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I finally stopped ignoring local networking groups after a $0 month shocked me
Last March I had a month where I made literally zero dollars from my web design side gig. I was convinced networking events were a waste of time because everyone there is just selling something. Then my buddy Mark sent me a link to a study from the Kauffman Foundation that said 78% of freelancers who attend local meetups get referrals within 3 months. I joined my city's weekly entrepreneur coffee chat last Tuesday and already picked up a $400 logo job. Has anyone else found a specific type of local group that actually works for them?
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patp7924d ago
Whoa, that Kauffman stat is wild - I had no idea the numbers were that high. So my question is, how long did it take before you felt like you weren't just another face in the crowd? Like, did you have to show up three or four times before people started treating you like a regular? I've gone to a couple of these things and everyone's nice but they seem to stick with their little cliques. Specifically, did you find the coffee chat group was more laid back compared to like a chamber of commerce mixer where it feels super formal?
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Brought my buddy Alex to one of those coffee chats last month and he almost walked out in the first 15 minutes because the cliques were so bad. But he forced himself to sit at a table with three guys talking about their lawn care businesses @patp79. He just listened and asked one question about how they handled winter slow seasons. Two weeks later one of those guys called him needing a website for his new pressure washing side gig. He made $600 from that one conversation. Took him about three visits before people started remembering his name though. That coffee group vibe is way more chill than any chamber thing I've seen.
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