Meetup is a social media site committed to promoting traditional, in-person networking. It's a paradox that makes using social media infinitely easier.
When I first joined Meetup, I met Wayne Cook. Wayne has been involved with social media for several years and leads two highly successful Meetup groups (look for Entrepreneurs International on Meetup). It was Wayne who opened my eyes to the tremendous potential for learning and networking that comes through Meetup.
Getting Started
Joining Meetup is even easier than setting up a profile in Twitter. It takes about three minutes. Go to Meetup's website and look for the words "Sign Up" in the top right corner. Click on those words.
The sign-up page will ask for some basic info:
- Name (your real name, not a nickname)
- Email address
- Create a password
- Country and ZIP or postal code (very important)
- Agree to terms of service (every site has this)
When you click the "Submit" button, Meetup sends you a verification e-mail. This is how they make sure it's you signing up for the account rather a robot program. Just click on the confirmation link in the e-mail and it opens a new browser window to finish your profile. This is really quick and easy.
First you choose what your interests are. For example, I chose Small Business, Networking, Advertising, and Marketing. I recommend limiting yourself to three or four topics. If you pick more, then you're going to end up with thousands of options for groups to join.
After you pick your topics, you choose how far you're willing to travel for a group meeting. The default option is 50 miles, and I suggest you leave it there unless you're in a major city. Then you can choose one of the lower options (5, 10 or 25 miles). The farthest it lets you go is 100 miles.
Remember, Meetup is about in-person networking. Driving more than 100 miles means you're going to spend a couple of hours — each way — just to get to a 90-minute meeting.
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Article comments
1 - Conrad Hall
Hi Olaf,
Thank you for your comment. You're right, there are a lot more people on Facebook than Meetup. Having more fish in the pond does make it easier to catch a fish.
The questions is: What kind of fish are you trying to catch?
Meetup is an excellent place to start for every business owner who:
1. Doesn't know what kind of fish they're after, and/or
2. Isn't sure how to fish with social media.
Meetup offers the comfort of traditional, in-person meetings and the opportunity to learn about social media. Most business owners can, I think, put that to good use.
For business owners who are social media savvy, they can use Meetup to build traffic at their store. As you suggest, they can participate in groups on Facebook and become part of a community. To make the connection between that online community and their bricks & mortar store, they can use Meetup to great effect.
A local business owner has little need to reach people in another state or another country. Since most content on social media is about reaching people on a global scale, and touching people by the thousands, it's easy for smaller, local business owners to think social media is of little or no use to them. Yet, the most spectacular aspect of social media is that it is scalable - all the way from global giants like Coca-Cola right down to a Mom&Pop shop.
Meetup is a tool for both ends of the scale.