I avoided getting involved in my local community’s business scene for a pretty long time. I tried to get my foot in the door in the beginning of my blogging escapades but realized that my local area hadn’t caught up to the create/entrepreneurship/tech scene just yet.
Fast forward a few years and the creative scene is now thriving. Between meetups, conferences, pop-ups and massive events, there is literally no shortage of ways for me to get involved. And, in the last year or so, I’ve experimented with getting more involved locally to see how it would affect my business.
The results have been nothing short of amazing. Not only has my business grown in ways I hadn’t imagined, but I’ve also met some really cool people in the process. In this article, I’m going to explain how to get involved locally so you can grow your business.
Just show up to the meetups.
About a year ago, I was a little resistant to show up to local blogging and creative meetups. My experience up until that point was that my local area wasn’t really into the whole finance thing so I didn’t want to waste my time.
Well, I decided to go anyway. And I decided to keep going despite my resistance. What’s transpired in the last twelve months is an interest in people wanting more finance education content in my area (Seriously, everyone wants my card. It’s great.) which has turned into speaking gigs and invites to other events.
The moral of the story is this: Even if you think the meetups may not necessarily help you grow your business, go anyway. You never know who you will meet and what it might turn into.
Join a co-working space.
It’s also been a year since I joined my coworking space (I actually found my coworking space by attending a meetup) and I still believe it’s some of the best damn money I’ve ever spent.
Not only do I get twice as much work done while I’m there, I’ve also gotten to meet people to help me grow my business. From consumer finance attorneys I can use as sources to new students, there really has been no shortage of growth opportunity at my coworking space.
Additionally, it just feels really good to get out of the house and be around people who get what I do for a living. I love my online friends, but I only see them once or twice a year. At my coworking space, I have face-to-face support all the time.
So if you’ve considered joining a coworking space in the new year, here’s a green light to just go ahead and do it. It will grow your business in ways you can’t even imagine.
Go to events supporting others.
I’ve made it a point to go to events that support other entrepreneurs in my area, even if it has absolutely nothing to do with my business.
In reality, I do this because I think support during the entrepreneurship journey is important (It can get crazy, ya’ll.) but also because in some weird way, expanding my own horizons and getting out of my own bubble will eventually affect my business in a positive way.
You may not see how attending unrelated events in support of others can help grow your business now, but mark my words that everything always comes back around.
