Recently I drove to LA to have lunch with half a dozen hot dog NSAs from Southern California. We are a support group to each other, we do not compete with each other, we collaborate with each other. Each one of us is successful in our own geographical areas. One of us does only GNW. This group is not officially organized other than that we have common ground, and we bounce ideas and trends off each other.
It is a friendly playing field. No competition exists among us. It is a totally positive, proactive group. I think it would be a great idea if you organized a group of similar professionals in your area to meet once a quarter, not to compete with each other but to help each other, educate one another and know each other's work style and collaborate. Doesn't mean you have to share your clients with each other.
This group I met with is completely professional, and all are full time NSAs. We do not accept Snapdocs' clients, we have never endorsed Snapdocs and we all feel the same way, that Snapdocs is out to help promote finding the cheapest NSA who will swallow the bait. Snapdocs has caused our industry to support predatory signing services, mostly 1-3 star companies. Here we are, NSAs all other the country extending credit to these outfits, and they have the ability to "rate NSAs". Payment is as long as 90-120 days, or never. It's simply absurd.
It's good to stay current with what's going on out there. I'll bet there are a few of your like minded NSAs who could be mutually beneficial as a core group.
It's all about location, location, location and opportunity, rolling up your sleeves and working hard every day to effectively build your loyal client list. But after 15 years of this work, it has definitely been worth it. I respect the folks in my peer group, and they respect me. It's a whole lot different environment than this forum. No sabotage, no foul language, not hostility, name calling, brow beating~all positive innovative ideas about how to prosper in this challenging environment.
Definitely worth considering...there is safety in numbers. We all need to stick together if we are to prosper.
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