Many of us Internet entrepreneurs pride ourselves with a mindset of isolation. We build our businesses within the confines of our bedrooms. We dress in ready to jump-back-into-bed sleepwear and bravely pull back the curtains to see if it’s still daylight. It’s a lonely endeavor too many of us are willing to endure.
More Mindset Connectedness
However, a mindset for marketing success requires more. According to author Scott Schickler in 7 Essential Mindsets for Entrepreneurial Success, we need a mindset where “we are connected.”
While we may have thousands of social media connections, the actual number we physically connect to is a pittance by comparison. Schickler believes entrepreneurs truly thrive when engaged in synergistic relationships. It’s a mindset connectedness that leads to greater achievement by “…working with, for and through others.”
Where To Get Mindset Connected
Networking Is not as hot as it used to be. Most have moved on realizing there’s more self-promotion than sharing and support. Today, the shift is to meetups and coworking spaces.
Meetups are local networks formed around community topics of interests. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, you can start one of your own.
Within my area, I have access to meetups for podcasters, bloggers, women bloggers, WordPress, entrepreneurs, empowerment, E-business and online marketing for home-based entrepreneurs.
What makes meetups appealing is before you join, you can find out the size of their membership, how active they are, and view member profiles. It’s not another organization but a place to meet others facing similar challenges.
Coworking can mean getting together in a space with others of the same interest. Each is there to work independently, but the environment is conducive to helping one another.
Larger coworking platforms are designed for independents, freelancers and small business start-ups where they can rent space. Spaces vary in levels of privacy but focus on having communal exchange areas. The environment is highly creative with a broad cross-section of activity. It’s also supportive and lends itself to collaborative efforts.
Why Connect Your Mindset
What meetups and coworking spaces offer is a face-to-face community. Others may be engaged in different areas, but everyone is part of the Internet of things. Each is in a position to create a mindset of connectedness by …
- sharing knowledge and experience
- giving feedback
- stimulating creative thinking
- opening doors to opportunities
If it’s two o’clock in the afternoon and you’re still wearing a bathrobe, it’s time to get dressed and head out the door to a meetup or coworking space.
A mindset of connectedness might be just what your business needs.
Let’s us know how you plan to increase your mindset of connectedness.
It is way too easy to become a hermit when you work alone at home, Joyce. I think the isolation can become quite dangerous because we really need that sense of connectedness. I have joined a few groups of like-minded people in my area, but rarely physically attend meetings and I know I should in order to grow my business and feel more connected. I clearly haven’t made this a priority but your article is pushing me to do that.
You express the sentiments of many of us who are quite comfortable working from home. We know that we should be out there more. It takes effort, but maybe the easiest way to start is to commit to one meeting a month and let it build from there.
Yes, this is powerful. To think that even the billionaires have their own mastermind group, it emphasizes the importance of having groups working collaboratively. Of course, it depends on your budget which level can you play.
It can be an issue of cost vs. benefits and everyone has to decide that for themselves. Also, there’s the point that if we expect customers to invest in our services, we need to invest in ourselves if we are going to be able to give the best services.
Meetups are big here on the gold coast with lots of variety. i do attend one monthly for daring and disruptive women- Female entrepreneurs- I have just been to a mindset workshop today from a lucky draw prize i won 🙂
That’s great that meetups are so popular and you have a variety to chose from. It seems more fun and less stuffy than going to organization based meetings.
Thanks for this information! I tried to run a local meetup, but it made me scared because of the people who joined. It’s a lot different meeting online than meeting a bunch of strangers. If I had it to do over, I would have required a hefty signup fee so that I could’ve ensured engagement, authenticity, and ability.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Cathy. I know that various meetup groups do charge their members. However, the idea of a fee makes sense to eliminate those who are not committed or cause problems.
I am excited about the idea of coworking, though I don’t think it’s easy to find an ideal situation. The few times I’ve experienced that ideal situation (being around people but also being left alone as needed are my criteria) are wonderful memories that I will look to repeat if I can.
Even though coworking can have its advantages, I think like anything else there needs to be set boundaries. What makes it an option is that you can put your toe in the water and see if you are comfortable with it, without a long-term commitment.
Meetup appears to be popular with the younger professionals, especially techies in India, Joyce. But given the pace of life here, I wonder how many entrepreneurs actually show up.
That’s a good point Vatsala, the younger professionals have a different perspective. It may take longer for the idea to grow on entrepreneurs who don’t see the value in it as yet.
We have an amazing co-working space here in Toronto, called the MaRS Discovery District. People can hang out in the open communal areas to connect with other entrepreneurs and network. Many visionary initiatives are being incubated there and have come out of these casual meetings there.
Although I am a member of many Meetup groups, most of them are social in nature, vs. business. Funny that I hadn’t really thought about meetups for business. Thanks for suggesting it, Joyce. I imagine here in Toronto we have one for almost everything one can imagine. I agree with you, that it is so important to connect with people person-to-person, not just in isolation in the online space. Hopefully people are keenly aware of this and we do not create a society where we are having conversations with ourselves or only by messaging back and forth online.
As with all new technology, everyone runs to embrace it and then over time, we come back to a balance. I’m grateful for the connections I’ve made over the Internet, but I really would love to meet everyone in person. Can you imagine what a meetup group that would be!
“Entrepreneurs truly thrive when engaged in synergistic relationships. It’s a mindset connectedness …” says it all. It is so true that we tend to close ourselves away from living beings and rely on the internet to do our connecting. Thanks for reminding me how important it is to be mindful of real live people.
Yes, it’s a real temptation to rely on the Internet to do our social connecting. And, of course, there are connections that would not have been made any other way, if not for the Internet. Further, I wish that those I have met on the Internet lived closer to me, Because, I sure would love to meet you all face-to-face.
Oh, I so feel you on this topic! Although I do get dressed everyday and don’t stay in my pajamas, I’m horrible at going out to stay connected with others. I recently joined Meetup.com to find some local folks who share similar interests (like you mentioned above). My personality is more of an introvert type, so I can go for a long time without interaction! Thanks for reminding me how important it is to connect in real life!
I share with you, Meghan. I can work from home and be just as content. But, I find the Meetup world a great place to find others with similar interests. And, it gives me a chance to bounce ideas off on them.
Joyce I have found this to be so true. I created a meetup group in Spokane called Spirituality and it the events I listed there were well attended. Since meetup also gives you another free group, I created Spokane Live Local Music where local musicians could post themselves, advertising their next gig. At this time I am not doing as many local events so I post in friend’s Meetup groups. It is great!
Hey, that’s wonderful Candess that you’re already part of the Meetup world.