Now I don’t particularly have a very long association with the www.Meetup.com movement. I’ve been sitting back and observing for quite a while though. And for some reason I didn’t really think too much about diving in. I think I kind of viewed them as a bit of a social kind of gathering for singles, WAHMs, hobby groups etc etc. Clearly I never really took them very seriously. It was never on my ‘business radar’ so to speak.
Since moving house (and is that a catalyst and a half for change, but that’s an entirely different subject altogether), I’ve started to venture into the CBD of Melbourne to do a few different things once a week and one of those things is to spend some time networking at Meet Up groups. For this exercise, I am going to talk in the context of the Network Marketer. What a massive revelation this has been that I just feel compelled to share this. No matter what Meet Up I attend, whether it’s a personal development, business networking – whatever it has been, I have noticed a significantly high amount of Network Marketers attending these events. So much so that I have now made it into an integral part of my lead generation strategy.
It’s a bit amusing to me how for so long Networkers in general really did shy away from face to face interaction. 10 years’ ago the organisation I belonged to actively promoted the fact that if you partnered with us, you wouldn’t be needing to meet people face to face. People just didn’t want to, nor had the time for it. Isn’t it funny how things come full circle? With the ever increasing social media domination of the internet, Google constantly changing the goal posts with respect to PPC marketing, the completely confusing world of SEO and less obvious online marketing choices than there was 10 years’ ago, I truly believe that people are returning once again to talking to people face to face.
People really do, at a most basic and fundamental level, seek and crave connection. And connection cannot always be done most effectively via a quick chat message. Let’s be honest, hands up how many reading this have either sent or received a message with the best of intentions, however the meaning came across as completely different? You simply cannot replicate nuances in body language, eye contact, voice pitch and verbal accents that we understand as communicating effectively with someone. Sending a PM via FB only conveys so much. And I know people who are going to Meet Ups purely to build their teams and doing little else. It’s that effective. This is only mere theorizing – I’m not a Psychologist, Psychiatrist or whatever.
I’m no expert in human behaviour (aside from what I have observed myself over the years). All I know is that I have met people from Miessence, Usana, ACN, Arbonne, FG Express and the list goes on. It must work otherwise why on earth would people be going out on a cold winter’s night to do it???
My challenge to you is to give it a go. No doubt there are Meet Ups in your local area. Heck, I travel just over two hours’ one way to Melbourne to do it. I get home at Midnight every single Tuesday night. And why do I do it? For the connections I make. Real, genuine, tangible connections in the flesh. If you can find a Speed Networking Meet Up I highly recommend that in getting you out of your comfort zone and talking about what you do in a fun, supportive, fast-paced environment. It’s the absolute fastest way I know of to get in front of a whole bunch of people in a very short span of time.
But here’s the secret – don’t forget to follow up. Who knows, here’s hoping that Business Opportunity Meetings will make a massive come back. To the point of people asking “which one are you looking at tonight”. Let’s create a movement together. Now get out there and market yourself and your deal. And don’t forget to share your experiences here. We can all benefit.