You be the Star!

Another great year has come to an end for the Florida Speakers Association, and as your executive director I would like to thank Ken Okel and the rest of our board of directors for a job well done. Although our membership numbers were slightly lower than years past, I believe that the association provided a greater value with added benefits to its members and has weathered the economy quite well.
As association executives for other professional and trade associations our staff at the Association Source are reporting memberships back on the rise after some trying economic times. With that said, we hope you will join us again this year and renew your dues for the 2011-2012 membership year. Please contact our office at info@florida-speakers.org to renew.

As Gaby Cora takes the reigns this July as president of FSA, the board of directors and committee chairs will be creating an aggressive plan to incorporate more benefits & services to our members. As ideas for these new benefits are being explored and added to the list, if you have any thoughts of what else we could add to your membership packages, please let us know!

Ricky Atkins
Executive Director
Florida Speakers Association

Who Is Ed Rigsbee?

Ed Rigsbee, CSP, has been a professional member of the National Speakers Association since 1988.  Ed is also the author of three books on business relationships, PartnerShift-How to Profit from the Partnering Trend, Developing Strategic Alliances and The Art of Partnering. 

Much of Ed's speaking business comes to him resulting from being a regular contributor to business, trade and professional publications throughout North America.  He has more than 1,500 published articles to his credit.

Ed is an internationally recognized authority on strategic alliances. On October 9th, he'll be talking about partnering with association editors to get paid speaking engagements.

In the meantime, enjoy Ed's story about learning something new.

Click here to learn more about Ed's October 9th presentation to the Florida Speakers Association.

5 Fast Facts About Our September Meeting

• Terri Langhans will change the way you think about marketing your speaking business. That’s a game changer in a competitive field. Remember to register before the early pricing deal ends.
• Come early to network. The official part of the meeting starts at 9 a.m. so why not take advantage of the chance to talk to other speakers beforehand. Find out what’s working in their businesses. Don’t miss out on the chance to get a powerful new idea.  So arrive by 8:30 a.m. and enjoy!
• We’ll start at 9 a.m. To get the most out of our presenter, we need to be a good audience and begin our session on time.
• Don’t forget lunch. Terri’s session will end right at lunch time. Why not join us for an informal lunch in the hotel restaurant. The hotel has a special plate aimed at meeting guests. This pay your own lunch represents another chance to chat, brainstorm, and get to know other speakers in our area. You've got to eat so why not also fill up on knowledge?
• FSA members get more. Besides a lower price for meetings, they also can enjoy our monthly teleseminar series. Ever want to find out about speaking internationally?  Attendees on our next call will learn just that.  Become a member at the meeting and you’ll save $25.

Reinvention & Your Speaking Business

Question: How have you changed your speaking business in response to changing economic times?

Here's what Mace Horoff has to say:

For years, when there was money to spend, prospective clients would call me from my website to find out what I could provide for a sales meeting or sales training session. They don’t call as often as they used to, and when they do, they have a very specific problem or set of problems that they want to know if I can solve.

I have learned to force myself to insist in having a conversation with the economic buyer-- the person who controls the budget for the meeting. This person will make the money appear if I can convince him that I can solve his problem. The feasibility buyer is more concerned about spending as little as possible on a program. Thank you Alan Weiss for that approach.

Because the phone isn’t ringing as much, I have had to implement a program to reach out to my marketplace which I do with Marc LeBlanc’s approach of postcards, the top 25, and calling prospects. The business requires more marketing effort, but it’s doable and effective if you’re solving people’s problems today...and they have plenty of them!

For more on Mace, go to: www.medicalsalestraining.com

Ken's Keepers from NSA 2010

What was FSA President Ken Okel's takeaway from this year's National Speakers Association convention?



For more about Ken, go to: http://www.kenokel.com

Don't forget to join us for our next meeting on September 11, which will feature marketing expert Terri Langhans. Get a taste for Terri in this clip, which was part of a competition involving speakers only having 6:40 to talk, while keeping up with a Powerpoint that changes every 20 seconds.

Natalia's News from NSA 2010

What was Natalia Locatelli's takeaway from this year's National Speakers Assoication convention?




For more on Natalia, go to: http://www.SkullJuggler.com/

FSA July Teleseminar Preview Clip