. When I have a great workout, I eat healthier, have more energy, get more done and ultimately grow my business faster.
7. Because it is a small facility, you can’t hide or disappear without getting called out for it by coaches and classmates.  Accountability is a great thing and we all need to have it in our lives and careers to be successful.

Is there anything I left off?  I’d love your feedback!

Money Magazine – 2010 Best Places to Live

Money Magazine recently published the latest installment of their yearly “Best Places to Live” rankings.  You can check out the entire article by clicking HERE.  When I was a junior at Ohio University, I used these rankings and others like it to help me decide where I was going to relocate to after college.  These rankings are certainly helpful, but they should only be a small part of your decision.

As a young professional, the potential living situation can take you to one of three places – the home you grew up in, living on your own in a city you are familiar with or relocating to a brand new city that you may or may not have any connection to whatsoever.  Before looking at each of these three, let’s talk for a minute about the decision making process.  You really need to evaluate what is truly important to you and there simply is no easy answer.

The main factors in a young professionals decision about where to live include one or more of the following, each with varying degrees of importance:

People – Do you want to be as close to your family as possible?  Did you make a pact with your high school friends that you would all move back home after college?  Are you and some college friends all moving to a certain city together?  Is your boyfriend/girlfriend already living somewhere?

Money – Are you at a point financially where you feel as though your only option is to move back home?  Do you want to move to a big city but can’t afford to even split a studio with your income?  Are you being offered twice as much money to start your career in a certain city?

Location – Do you need to be near a beach?  Or can you not live without the lights and sounds of a big city?  Do you need to be on the mountains and ski as much as possible?

Education – Does a school 1,500 miles away have the best program in the country?  Is your field of study only offered in certain parts of the country?

Industry – Is it easier to become an actor in Los Angeles than it is in Omaha?  How difficult is it to be a ski instructor in Miami?  Are you at an advantage to choose one location over another based on your industry?

What is important to you may not even be a factor in someone else’s decision and vice versa.  We all value different things in life and those things can often change significantly and quickly.  The bottom line is that no matter what you decide to do, put yourself in control of the decision making process.  Make sure to consider all of the above factors and not only one.

Happy Mother’s Day to the Best Mom in the World!

With all due respect to every other Mom in the world, I have to be honest….  I have the absolute best Mom in the entire world!  I feel so fortunate to have the love, support and friendship of my Mom in my life and owe everything that I ever accomplish to her.

As I have found out over the past couple of years, the bigger risks you take in life and the more “differently” you do things than other people, the harder it is to find people that truly support you.  Whether it has been to study abroad, relocate to Arizona, start my own business or any of my other crazy ideas over the years, my Mom has always supported me 100%.  She has never doubted me, questioned my abilities or told me that I couldn’t accomplish something – she only ever asks one question and its always the same one…  How can I help you?  It is so rare to have people like this in your life and I’m so blessed that my Mom is one of those people.

Happy Mothers Day Mom…  I love you!

Looking for the Perfect College Graduation Gift for Graduating Seniors?

Grab them a copy of my book, The Course They Forgot to Offer – How to Make Big Money, Have Fun & Love Life as a Young Professional. For a special discount, signed copy and free shipping, purchase the book off of my Facebook Fan Page!

“Tom Healy has a life-changing message that makes a huge difference in the lives of students and young professionals!”
- Joe Theismann, NFL Network Analyst, former Super Bowl Champion and All-Pro Quarterback of the Washington Redskins

FIND OUT THE SECRETS TO SUCCESS AS A YOUNG PROFESSIONAL

Do you feel like you missed out on the college course that prepared you for the real world? Would you like to learn the easy way to make big money, have fun and love life? Let this book show you how to get the absolute most our of life as a young professional and beyond!

In this book you will discover:

- How to choose the perfect place to launch your life and career
- How to search for and earn a great professional opportunity
- How to manage your finances the easy way
- How to build positive and profitable relationships
- The personal and professional characteristics essential for your success
- Challenges, regrets and learning experiences from young professionals and established individuals
- Stories of success from those that achieved greatness as young professionals

For a special discount, signed copy and free shipping, purchase the book off of my Facebook Fan Page!

Tom Healy joins the CAMPUSPEAK staff; will head up RBC efforts

CAMPUSPEAK, Inc. is proud to announce the addition of Tom Healy to the staff as Recruitment Program Specialist. Tom will guide the expansion of the company’s Recruitment Boot Camp (RBC) workshops and consultations. In this new role, Tom will be taking RBC in an exciting new direction.

