Held in the financial district, the meetup commenced with fresh brewed coffee and delectable pastries. What followed was a kick off of formal introductions, what company each person works for, and their role. From there, the conversation flowed naturally. Issues arose surrounding how to enter and begin a conversation as a small business among the larger conversations being had in the targeted space.
A majority of the people at the meetup were community managers from local startups or small businesses. Some just beginning their role as a community manager, while others explained the transitions their company was facing from 5-10 employees, to a growing 50 plus employees. These transitions can play a great impact on how a CEO or director wishes to reach out, or not reach out to the public. While size does change marketing and communication efforts, a business should always relate to their consumers, to create and establish a sense of relationship and association.
What we realized quickly during the event was that small businesses shouldn't try to begin a conversation when there is already a much larger conversation being had. Not only is it difficult to begin a new conversation as a smaller company, but it’s difficult to maintain it and have people participate. An individual in the meetup brought to light the idea of what goes into throwing a successful party. She says,
“You wouldn't throw a party if no one was in town but you would attend a party where a majority of people are already at.”
The same applies to creating conversations in your space, whether they’re had over platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, or GooglePlus. The key is to join an already established, trending conversations then slowly interject your business and your opinion to the thread -- this will deliver the best results.
This led to the topic of how community managers should deal with a difference of opinion from supervisors. For example, a difference in opinion could be pushing for paid advertising when a supervisor believes it is not necessary, or advocating the idea to create a comment section on the company blog if supervisors do not agree. While supervisors or CEO’s may differ in strategy or execution, managers need to address their standpoints and opinions on certain subjects. It’s not a bad thing to have an alternate opinion from higher level execs. They love the challenge of being questioned, and are baffled when proved wrong.
If a supervisor or CEO chooses to avoid forums, newsletters, blogs, or creating content for consumers, look for successful examples of other businesses who’ve used these tactics and put together a formal presentation to prove your point. Whether it’s finding innovative ways to promote your business or pushing to boost ads on social media, always do your homework, gather the accurate information to support your difference of opinion to your supervisor. Colleagues will seek out your opinion for future decisions, thus building your credibility.
If you find yourself in a new job position and have questions or limited knowledge, or are solely seeking more information about the position, meetups may be the answer for you. What do you have to lose? An hour or so in the office? There’s only benefits to gain when connecting with others, and networking yourself and your brand. Consider meetups as you would LinkedIn; we add connections in hopes of growing our personal network, and creating future job opportunities by building and growing our skills and traits. Meetups have the same effect, but are face-to-face, as opposed to screen-to-screen.
As the sharing economy grows, and strangers are beginning to trust one another, meetups play an important role in the sense of building community. Don’t stray away from meeting new people. You’d be surprised at what you can learn and take away from others. Exchange business cards, make your name known, and the results will follow.