March 2006 News Flash
The Magic of Community
- President’s Message from Beth Terry
- March 11 Meeting
- Our Meeting Sponsor for March
- Living Room Forum in March
- Upcoming NSA Programs
- Speech Development Lab
- NSA Logo Adds Credibility
- Business-Building Bulletin
- Word Trippers
- Worth Repeating
- About This Newsletter
NSA-Arizona President’s Message from Beth Terry
To speak or not to speak for free… that is the question.
Is it a marketing opportunity, or are we being taken for granted? This topic remains a tough one for our business. And it’s a subject that’s discussed too often in small groups and not enough in public. I realize that we can’t discuss fees…but we CAN discuss “no fees!”
I tend to be ambivalent. On the one hand, I have worked gratis for friends, potential markets, and non-profits. On the other hand, I get cranky when a business wants to hire speakers on the cheap or for free. And I know that we have created this monster ourselves.
We’ve all heard this: “You are wonderful, we love you, we admire you, flatter flatter flatter…We have an event coming up and you would be perfect! Are you available on x date? Oh…by the way, we don’t have a budget for speakers.”
[Content Warning: Your President is about to get cranky…]
How on earth can clients who are in business and want to run a conference have no budget for speakers? Do they call the Marriott, book all the rooms, order food, and then say, “We have no budget for food”? The problem in our industry is that too many speakers are willing to speak “just this once” to “help them out” and “maybe sell a few books.” We sell ourselves and our colleagues short—then can’t pay our bills. If I call my mortgage company and say “I have no budget for a mortgage this month,” I lose my house.
We know we provide quality programs. We know the quality of their conference depends on quality programs. We know the death knell of every conference—no matter how much is spent on parties, packets, and goodies—is lousy speakers.
Perhaps instead of “helping” them by speaking for free, we should raise the bar and really help them by valuing our businesses and our services more. Perhaps we should help them find the money so everyone wins. If we make money, we stay in business. That’s how we can be there for years to support them, guide them, and uplift them. If we speak for free, we go out of business and they have to continually find new people. They eventually wear out and it becomes a downward spiral. A Phoenix programming person actually told me they “don’t like to have speakers because most speakers are no good.” When I investigated, I found out their organization had never paid for a speaker. No wonder they had bad experiences!
Perhaps we should gently start to educate every meeting planner, association program chair, and company that there are ways to pay for quality. Recommend they add a few dollars to their event fee. Recommend sponsorship. Ask them who might be interested in getting in front of their members/attendees. Teach them how they can provide perks to this sponsor that will cost them little or nothing (for example, a table at the back of the room, a space on their website, and in advertising and announcements). Help them think about wonderful opportunities that mutually support everyone. (If you need help thinking through this, refer to an article on my website www.bethterry.com called “The Care and Feeding of Speakers” for ideas.)
For me, speaking is a calling, not a career. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s also a business. We need to eat, pay mortgages, and feed our Chihuahuas. We can’t continue to undervalue our calling and expect to be able to make a living doing what we love.
Thanks for listening!
Beth Terry, NSA-Arizona President 2005-2006
Editor’s note: We’d love to hear your thoughts on this issue. Send a response directly to Beth at beth@bethterry.com or to me at editor@barbaramcnichol.com
NSA-Arizona Monthly Meeting March 11, 2006
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 12 noon; networking 8:30 a.m.
Candidate Program: 12:15 p.m.
Location: NSA Conference Center, 1500 S. Priest Dr., Tempe, AZ**
Prepaid registration (by 5 p.m. Wed., Mar. 8.): $25/members, $35/guests
At-the-door registration: $35/members, $45/guests
No refunds after March 8.
Creating High-Energy Websites and Promotional Materials
Why do some ads work and others don’t? There are as many theories as there are experts, but one explanation is usually overlooked. It’s the energy that the copy and graphics in the ad generate. If energy is present, people are encouraged to read your piece; if it’s lacking, they’ll most likely throw it away.
In this seminar with consultant Dr. Jerry Teplitz, CSP, you’ll learn why everything you see has a positive or negative impact on your energy system. And once you understand this concept, you’ll discover ways to create high-energy promotional materials that capture your readers’ attention. The ultimate result is greater profits.
Jerry uses behavioral kinesiology muscle checking on ads and PR materials for retailers and for such clients as Heinz U.S.A. and the authors of Chicken Soup for the Soul.