Tom Healy is a 2006 graduate of Ohio University, where he was an active leader of the fraternity and sorority community, serving in leadership roles for the Interfraternity Council and Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity. He remains actively involved with SAE in a number of volunteer roles. Tom has spoken at colleges across the country, published multiple books for students and young professionals and advised students on marketing/branding their student organizations through social media.

“Adding Tom to our CAMPUSPEAK staff is a big win! His creativity and energy will enliven the RBC program in so many ways. He is a great speaker and facilitator and will be able to communicate our proven techniques of values based recruiting in a most effective way,” said David Stollman, CAMPUSPEAK partner and creator of the RBC program.

“Tom’s ability to develop books, online resources and other educational products will add new dimensions to Recruitment Boot Camp offerings. We are especially excited for the upcoming rollout of our online skills training and our coaching program,” Stollman said.

Recruitment Boot Camp has helped hundreds of fraternity and sorority chapters across North America master proven strategies for dramatically boosting recruitment results. After attending RBC, some chapters have doubled, tripled and even quadrupled their memberships in just one semester. Some communities have increased their bid acceptance by 50-percent in just one year.

RBC provides recruitment education strategies for schools, chapters and national organizations. For more information about how RBC can help your organization, please visit http://www.recruitordie.com. To reach Tom Healy, please email him at healy@campuspeak.com.

Young Professional Success Tip – Constantly Learn

It is crucial as a young professional that you focus on learning as much as you possibly can.  Knowledge is power and it will allow you to separate yourself from other people who are too lazy and don’t see the value of becoming great in something they are passionate about.  A great way to learn is by simply putting yourself in a work environment where you are learning, being challenged and taking on increased responsibility.  While you are looking for your first career or considering a switch to a new opportunity, make sure to look for an environment where you will be able to learn as much as possible.  Working somewhere where you can surf the internet or play Solitaire all day may seem fun, but you are wasting your time and just delaying your road to success.  If you are going to be doing something for 40-60 hours per week, it might as well be in an environment where you are learning as much as possible so that you can leverage that knowledge to advance your career.

In addition to choosing the right work environment, here are a few other ways that you can learn:

• Building relationships with successful co-workers
• Having mentors
• Reading industry trade publications
• Purchasing books on subjects that will help you become successful
• Searching for relevant articles on the internet (tons of great FREE information!)
• Attending seminars and workshops
• And many others!

If you are constantly learning, you will improve yourself in the areas most relevant to your success.  If you combine a strong work ethic with a desire to quickly learn and get better, you will be unstoppable!

Moving to a New City as a Young Professional

So you are getting ready to move as a young professional – possibly due to your career, desire to live somewhere else or be near a significant other.  Depending on the proximity to where you currently live and how much stuff you have, this could be a short drive or it could involve packing your belongings into a storage unit and shipping them across the country.  Don’t be scared off by the initial time or cost of a move.

To keep things simple, focus on three things when you move to a new place:  have great living arrangements, meet lots of people and make sure you give it a fair chance.  You can control each of these factors and they will give you a better chance of immediately finding happiness in your new place.

Great Living Arrangements

Make sure to live in a place that is safe.  Spending slightly more than you would like is worth allowing yourself to live in a nicer place that will make you happy.  Be sure to choose an area that is home to the types of people you want to be around, such as young professionals. Be sure it’s a part of town that you will enjoy, perhaps in close proximity to nightlife.  If you are new to an area, it is typically better to rent as opposed to buying, so that you are able to get a good sense of the entire city.  Once you become an expert on the different neighborhoods and sections of town by living there, you’ll be in a better position to consider buying a place.  You will also want to make sure you are committed to living in the area for at least a couple of years so that it makes financial sense to purchase a place.

If possible, try to find at least one other person to live with. Having a roommate will substantially lower your cost of living or allow you to spend the same amount of money but live in a much nicer place.  It will also help you to have a more active social life and to meet more people since a roommate usually comes with a new set of friends to hang out with.  Finding a good support system is crucial.

In terms of your living arrangement, it is important to bring some pieces of home with you.  This may include picture frames, memorabilia and furniture that bring the familiarity of your comfort zone to your new place.  In a new environment, you will want to feel ties to your life from the past.  As you continue to grow, it’s important to remember where you’ve been.

