Over the years, one of the things I’ve heard from many people who run their own business online is that it can be a very isolated existence. The work tends to be just you and the computer for the most part and the majority of people out there really have no idea about what you do or how to relate to you about it.
Everyone who I speak to that shares this experience with me I give the same advice to, “Find people with similar experiences to you and meet up with them regularly to swap stories.”
Having a community of like minded individuals is seriously underrated. For me, this has been a huge windfall both personally and professionally.
Friends You Haven’t Met Yet
Tonight was just such an occasion. I’m part of a forum run by my friend James Schramko who has hundreds of members. Many of those people, like myself have been members for years and over time you get to know each other.
More importantly, there are meetups in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and other cities around the world every month where local members get together to have dinner, have a few drinks and share some stories. The one here in Sydney is the biggest and we’ve been doing it pretty much every month for five or six years.
What’s great about this is that over the time, many of the people just become friends and aside from meeting up once a month we also swap emails, text messages or if need be talk on the phone. As a side benefit, we often also refer potential clients to each other and buy from one another when the need arises.
The Value Of Live Events
Tomorrow and the day after, James is having his annual live event and there are people that have come in from all over the world for the two day conference. Live events are a great way to learn some stuff from really smart people, meet people who are trying to achieve the same things you are and are having the same struggles. James also runs a pretty cool event, so that’s a plus as well.
Unfortunately I’m a bit busy with work so I won’t be able to make it, but tonight one of the members organized a catch up for everyone from out of town who arrived a day early.
There were about twenty people who turned up in total which was great.
More importantly, I got to meet some really interesting people I’d never met in person and some who I’d met but never got to spend time with.
Meeting Casual Marketers In Person
A special thrill for me was that I got to meet a five or six subscribers to the Casual Marketer Monthly Newsletter. It was pretty exciting getting to meet these folks and listening to their feedback about what I’m doing.
And that’s the whole point I’m trying to make. Writing emails every day, posting those to the blog, creating the newsletter every month, those are isolated activities and generally, it’s just me sitting down doing the work. I get feedback here and there, but for the most part, it’s a singular effort.
Getting to meet people who have received the newsletter and listening to them talk about something I wrote or discuss how they are going to apply something I said in their business was awesome. So rewarding.
It also makes me better. Not just the feedback, but listening to what other people are doing, the challenges they are having, tossing ideas around, those things make me better at what I do.
So I challenge you to either find a group locally or start your own and get out there and meet some real, like minded people!
Just a reminder, today is your last chance to sign up to get the March issue of the Casual Marketer Monthly Newsletter. It’s going to the post office later tomorrow afternoon, so click the link below to subscribe and avoid missing out!