the Free Hypnosis Social Network
Experiences with Meet Up?
Hi, I wanted to get some input from anyone who has experience with organizing meet up groups. I just started one in my area (Ocean County Stress Relief and Empowerment Group) and had a fun time with the first meeting. The intention is to offer free/low cost programs for interested folks in my area on a regular basis.
Was curious if anyone had suggestions as how to promote the group (publicity) and other relevant ideas. Any input will greatly appreciated. Have a great weekend! Jim
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Richard Nongard - NLPBoard.com on -
I am part of a very successful group, anthony robins dallas group. Just last week started the tulsa personal power and transformation group..... My idea is get other groups to cross post
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Permalink Reply by Jackie Spencer on -
Hi James,
New member Melina Johnson has meetup groups and she's a business powerhouse. She might be a good resource.
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Permalink Reply by James Malone on -
Richard and Jackie-thank you!
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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Altfeld on -
Hello!
I hope offering some opinions both pro and con, and explaining the reasons behind them, will be of good value! My perspective: I've trained NLP courses on 3 continents over the past 15 years, spoken at countless study groups run by others, run countless evening events myself all over the place, and also run two meetup groups here & there.My opinion is that meetup.com (by itself) is one of the least effective ways to build a strong following. Although there are most assuredly a small handful of huge exceptions to this rule, as Richard and Jackie have stated; the Anthony Robbins groups are good examples of this - probably largely because of the viral nature of Robbins' reach, rather than because of anything inside meetup (meetup in this case is an enabler of virally enthusiastic Robbins attendees, not the cause of their successful meetups). NYEBN (New York Entrepreneur's Business Network is one of the most successful meetups I know of -- it's up to 10,500 members now -- and its *several* organizers do a world-class job of packing enormous spaces with its meetup members and hosting major events).
I think there are several bits to consider about meetup:
First of all, by a huge margin, free study groups attract less people than groups with small-to-moderate fees charged per evening. Or you can even offer a lower evening rate when someone signs up for 6 monthly evenings in a package. But charging at least something will bring _more_ people rather than less. This is about perceived value. This is also useful when it comes to inviting/attracting other speakers to speak -- other professional speakers will be more likely to come speak at your group if there's a speaker's fee, and if you're already charging low fees per evening, then charging a slightly higher fee for a visiting speaker requires less of a changed perception in your attendee pool, than going from free to paying a fee.
Secondly, more people will show up when the meetup event you're offering has a lot of preparation and unique content and value behind it, and you've already got a solid membership and following. But no one gets there overnight; are you willing to put the work into those meetup events even in the early days when only a handful of people show up? There may be a shortcut past this which is to build a following offline, and then later on, ask your regular attendees to join meetup and commit to RSVP'ing YES through meetup every time. This shows other meetup attendees that you've got some consistent group members who like your meetups.
From my experience, especially in the USA, NLP and Hypnosis attracts mostly individuals interested in self-improvement of some kind or other (business, or personal). You do see some "seminar junkies" at meetups, but most of the people interested are not belongers, they're individuals with individualist tendencies.
By significant contrast: Most Meetup.com groups attract belongers. In other words, I think you're barking up the wrong tree through meetup.com (IF that's your only/primary means of marketing).
Instead (or in addition to meetup), I would recommend: Advertise in local journals for your study group, or, do targeted local online advertising, through google or facebook etc. Pay for the advertising from low fees charged at each event you run. Buy/rent email or mailing lists if you can find any, and market through those.
The groups I've known or been to or spoken at that have survived for at least a while and in some cases thrived... have had these primary characteristics:- Strong leaders/organizers who also like to promote and invite other speakers, and like to offer valuable unique content at every single event.
- Evenings may or may not have had fees attached to each evening, but much more important than cost was whether or not there would be 'gifts' or 'take-aways' that people would be able to get & bring home with them if they came out. Added-value. Produce them yourself or ask other trainers for some of their promo gifts (CDs or DVDs or "special reports"/article-reprints etc, that you can hand out to your members when they show up. It's win-win for everyone.
