Are you ready for a boost in your business? 2011 should prove to be an exciting year. The drama of the economy is over, and opportunities are starting to reveal themselves--especially to those attending our meetings. If you want to get a competitive edge in 2011, and get inspired by new successful perspectives, than you won't want to miss our January 31st Panel Discussion with 4 TOP speakers/trainers/coaches. It is going to be our best meeting of the year!

Live in monthly compartments. January can be a bad time for 'energy' because people can obsess about goals missed or overwhelming new goals, or food overeaten - but as Mark Leblanc taught me...forget about the big annual goals, and just set yourself a manageable monthly goal. A big secret I re-learned from him: if you reach out and reconnect with one person per day, you will be sure to be more successful at the end of the month than you were at the beginning. It works! 

Connect often and prosper.

Jeffrey Scott, MBA
President of NCA CT

We have several new Professional Members and Associates to welcome! Make sure you introduce yourself at our next meeting. Our goal is to build a close-knit group.

New Professional Members
Dennis Golden
Kathy McAfee

New Associates
Cheryl Morris
Joy van Hemert
Karen Riggio
Leslie Frederick

Program Title: Creating the Business Model That's Right for You
January 31, 2011, from 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Hilton Garden Inn, 25 Old Stratford Road, Shelton, CT 06484

This program, presented by a panel of successful speakers, will help you understand the different ways you can structure your business model to meet your goals.Kevin Carroll, Wally Hauck, Abby Marks Beale and Jane Pollak will share how they structure, manage and grow their business, including how they balance their business among various segments such as speaking, coaching, consulting, training, virtual/in-person, etc. Come with all the questions you want answered! You will walk away with practical ideas that you can use immediately to launch, grow or evolve your speaking business. The panel will be faciliated by Jeffrey Scott.

Our Panelists

• Kevin Carroll is a corporate trainer, keynote speaker, and author of three books.
• Wally Hauck, CSP, is an Employee Engagement Geek, Certified Speaking Professional, consultant and author.
• Abby Marks Beale founded the NSA-CT chapter, has been a member of NSA for over 15 years and a speaker for over 20 years.
•  Jane Pollak is a speaker and coach focused on inspiring and guiding creative women professionals.

Our Moderator

• Jeffrey Scott, MBA, is the current President of NSA-CT. He is a landscape business consultant and author of 2 books.

Read more here

We hope to see you there!

Member News

Jeffrey Scott

I have been asked to speak at the Global Speakers Summit in Amsterdam, April 14-16. Speakers from all over the world will be attending. I hope my tux still fits. I hired Brian Walter (a speaker from the fall) to help me formulate my talk which I am customizing for this event. If anyone is going or thinking of going, let me know. I plan to spend a few extra days and visit with my son who is studying jazz guitar in Berlin.

Gilda Bonanno

Gilda Bonanno presented at the 2010 NSA Annual Convention in Orlando, FL. Her presentation, "IMPROV COMEDY RULES! Applying the 5 Rules of Improv Comedy to Make Your Presentations More Powerful and Engaging" was part of the "Meet the Pros" session on Tuesday morning.

Gilda has also been selected as the keynote speaker for a Project Management Conference in spring 2011 in Hartford, CT, sponsored by the Southern New England Chapter of the Project Management Institute (SNEC-PMI). Her motivational speech, "How Will You Spend Your 28,000 Days?" is based on her experience of being near the path of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and focuses on making important changes so you can live a more inspired life. Gilda holds the PMP (Project Management Practitioner) Certification and has corporate experience as a project manager.

Do You Follow Your Own Advice?

by Jeffrey Scott

I decided to follow my own medicine this past December, and I set up a board of advisors for my business (I recommend this often to my clients, and so I felt I had to take the plunge.) It took a lot of preparation; I had to get my numbers in order for the year, by month, by product. I had to get my marketing data figured out. I wrote an overview of my business, and my goals, and I did a SWOT analysis: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities. I can happily admit that it was very helpful. 

The biggest gain I got, is that I FEEL GOOD about what I am doing, and what I achieved this past year.  It allowed me to go into the holiday season feeling assured that I am heading in the right direction. In this advisory board meeting I discarded some old goals, and reset some new ones, and made some big decisions about this year. Plus, I now have three  people who know my business well, who are willing to help me as I move forward in the year. 

As you can imagine, I would advise that anyone who wants to get ahead, to consider doing this for their own business. Do you follow your own advice? Sometimes it is well worth it.

A member who has inspired me a great deal at NSA-CT is Jerry Rouleau. I first heard about him through this newsletter, and met him in person, and masterminded with him for a year or so. He is a guy of great inspiration to me, and has been very helpful to me as I grew my business. He is a very savvy speaker, who taught me about InfusionSoft, webinars, and using technology in my business. Jerry is currently ill and doing what he can to survive and thrive at home. For those of you who know him - I am sure he would appreciate a written note, and a blessing. 

Jerry Rouleau
P. O. Box 30
Terryville, CT. 06786