Network Marketer? Ignoring Meetup.com would be a big mistake.
For Network Marketers who hate chasing friends and family, Meetup.com is a fantastic way to meet a constant stream of prospects without annoying (and pitching) every single cold market lead you meet.
What is Meetup?
Meetup.com is a social media site with a twist. The goal of the site is to help people CONNECT ONLINE and then take the relationship offline. Said another way, Meetup is all about helping it’s users meet new friends in their community who have similar interests. The great news is, it’s very likely that there is already a huge number of people in your city on Meetup, and they have already told meetup what their interests are. Which means you can get specific about who your “perfect prospect” is, and Meetup.com will send those “perfect prospects” to you.
There are two main ways that you can leverage Meetup to meet local targeted leads.
1. Attend a Meetup Group.
The first way is to attend a meetup group. You can attend a Meetup group in 3 simple steps:
- Create a free account on meetup.com and enter your interests.
- Find a group that is exciting to you.
- Look at that group’s events and RSVP for one (or more).
Some events are free, some of them are paid. There are ALL KINDS of different things you can do. And everyone who you meet is friendly! Everyone who is on Meetup joined the site because they want to meet new friends; friends with similar interests. If you have a fitness business you can check out some fitness events. If you want to meet entrepreneurs, world travelers, aspiring leaders, real estate investors, or even knitting enthusiasts… you can find them on Meetup.com. You could probably go to a different event every day of the week if you want to be a hyper-networker.
But there is a better way to build your business using Meetup. A way that creates massive leverage, saves you time, turns you into a trusted authority, and positions you as a leader so that prospects chase you… rather than you chasing them. Meetup calls it being an “Organizer”.
2. Organize a Meetup Group.
As a Meetup “Organizer” you create a group, you decide what kind of members you want to attract, and you choose the group activities (and frequency). It requires a bit more work up front, but it has its share of benefits. My favorite benefit is the positioning it gives me. Think of it this way. Have you ever watched the show “The Bachelorette”? It’s a show where there is ONE girl and like 30 guys. Every episode the girl gets to decide who stays and who gets sent home. Now, if you were going to be on the show, would you prefer to be one of the 30 people who are begging for attention, hoping to get a rose and permission to stick around for a bit longer? Or would you like the be the ONE person who gets to choose who stays, who goes home, and who they spend their life with? Exactly.
As soon as you are the organizer you are the star of the group. You have all of the power. And everyone wants to MEET YOU. I can’t tell you how many times people from my meetup group have asked me “can I buy you lunch this week?”. You become a bit of a local celebrity, and you get to teach and influence your prospects way of thinking before you ever give them your pitch.
And it gets better.
There is a really interesting dynamic between a meetup organizer and their followers. On one hand, your meetup attendees will look up to you, want to learn from you, and treat you like you are their mentor… seemingly overnight. And on the other hand, they are totally forgiving. They don’t expect you to have all the knowledge or answers, and they don’t expect you to be perfect. It’s like you operate under a different set of rules than the rest of the world. The best way I can describe it is like the relationship I have with someone when I use services like AirBnB or Uber. I treat my AirBnB host with the utmost respect because they are opening up their home to me. I treat their property with the same respect I would give to a 5-star hotel. But I don’t expect 5-star service from AirBnB. I don’t expect the hosts to be perfect. I expect them to be human. I treat the host like a friend, not like hotel staff. We create an instant “sharing economy” bond. Meetup is the same way.
David
A friend of mine is a distributor in a weight loss MLM. He started a meetup group and hosted a free yoga event. After the class, everyone thanked him over and over and was excited to get to know him. But here is the thing. David wasn’t even the person who taught the class! He just organized it. He found a location (the beach), found a friend who was willing to lead the class, and sent an email through meetup. It didn’t cost him a penny, he didn’t need to know any special skill set to run the event, and he had 42 raving fans after the event. Oh, and all of them filled out a “feedback form” at the event; giving David (the organizer) their phone number, email address, weight loss goal, goal date, and answers to questions like “where do you feel stuck on your weight loss journey?”. Pretty great information to have if you have a weight loss business, right?
Best of all, every single one of the 42 people now LOVE David. He started his relationship with them by giving them something of value without asking for anything in return. He didn’t even bring up his business at the event. He didn’t have to. He has everyone’s contact information, he can talk to them whenever he wants. Most of them RSVP’d to his next event. Many of them left him positive reviews on Meetup. Within 2 months he had over 500 people join his Meetup group. Every single one of them want to lose weight or get fit.
Billi-Jo
Billi-Jo is in a travel MLM. She started a group called “Edmonton Single Traveler’s Group”. They go on vacations and travel places as a group; they also do fun local stuff. Go out to Greek restaurants. Take dancing lessons. Go to charity events. Learn to speak different languages and how to cook ethnic foods. Billi-Jo gets to host an event every few weeks. She always has a blast, and some of the events she charges for and makes a profit from. Oh, and she has 3,300 people who have joined her Meetup group. All of them want to travel more. Pretty good pond to fish from, don’t you think?
Paul
Paul is in a financial education MLM. He organizes a meetup group that plays Robert Kiyosaki’s (Rich Dad Poor Dad) board game. Every single person who joins his group finds him because they want to create passive income. Some of the people who attend end up doing real estate deals with Paul. Some of them hire him as a coach. Some of them join his MLM company. Some of them join him in all three… and some of them don’t join him at all. But you know what? It only takes him 3 hours a month to host the game, and the people who come fill out a “feedback form” and tell Paul what things to call them back about and what things to not call about. Talk about a good set up. Paul has his prospects chasing him. That’s how you create authority and positioning. It’s also how you eliminate rejection and make prospecting fun.
Sounds too good to be true right?
Well, it is. Here’s the catch: You have to lead with value. At least if you want to be an organizer… a leader.
If you see dollar signs rather than faces, don’t bother trying. For Meetup to work you need to measure your success based on the question “How can I help this person?” rather than “How can I get their credit card number?”. You don’t need to be perfect, and you don’t need to have any special skills, but you do need to care. You need to serve. You need to have a heart for people. You need to lead, and you need to give before taking.
But if you are willing to do all of that… there is no better platform on the planet than Meetup.
If you think you’ve got what it takes to be a Meetup Organizer, I’ve got a gift for you. It’s a cheat sheet you can use to set up your own custom meetup group. It’s designed to help you attract your “perfect prospect”, add value to them, and even shows you how to get paid for hosting events; so you can make money before you’ve even recruited your first customer or business owner from Meetup.
The cheat sheet is just 5 simple steps, and you can download it for free. All I ask in return is that you promise to lead with value in your meetup group; and that you focus on helping your followers without expecting anything in return. If you do, I think you will be blown away at the goodwill, trust, money, authority and new recruits that will come back your way.
Jimmie Jayes