Formerly an attorney for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Jerry’s career took a dramatic turn when he earned his masters and doctorate degrees in wholistic health sciences from Columbia Pacific University. President of his own speaking and consulting firm for 29 years and field manager for the Carlson Learning Company for 24, Jerry now conducts seminars in the areas of stress management, leadership, and sales development. Jerry is the author of Managing Your Stress: How to Relax and Enjoy, Switched-On Living, and Brain Gym for Business.
VOE with Alan Rigg: “How to Book More and Sell More with Pay-Per-Click Ads” How much time and effort do you and your staff invest in pursuing bookings and selling products? How would you like to have a steady flow of new customers who find YOU instead?
Sales performance expert Alan Rigg explains:
- Why pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is the world’s cheapest direct marketing strategy
- How to determine whether pay-per-click advertising will increase your sales
- Google Adwords vs. Yahoo! Search Marketing – which should you try first?
- How to set up and track a PPC advertising campaign
- How to write effective PPC ad copy
During his 23-year career, Alan founded 80/20 Sales Performance, a company that helps organizations beat “the 80/20 rule” in sales team performance. He’s a graduate of Perry Marshall’s Google Adwords Personal Coaching Program and a rabid (and successful) Google Adwords advertiser. He’s also the author of How to Beat the 80/20 Rule in Selling: Why Most Salespeople Don’t Perform and What to Do About It.
Candidate Program – Book Publishing - Start to Finish NSA-Arizona ”President in Waiting” Joan Koerber-Walker takes you through the process of publishing a book step by step. Don’t miss this “insider’s view” of self-publishing.
– This program starts promptly at 12:15 p.m. and ends at 1:30 p.m.
SUPPORT OUR MEETING SPONSOR—Quick Track Development
Speakers want their web sites to be easily found by people searching for their topics on the web. Quick Track makes doing this easy and inexpensive.
Quick Track Development is a local software firm offering low-price software for search engine optimization (SEO). This software automatically conditions your web site to increase its rankings in Google, Yahoo, and MSN. When web site ranking increases, you improve your odds that your site will be found on the first several pages of a search. (The alternate is to hire an internet agency to code the web site at a cost of several thousand dollars.)
This software is available as a one-time purchase or a monthly subscription.
To register for this meeting, please follow these prepayment procedures.
Prepayment Procedures: To streamline check-in at our monthly meetings, please prepay for your meeting attendance. Members and guests save $10 when they prepay by 5 p.m. on the Wednesday before the Saturday meeting. There are no refunds after this early-registration deadline. Registration at the door (available as space allows) is at the full rate of $35 for members and $45 for nonmembers.
Note from Executive Director Gwen Henson: We’re happy to keep your credit card on file for meeting payments but it’s not an automatic service. Please specifically ask us to do that.
Three ways to register:
1. Online: go to Register
2. By email: send name, company, and number of attendees to Gwen@nsa-arizona.org
3. By telephone: call (480) 968-7443
NSA Arizona Living Room Forums 2006
Get Involved in the 2006 Living Room Forums
The Living Room Forums provide a great opportunity to interact with members who share interests in a small group setting. This interactive environment for learning strengthens the “magic” within our NSA community.
Our March Living Room Forum focuses on Authors/Publishers. Join us on Wednesday, March 22, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Tempe. A light dinner will be provided.
Cost: $15 members $20 Guests Registration and payment required in advance. Sign up online at Register LRF or call Gwen at (480) 968-7443. Directions will be provided with your registration confirmation.
Mark your calendar for these upcoming Living Room Forums:
Seminar/Workshop Wed., April 26, 2006 Home of Elizabeth Harper in Gilbert
Humorists Wed., May 24, 2006 location to be announced
If you would like to host a Living Room Forum, become a Group Leader, or join the planning committee, see Kitty Wiemelt or Kathy Marcil at the chapter meeting or contact Kitty at (480) 329-6996 or via email at kitty@kittywiemelt.com
Upcoming NSA-Arizona Programs
April 8 Matt Holt, John Wiley & Sons – Publishing
VOE – Joe Coe
May 13 Ed Rigsbee, CSP – Working with Associations
VOE – Andy Erlich
June 10 Pam Lontos – How to Succeed in the Media
VOE – Larry Colbert
Upcoming NSA Programs
May 5-7 Coaching Lab, NSA Headquarters, Tempe, AZ
July 22-25 National Convention, Orlando, Florida
Go to NSA for full details.