- Meetup.com has built an environment that encourages signups AS WELL as NO-SHOWS. Why? I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that part of the reason for this is that there are zero consequences for no-shows. Still, it's fine to use meetup.com as only ONE of your methods of marketing. You will (likely) find -- if your experience is at all similar to mine -- that meetup.com members (simply because of the channel through which they hear about your meetings) are MUCH less reliable than people who you've found and who've heard about your events through other means (like phone, direct email, postcards, etc).
- Once a month consistent meetings without fail (or more often).
- Opportunities to pick up flyers for multiple other events, and/or to buy home-study or self-improvement stuff at a discount rather than buying through the web. Not everyone will want this, but it's another form of added-value, it's another difference between showing up in person vs. just trying to learn through books and the web, etc. Some of your attendees will take full advantage, and will then thank you for it (just as some will also ignore a product table).
Good luck!
Regards,Jonathan Altfeld +1 717 264-8444
Mastery InSight Institute of NLP http://www.altfeld.com/mastery
Want my NLP Newsletters? http://bit.ly/jonathan-subscribe
Join my group here: http://www.hypnothoughts.com/group/altfeldnlpers
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Permalink Reply by Melina Johnson on -
I have several meetup groups here in Oklahoma City, with more than 300 members combined. I started joining groups related to Metaphysic, The Law of Attraction and related topics to understand what people seek when they go to meetups. Then I created The Seed Of Change on Meetup. I rarely charge for the meetings but people tend to become very interested on the subject and I can easily spread the word about my practice.
I have also created groups that technically have nothing to do with hypnosis. For example, I have a "singles" group (Single? Me Too!) and a "girls" group (The Rules), along with groups for entrepreneurial women (N.E.W). All those groups serve they specific purpose, nevertheless when new people introduce themselves you also get a chance to "introduce yourself" too. And we all know what happens when we tell others that we are hypnotherapists... That familiar "reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally? Can you hypnotize me?" always follows. To me, it is a great way to let people know that you can help the ones who want help (I sometimes invite them to the meetings at The Seed of Change) and to give your business cards out, in case "their friends" need help one day.
Oh, one more thing. You can add your own business as a sponsor for your groups. If you go to any of my groups (specially the singles group), you will notice that all links lead to my webpage or to services that I provide outside of my hypnosis practice).
I hope this helps :)
Melina
http://www.meetup.com/SingleMeToo/
http://www.meetup.com/Networkingforentrepreneurwomen/
http://www.meetup.com/The-Rules-Support-Group/
http://www.meetup.com/SeedOfChange/
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Permalink Reply by Melina Johnson on
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I just posted a comment for him, then I went down the page and read yours LOL. That's very sweet of you... Thank you :)
Jackie Spencer said:
Hi James,
New member Melina Johnson has meetup groups and she's a business powerhouse. She might be a good resource.
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Permalink Reply by Melina Johnson on
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Jonathan has a VERY important point: you must be willing to put up with the no-shows, small attendance, constant ins and outs of your group without a nasty attitude.
After a quick learning curve (more like a steep drop), I learned to schedule meetups close to where I live, so I don't have to drive too far if no one shows up. I host discussion groups either at my conference room or at the lobby of a small hotel (I use Hyatt) and the "fun" groups at bars and restaurants. Keep it simple at first - be patient and don't forget to BELIEVE in yourself (or no one else will).
Melina
Jonathan Altfeld said:Hello!
I hope offering some opinions both pro and con, and explaining the reasons behind them, will be of good value! My perspective: I've trained NLP courses on 3 continents over the past 15 years, spoken at countless study groups run by others, run countless evening events myself all over the place, and also run two meetup groups here & there.My opinion is that meetup.com (by itself) is one of the least effective ways to build a strong following. Although there are most assuredly a small handful of huge exceptions to this rule, as Richard and Jackie have stated; the Anthony Robbins groups are good examples of this - probably largely because of the viral nature of Robbins' reach, rather than because of anything inside meetup (meetup in this case is an enabler of virally enthusiastic Robbins attendees, not the cause of their successful meetups). NYEBN (New York Entrepreneur's Business Network is one of the most successful meetups I know of -- it's up to 10,500 members now -- and its *several* organizers do a world-class job of packing enormous spaces with its meetup members and hosting major events).
