Meta Leadership Primer: MeetUps

As a marketer or small business owner, you probably already heard about Groups. Facebook Groups are probably one of the most popular groups on social networking platforms. However, if you are considering joining a Facebook Group or creating your own, you should consider MeetUp groups.

MeetUp groups are an alternative to Facebook Groups that are still less popular, but they can really help you with your business. The main idea of MeetUp groups is the same: bring people together in the real world around a common interest or theme. This ensures that the communication is facilitated which allows you to interact with possible prospects directly.

MeetUp Groups

While MeetUp groups are not particularly new since they have been online for a few years already, most people don’t know it. And this may be one of the best-kept secrets to increase your popularity, build a reputation, and grow your business.

The truth is that when you truly believe in the old adage that says that “it’s not what you know but who you know”, the MeetUp groups are certainly for you. The truth is that you never know who will join your MeetUp group but you can be sure that there will be beginners trying to learn more about the subject, people who already have some knowledge and may teach you a couple of things, and there may be also the so-called influencers, the ones everyone knows as the industry leaders. Overall, MeetUp groups are the perfect place to share your interest to a like-minded group of people which can result in opportunities for growth, learning, and collaboration.

Learn more about this as well as “Next Practices” in Meta Leadership

Visit Michael Stattelman for even more….

Taking Advantage Of MeetUp Groups

MeetUp groups can bring a lot of benefits to your business. Some of them include:

#1: Networking:

Networking is one of the main benefits of having your own MeetUp groups. After all, you will be able to meet with a lot of different people who share the same interests with you. Overall, it is one of the best opportunities that you have to create and build solid relationships.

One of the things that you should keep in mind about MeetUp groups is that they are not intended to push sales. Above all, they are intended to be a place where information is shared and discussed. The main goal of a MeetUp group should be to teach and learn about the topic, not sales. However, as time goes on and other members start to like you and engage with you, they will be more likely to purchase from you. This is simply inherent, and you don’t need (and shouldn’t) push the sale.

The truth is that you never know who is on the other side and when you’re least expecting, a new opportunity may come up. By simply using the MeetUp groups to share valuable information with other members may open some important doors.

#2: Build Your Brand:

A lot of marketers and small business owners are already using MeetUp groups to build their brands. Most of them tend to start their own group since this will give them the visibility they need. However, if you prefer, you can simply join one that already exists and that fits your industry or niche and your needs. Sometimes it is easier to join a MeetUp group that is already well implemented than starting a new one which will never have the same number or quality members of the one that already exists.

In case you opt for joining one that already exists, you should first get in touch with the MeetUp organizer and offer to give him a presentation. Becoming a featured speaker will give you instant credibility among all the members of the MeetUp groups.

#3: Train Your Trainers/Build your Community:

Similar to many other themed MeetUp’s that are centered around any given topic. They can also be steered. Let’s take the example of a MeetUp I attended in Paris. It was all about Sentiment Analysis. There were tutorials, web accessible code bases and reference materials provided for free. They brought in a guest speaker to tout the significance of this technology. Even though I agree with the theme, the content and have applied Sentiment Analysis with Python for my own purposes this struck me. What if an organization wanted to establish a MeetUp for the sole purpose of training people to train others to use their offerings? “Train the Trainers”. Not that this has not been going on already but what a brilliant use of resources. Salesforce has Meetups, so does AWS, Google Cloud and Azure to mention a few all have Meetups across the globe for training and discussion that is centered around their offerings. The larger question is, why don’t you? In this very manner you are simultaneously building your community at the same time.