Meet Lots of People

One great thing about relocating is that you will have countless opportunities to surround yourself with people from all different walks of life.  If you grew up in one city and attended a school nearby, then you probably haven’t met many people from the opposite side of the country.  You can learn a lot about yourself and other people if you are able to surround yourself with diversity, and relocation allows you to do this.

Meeting new people who you’ll actually want to spend your time with can be difficult.  You must make a strong effort to meet new people, especially because it will be more challenging than it probably was for you at any other point in your life.  In high school, you had class with lots of people your age, many of whom you grew up with and lived nearby.  In college, it was even easier to meet people.  You lived in a dorm room when you started college and had a couple hundred people your age within a couple hundred feet of you at all times.  You met people through the dorms, classes, clubs and organizations that became some of your best friends.  However, in the “real world,” meeting people is more difficult.  You will probably need to make a stronger effort than ever before, but by doing so you will build new and enduring relationships that will make you a happier person in your new place.

Once you move, make a commitment to yourself that regardless of your other responsibilities, you will make every effort to meet new people.  You can do this by getting involved in the alumni association of the college you went to, watching sports games with other fans of your favorite team, volunteering at the local Boys & Girls Club, joining professional networking groups or joining a softball league.  There are thousands of ways to get involved, and they’ll allow you to build a network of friends, professionals and maybe even to start a relationship with the love of your life.  Meeting new people is difficult and can be uncomfortable at times, but doing so will expand your horizons.

Give it a Fair Chance

A common mistake for those who make a big move is to hit the “panic button” too soon when the initial feeling of un-settlement is still lingering.  Many people’s first reaction is to return to their comfort zones when this challenge arises.  Moving to a new city can be extremely difficult, but you must give yourself every chance to succeed.  At first, it is easy to complain – you’re too far from home, you are unhappy professionally, you don’t know anyone, the place is different from what you are used to.  Most of the problems you will have at first are easily fixable if you truly want to fix them – you can always meet new people, move to a different part of town or change your career.  Challenge yourself to persevere through the initial difficulties and give yourself every chance to succeed.  If you decide to move back to your comfort zone too quickly, you may regret it later on in life and always wonder what would have happened if you had just stuck it out.

Keep in mind that moving to a new city and successfully becoming independent will make other big decisions and moves in your life much easier; you will be more confident and more successful in the future because of your experiences.  If you can pack up your life, move far away and become successful in a new place, then most of the other challenges you face in life will seem less intimidating.

College Success Tip – Have Excellent Time Management Skills

If you manage your time efficiently, you will be able to accomplish 10 times as much as an “average” student would without having to work 10 times as hard.  By following a few easy time management tips, you will be able to produce bigger and better results.

The first thing you need is a calendar that has everything you do scheduled on it.  On the first day of class when you are handed a syllabus, immediately put all important dates on your calendar.  All of your exams, projects and other due dates should be placed in the appropriate dates.  Also put the dates/times for all of the other activities you are involved with, such as weekly meetings, intramural sports games, the un’versity’s football schedule and anything else that you know you will be doing.

As you’re building your schedule, make sure that you are in control of it. Don’t let it control you.  In other words, get all of your obligations out of the way as early as possible so that you can spend the evening going out or relaxing.  Don’t schedule a group meeting for 10pm if you can all meet at noon – the longer you drag out your obligations, the longer your day will feel and the longer it will take to accomplish the same results.  Managing your time effectively means scheduling things back-to-back as much as possible so that you don’t have a bunch of wasted time in the middle of your day.

At the end of each day, take 5 minutes to plan out the following day.  You can use a notepad, a note card or blank place in your calendar to list the following:  times you need to be places (class, meetings, gym, etc) and the tasks you need to accomplish for the day (prioritized by importance).  The more specifically you schedule your day, the more you can accomplish.  If you plan on taking a nap then put it on the agenda; the more you can plan the better.  Imagine how good it will feel every morning to wake up and know exactly what you need to accomplish for the day to be successful – meanwhile, your friends will be stressed out, annoyed, overwhelmed and confused because they don’t have a clue what they need to get done first every morning when they wake up!

The Bottom Line: Anyone can wake up and work hard all day, but the truly successful students are the ones who have a plan and can produce results each day.  The better you manage your time, the more you can accomplish in a certain amount of time. When you combine a hard work ethic with a well planned day, you will be unstoppable and feel in control!