Special NSA-MPI Research Event April 13
You are invited to observe NSA’s ground-breaking research at the April 13 AZMPI meeting. The National Speakers Association Foundation is partnering with the MPI Arizona Sunbelt Chapter to conduct research which will help meeting professionals better understand how to hire speakers who will be memorable at their events.
Using state-of-the art technology, they’ll watch five short speaker videos and observe when meeting professions think speakers are at their best. The findings of the research will then be available to any NSA member as well as any meeting professional wanting to hire speakers who will capture—and keep—audiences’ attention. You’ll be able to watch the results of their impressions second by second!
The MPI members will NOT be looking at the videos to determine if they want to hire the specific speakers. Rather, they will be assessing when they are and are not engaged with the video. The researchers will then track the collective responses and identify what makes a presentation more engaging than others.
Please respond to Cara Tracy at cara@nsaspeaker.org by Friday, April 7 if you will observe this brief and fun research. This will take place immediately following the April 13 AZMPI meeting at the Radisson Fort McDowell from 1:45-3:00 pm. To make sure there’s enough seating, please pre-register. There is no fee to attend only the testing.
Just by observing, you will learn even more about how planners choose speakers who will more likely be a hit at their events. If you’d like to attend the AZMPI lunch meeting before the test, please register at http://azmpi.org/. There is a charge for the meeting.
Please feel free to contact Rebecca Morgan, Chair of NSA’s Foundation Research Committee at (408) 998-7977 with questions.
MPI and NSA appreciate your participation.
Speaker Development Lab
In January through March, the “Lab” is experimenting with one morning meeting and one evening meeting each month. The 2nd Tuesday (March 14) will be held at NSA headquarters at the regular time; the 4th Tuesday meeting (Feb. 28 and March 28) will be held at the Arizona Small Business Association classroom 4130 E. Van Buren Suite 150 at 6:30 p.m.
Moving from a $750 speaker to a $5,000 speaker is not easy but this Lab helps those who have that goal by taking speakers at their current level of quality and helping them move to the next level. It’s a safe place to experiment and learn as presenters test new material or ask for help on their existing material.
Said Eileen Roth, “I showed my video demo before I mass produced it and got a lot of feedback from the group about what should be in the first three to five minutes of it.”
Said Jackie Dishner, “I’m grateful for the opportunity to join like-minded speakers who really want to touch lives—that’s what we’re helping each of us do. I encourage anyone else who wants to improve his/her presentation skills to join us next time.”
Attending the Lab costs only $75 a year (which is $3 and change for each meeting) or you can pay by the meeting. New Idea: Participants can show 5 to 10 minutes from a CD or video tape and get the same quality feedback and enrichment suggestions.
Questions? Contact Don Thoren, CPAE, at dthoren@cox.net or Eileen Roth at EileenRoth@aol.com
NSA Logo Adds Credibility
Professional members who post the NSA logo at their website boost credibility. Being a member of NSA indicates your professional status. To download the logo, visit www.myNSA.org.
Candidates, please remember that you must first be a member of NSA before you can include the logo on your materials and website.
Business-Building Bulletin
This bulletin publicizes events of interest to NSA-Arizona members and announces member accomplishments. Send your information to Barbara McNichol editor@barbaramcnichol.com
Speaking and Presentation Skills Every Tuesday in April The sixth edition of Speaking and Presentation Skills course will be held each Tuesday night in April (four evenings to complete the course). For an agenda, contact Bill Johnson at Bill@BillJohnson.com. He offers special NSA member and Candidates discount.
Maximizing Success Unlimited Passive Income Summit March 24-25
Discover how to build multiple streams on income in your speaking business and be an information marketer. Learn to catapult your success from world-class speakers—including Jack Canfield, Randy Gage, and Stedman Graham. Maximizing Success Unlimited Passive Income Summit will be held March 24-26 at Phoenix Marriott. Learn more and register at http://www.MaximizingSuccess.com
Join Fripp March 24-25 The Patricia Fripp Speaking School will be held in Phoenix March 24-25 with a special private coaching day scheduled for March 26th. For more information go to http://www.Fripp.com or contact Don Thoren at 480-838-7406 or Dthoren@cox.net
Great Cruise to Ensenda and Catalina May 15-19 Bill Johnson, CSP, has organized a cruise to Mexican Baja and Catalina Island on the fabulous “Paradise” cruise ship. Four nights and three full days of luxury for only $450 a person. Sail out of Long Beach Harbor for Sunset at Sea on Monday evening May 15th. Enjoy a seminar for two hours each morning by three top speakers. Fun and swim during the day and showtime at night (plus casino). Return at sunrise May 19th!
