In early March I had my very first virtual advisory board meeting. I “met” with my three advisors for about 50 minutes. When I recruited them I committed to meetings that were limited to one hour so it was important not to go over.

One week before the meeting I sent out the:

• Dial-in information
• Meeting Agenda which included specific questions I wanted to address
• Reading materials, i.e. my marketing plan, summary of outreach activities and asked that they view my website.

One thing I learned on the day of the meeting is I need to resend the dial-in information.  One of the advisors was having computer problems and called me to get it.

Now I understand how my clients feel.  The experience was nerveracking.  Here were three people I had known for years professionally.  I didn’t want to let them down.  And facilitating my own meeting didn’t help. Next time I’ll ask if I can record it.

The discussion remain centered around my agenda covering the areas of business development and marketing.  Each advisor was generous with their suggestions providing food for thought and tactical solutions or steps to take.

Our next “meeting” will be in early June as I requested a quarterly schedule.  Sometime in the next week or so I will email an update of my activities to keep them in the loop.  This will be an interesting quarter as I am working on several new initiatives.

For years I have preached and sometimes cajoled clients about setting up an advisory board.  Today I start a series on setting-up and running my own advisory board.  I’m now taking my own advice.

The Process:
I always advise clients start by thinking about the following questions:

1. Why do I want an advisory board? What are my goals and objectives for forming a board?
2. Am I clear about my vision for my business 2 years out?
3. What are some of the unmet needs of my business, including skills sets?
4. What do I need to do to make my advisory board most effective?
5. What are the benefits to advisors and reasons that they might want to join the board?
6. Who can I identify as potential advisors among my colleagues, friends & acquaintances?
7. What is the appropriate size of my advisory board to meet my goals and objectives?
8. How often do I want to meet? What frequency works for the advisors?
9. What am I able to pay advisors: cash, stock or options, expenses, product?
10. How long should advisors serve? Should I have rolling terms of service?
11. How will I handle an ineffective advisor?
12. How will I communicate between meetings?
13. What is the appropriate board structure?
14. How should I organize & conduct board meetings and distribute the materials?

In future posts I will share my thoughts, fears and successes as well as those of my three advisors.  I am fortunate that three long-time colleagues readily agreed to serve when I asked.  It will be a privilege to work with them.