I think there are several bits to consider about meetup:
First of all, by a huge margin, free study groups attract less people than groups with small-to-moderate fees charged per evening. Or you can even offer a lower evening rate when someone signs up for 6 monthly evenings in a package. But charging at least something will bring _more_ people rather than less. This is about perceived value. This is also useful when it comes to inviting/attracting other speakers to speak -- other professional speakers will be more likely to come speak at your group if there's a speaker's fee, and if you're already charging low fees per evening, then charging a slightly higher fee for a visiting speaker requires less of a changed perception in your attendee pool, than going from free to paying a fee.
Secondly, more people will show up when the meetup event you're offering has a lot of preparation and unique content and value behind it, and you've already got a solid membership and following. But no one gets there overnight; are you willing to put the work into those meetup events even in the early days when only a handful of people show up? There may be a shortcut past this which is to build a following offline, and then later on, ask your regular attendees to join meetup and commit to RSVP'ing YES through meetup every time. This shows other meetup attendees that you've got some consistent group members who like your meetups.
From my experience, especially in the USA, NLP and Hypnosis attracts mostly individuals interested in self-improvement of some kind or other (business, or personal). You do see some "seminar junkies" at meetups, but most of the people interested are not belongers, they're individuals with individualist tendencies.
By significant contrast: Most Meetup.com groups attract belongers. In other words, I think you're barking up the wrong tree through meetup.com (IF that's your only/primary means of marketing).
Instead (or in addition to meetup), I would recommend: Advertise in local journals for your study group, or, do targeted local online advertising, through google or facebook etc. Pay for the advertising from low fees charged at each event you run. Buy/rent email or mailing lists if you can find any, and market through those.
The groups I've known or been to or spoken at that have survived for at least a while and in some cases thrived... have had these primary characteristics:- Strong leaders/organizers who also like to promote and invite other speakers, and like to offer valuable unique content at every single event.
- Evenings may or may not have had fees attached to each evening, but much more important than cost was whether or not there would be 'gifts' or 'take-aways' that people would be able to get & bring home with them if they came out. Added-value. Produce them yourself or ask other trainers for some of their promo gifts (CDs or DVDs or "special reports"/article-reprints etc, that you can hand out to your members when they show up. It's win-win for everyone.
- Meetup.com has built an environment that encourages signups AS WELL as NO-SHOWS. Why? I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that part of the reason for this is that there are zero consequences for no-shows. Still, it's fine to use meetup.com as only ONE of your methods of marketing. You will (likely) find -- if your experience is at all similar to mine -- that meetup.com members (simply because of the channel through which they hear about your meetings) are MUCH less reliable than people who you've found and who've heard about your events through other means (like phone, direct email, postcards, etc).
- Once a month consistent meetings without fail (or more often).
- Opportunities to pick up flyers for multiple other events, and/or to buy home-study or self-improvement stuff at a discount rather than buying through the web. Not everyone will want this, but it's another form of added-value, it's another difference between showing up in person vs. just trying to learn through books and the web, etc. Some of your attendees will take full advantage, and will then thank you for it (just as some will also ignore a product table).
Good luck!
Regards,Jonathan Altfeld +1 717 264-8444
Mastery InSight Institute of NLP http://www.altfeld.com/mastery
Want my NLP Newsletters? http://bit.ly/jonathan-subscribe
Join my group here: http://www.hypnothoughts.com/group/altfeldnlpers
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Permalink Reply by James Malone on
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Melina and Johnathan, thank you for your thorough and insightful replies! I'm looking at meet up as more of an adjunct rather than a primary means of marketing and will definitely put your good ideas to use.
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Permalink Reply by Jess Marion on -
Hi James,
I'm co-organizer for a successful hypnosis meet up in Philly and think the meetup platform is great. It took us some time to really build up the group and it can be challenging (and fun) because the group is different each meet up.
