If Seth Godin Said "It"... "It" Must Be True!

Here's an article that I recently published in the National Speaker Association (NSA) North Texas chapter newsletter. If you belong to a professional association, this one's for you!

"Is The Expense of NSA Membership a Waste?"

I recently took the advice of Seth Godin (Author of "Tribes", "Purple Cow" and "Permission Marketing" to name a few). In an interview he said that right now in order to weather the current economic storm, businesses need to look at each of their expenses and cut out the wasteful ones. So I sat down and analyzed my business, one painful accounting expenditure at a time. I ultimately came to the NSA and NSA North Texas expenses. I looked at these expenses and like Seth said, asked myself if this was truly a waste? I came up with two conclusions...

First, I just returned from the NSA Winter Convention in Orlando, so the expenses were still fresh in my mind (They'll have a little more "sting" when the bill arrives next month!) It was a great opportunity to see old friends, meet new ones, bring my kids with me (My daughter celebrated her 8th birthday there! She celebrated with Mickey, I celebrated my 8th birthday with my Uncle Mike... but that's a different story!) and to learn new ways to take my business to the next level. I set a goal for myself to leave with no less than six $10,000 ideas. I left the first day with nine thanks to Jeff Magee, CSP! Was this expense worth it?

Second, I reviewed the NSA North Texas expenses associated with the meetings and sitting on the board. Even though I purchased a "Value Pass" the membership and meeting expense are high in comparison to the other associations I belong to (But I do get to attend a special session later this year!) I reviewed my notes from each of the presenters that have come through... Michael Port, Scott Halford, Jill Konrath, Chris Clark-Epstein, etc. What value did I receive from each that directly dropped to my business bottom line? I also looked at my time spent on the board. This is time away from my clients, students at the university where I instruct, and my family. Was this expense worth it?

I had a conversation with a "prospect" or potential member to the group, which cleared up all the analysis that I was trying to perform. She asked "What is the best part of being a member of NSA?" I told her the answer was simple for me, it's a place where you can go and learn how to best structure your business because everybody shares! So whether you take Seth's advice or mine, determine if the expense of your membership is truly bringing value to your business bottom line. If you're like me, this is a no-brainer!

From the Membership Desk... Sam Palazzolo, MBA, CPLP