Join an Association
Getting around like-minded people is key. And getting around like-minded people who are a little further up the mountain than us is vital for our success as self-published indie authors. Thankfully, we can easily meet these wonderful people and be influenced by their ideas when we join an association.
Go ahead and just Google associations. You’ll find hundreds and even thousands of associations out there. Whatever your niche is, I guarantee you that there is some kind of association out there for it, and for you.
Associations are usually pretty affordable too. And that’s a good thing for us authorpreneurs. We like things that are cheap, right. Most association’s annual dues are under $100. It’s a good investment of our time and money because that’s where the people are who we need to learn from and network within our specific niche.
Most associations have newsletters, some kind of online learning, and monthly meetings. Sometimes these meetings are in person, occasionally virtual, or sometimes a mix of the two like what I do with my members as the president of the Association of Publishers for Special Sales in Connecticut (APSS-CT). Learn more about this association and what it does with non-traditional marketing by clicking here on APSS.
Hey, here’s the deal. Sometimes life as an authorpreneur is a lonely life. Many times we work in seclusion with our computer in a corner somewhere. It’s hard to keep up with the networking and the latest strategies in our niche if we’re not out actively networking at places where our kind of people hang out. And that place that our kind of people hang out is at associations. So go ahead and join one and make some new friends that will understand what you are going through and will want to help you succeed.
Another beautiful thing about associations is that they are always looking for people to help out. So, here is your golden opportunity to jump in and make some friends by helping out. While volunteering, you’ll also learn new skills and build a higher quality network. In addition, you’ll lay the groundwork for a leadership position. Trust me, you can do this. You really can become one of the leaders in your association.
And once you become a leader there, you continue to open doors for yourself. You make even higher-quality friends, and you learn even more of the nuances of how your field operates. Leadership is a good thing.
Once you’re in a leadership position, most associations also have parent associations that you can co-mingle with as well. You can even join one of those parent associations. I have. And it’s been well worth it. When you go bigger to the parent associations, you learn a lot more and meet a lot more people. The people in your own association hold you in higher regard too. It’s a win-win-win all over the place. Why wouldn’t we do that? It makes total sense for us to get involved in associations.
Because I am involved in associations, I have had many speaking opportunities as well. When an association that I belong to, or even just associated with, finds out I’m an author and speaker, many times they ask me to speak to their members.
Speaking to associations s is very cool. It’s another income stream, and it helps me improve my standing in my association. People talk to me more and offer to do co-projects with me. It’s definitely a good thing. And if I can do this, so can you.
There are so many different opportunities we all have to become involved in an association that will further our careers. We can join one for our day job. I belong to multiple associations for teachers. We can join one for authors and publishers. I belong to multiple ones for authors and publishers as well. We can join one for speaking. I have belonged to a few different ones. And we can join one for marketing or anything else we can think of. Only our lack of initiative is holding us back here with associations. We can all do this and do it well.
The important thing here to remember is to join one. Don’t sit idle. Don’t seclude yourself in your work. Share your time and thoughts with others, and they will do the same with you. Associations are a great place to meet the right kind of people in your niche where you can all tap into the power of synergy and get the success ball rolling together.
*Check out the free video lesson on this chapter!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlGVQDIn5Eo&list=PL_-39bUXJitwL8cHUpiZ5mO0-JJuaPOVl&index=51
https://tinyurl.com/y6neuegu https://tinyurl.com/tx5wphz http://tinyurl.com/y8opavl8