We promote it through word of mouth, a facebook fan page, and business cards we've scattered throughout the city. We meet twice a month and usually have between 5-10 show up not counting ourselves. You may want to also consider using craigslist.
Cheers!
Jess
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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Altfeld on
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Hi Jess,
Congrats on getting your meetup group going! I know I'm potentially inducing "the backfire effect" Scott brought everyone's attention to recently... but I wanted to offer some feedback about study/meetup groups in other locations.
In the USA, it's a real challenge, as you know! The culture here about NLP/Hypnosis, combined with the attitude towards regular practice group attendance, is not as welcoming and consistent in the USA as it is in the UK, or in some other spots -- Australia, Denmark, and other places. I've spoken at many groups over the years overseas with 50-100 people regularly attending (and not just the Robbins' power team meetings, I'm talking serious NLP & Hypnosis folks). Most such groups in the UK include a large core group of regular committed attendees with others that come and go.
Most such groups in the USA have only 5-10 attending each meetup, without a consistent group attending repeatedly. I think this fits my definition of success in that it's hard enough to get even that to happen in the USA!!! So I do applaud the effort you put in to get even that response!
I think my own definition of a successful meetup has been conditioned from exposure to much larger more consistent groups, and I'm confident with your multi-pronged approach to get the word out there, you'll keep getting more people.
If I can be so bold, I'd recommend you interview those who show up inconsistently... and find out what would get them to show up more consistently. Because inconsistent attendance may be a sign they're not getting enough value to make it a priority to keep coming back. Or it may be a matter that you're attracting a certain demographic of excessively busy people. Or parents, who can't get babysitters often. Or that your choice of specific day, or time, or duration, or venue, isn't optimal for people to keep coming back consistently (such that you'd keep seeing growth in your group!). The point is that until you interview your group members who aren't consistently returning, you may never know what will bring them back repeatedly.
Regards,
Jonathan Altfeld, Mastery InSight Institute of NLP
Want my NLP Newsletters? http://bit.ly/jonathan-subscribe
Hypnothoughts group: http://www.hypnothoughts.com/group/altfeldnlpers
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Permalink Reply by docregal.com on -
Great inquiry, James!
Many meetup pros and cons were well covered. In addition, I can suggest from a 1.5 yr trial run with meetup:
1. Charging online a nominal fee of $3 works well to encourage attendance. And that fully compensated my online fees over 100%. ;-)
2. Offering free events will generate many no show or minimal attendance events, however if it is scheduled in your office, it matters less.
3. Using a location other than your office can be beneficial. Charging a $5 fee to cover cost of the venue worked out very well for an associate of mine that I recommended meetup to.
4. If you collect data from your attendees you can build a powerful email and phone list. These people are interested in hypnosis for a reason.
5. Many meetup participants want a deal. In fact, free is not even good enough for some. Sometimes you have to include food, drink and other enticements. This is where promotional skills come into play.
6. Organizing a theme works two ways. It can help or hinder. You got to know what type of outcome you seek up front.
7. Being successful with meetup is time consuming work. You have to put in a lot of marketing effort to get meaningful results.
8. Patience is a virtue here. It takes a few months to build the group.
9. Getting repeat visits is the key to success. After 3 or more meetings it's very easy to bring in a new client. Bookings can happen spontaneously, but do not count on that.
Go for it! As long as you are willing to be creative, clever and calculating you can do well.
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Permalink Reply by John Cleesattel on -
I have attended several different hypnosis meetups. It does appear to just have been used as a marketing ploy by whomever is hosting. Not that this is a bad idea, its just seems kind of misleading if you know what I mean.
I think a $5 cover for all attendees makes sense. (Remembering the "Free = No Value" lessons learned).
I have tried hosting two meetups in the past (just to meet others interested in hypnosis, not to sell them anything) and had a bunch of interest, and even those that said they would be there, but never had a single person show up.
Now that I have a nice office.. and plenty of Conference room space at my disposal, I may try it again.
John
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