Join speakers Edward Scannell, CSP, CPAE, and Don Thoren, CPAE, plus the outrageous Steve Tyra (and others who refuse to be identified with such fun) They will share leading information on personal growth and success. Bill Johnson offers his program “Speeches Made Fun and Easy.”
Great rate for some great fun! A deposit of $125 holds your space at $449 for inside cabin or $495 for ocean view cabin (per person double occupancy). Contact Bill at Bill@BillJohnson.com or 602-870-3333
Authors and Speakers Roundtable Authors and Speakers Roundtable, sponsored by Arizona Small Business Association, meets the third Wednesday of each month. All are welcome between 11:30 am to 1 pm. Bring your own lunch if you choose; drinks are provided. Each month features an author who tells about his or her authorship journey and challenges. Great information! 4130 E. Van Buren, Phoenix 602-265-4563. http://www.asba.com. Monthly meeting is no charge for ASBA members ($125 for annual dues); $20 for guests. This ASBA Roundtable is chaired by Bill Johnson, CSP.
What business-building events of interest to NSA-Arizona members are coming up? What new books and tapes will you launch soon? Send your announcements to Barbara at editor@barbaramcnichol.com
Larry Colbert Speaks at Administrative Professionals Day Luncheon April 26 Administrative Professionals Day (formerly Secretaries Day) has become one of the nation’s largest workplace observances, and is celebrated worldwide. Larry will speaking about the importance of keeping a clear eye on your potential, staying focused on a rapidly changing profession, and approaching stressful situations with a sense of humor.
The event will be held at noon at the Mesa Culinary Institute. It’s sponsored by Assistance for Independent Living, a Tempe-based charitable organization that raises money to help senior citizens remain in their own homes as they age. To register, call 480-966 9704.
Brag Your Way to Success now in Russian Congratulations to Rochelle Balch whose book Brag Your Way to Success was recently published in Russian. About real-life success tips using self-promotion, Rochelle’s book encourages readers to “learn to brag and be proud of it!” More details at www.dilya.ru and http://www.rcohelleblach.com
New Business Feature from Rosemary Jarrell Price Rosemary Price’s senior citizen advocacy business now includes mobile notary services, plus professional services for real estate transactions. Contact her at 480-429-6997.
Word Trippers from the Platform
Barbara McNichol helps you find the exact word for your presentation or written piece.
Lend, loan – Remember that “loan” is a noun (something that’s given out temporarily) while “lend” is a verb (the action of giving something temporarily). “When he receives the loan from the bank, he will lend you the funds.” It’s incorrect to say, “He will loan you the money.”
Less, small, fewer – When size is involved, use “small”; when importance is involved, use “less”; when quantity is involved, use “few” or “fewer.” Also, if you can count the number of items, use “fewer.” “The small dog picked the less painful of two options. He faced fewer obstacles by retreating than by attacking the porcupine.”
Lay, lie – The verb “lay” always has an object, just like the verb “put” always has an object. “Please lay (put) the plate on the table.” The verb “lie” doesn’t take an object. “Lie down if you feel tired.” Confusion happens because the past tense of “lie” is “lay.” “Today, I lie down; yesterday I lay down.” The past tense of “lay” (put) is “laid” and it still requires an object (the plate). “Yesterday, I laid (put) the plate beside his bed after he lay down.”
Word Trippers are featured in The Door Opener, an ezine that helps you open doors to your dreams through the written word. Subscribe at http://www.barbaramcnichol.com or send an email to editor@barbaramcnichol.com
Website Wisdom
Keep in mind the “little things” from web diva Kendall SummerHawk that can make your site better.
Tip for March: What’s your theme? Writing a website is daunting unless you have a central theme to write about. A theme is not the same thing as your service. A theme is the angle, direction, viewpoint, or metaphor (my favorite) you use to describe your service in an emotionally compelling way.
Worth Repeating
“You have to do a little bragging on yourself, even to your relatives. Men (and women) just don’t get anywhere without advertising.”
– John Nance Garner (from Bob Kelly’s Worth Repeating: More Than 5,000 Classic and Contemporary Quotes)
About This Newsletter
Email your News Flash announcements to editor Barbara McNichol at editor@barbaramcnichol.com or call 520-615-7910 by 15th of each month.
To view back issues of the newsletter, view the Newsletter link on the toolbar at the right, then choose the issue you’d like to view.
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