facebook groups list

6 Facebook Groups for Creative Entrepreneurs – My Facebook Groups List Revealed!

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When Facebook first started, it was mainly geared towards college students. Back then, it had features that reflected that fact. I remember there was one place where you could put in the classes you were taking – and let’s not forget that you could only register with .edu email accounts.

One feature that’s been there the entire time has been the ability to form groups. Over the years, these groups have changed from being a place to share interests, to being almost forgotten during the early Facebook Page days, to now being the new way for online marketers to build followings.

Today, those groups that are successful have turned into mega groups. I call them mega groups because they have over a thousand members.

I’d say that many of these mega groups are some of the best places to build relationships and build awareness of the existence of whatever you’re trying to do.

In this post, I want to share with you the mega groups that I’ve found to be the most valuable. Not only do they come without a hidden agenda, but they really do foster an atmosphere for you to build your own thing!

 

Smart Passive Income Community

If you guys know me, you know that Pat Flynn has been a huge influence in my business career. It was mainly because of him that I realized that there were other ways for everyday folks to build passive income streams outside of multi-level marketing.

At the time of this writing, his Facebook group (Smart Passive Income Community) is over 30,000 members. It was one of the first places that I started networking when I really started building New Inceptions and seeing what value I could add.

 

Podcast Discovery Center

Ok, so as a podcaster, I’ve been looking to be involved in groups that didn’t have an agenda. I first found my local group, Podcast Indy, but soon realized that I was one of the few business related podcasts in the group. Kinda hard to make guest appearances on other shows if they’re all talking about pop culture and geek related topics.

I knew I had to find another larger group.

That’s when I found the Podcast Discovery Center, also known as the PDC. Hosted by Scott Doucet (AoL Session 080) and Anthony Hayes (AoL Session 087), this place is a great resource for podcasters who want to jump in, hone their craft, and meet other podcasters in their niche.

It’s a really great place to build relationships with other folks who use podcasting as one of the ways to get their voice out onto the web too!

 

Millennial Entrepreneur Community

As I’ve been meeting other podcasters through the PDC, I met one in the business niche who had a fairly large following.

Arne Giske (AoL Session 084), host of the Millennial Entrepreneur Podcast and founder of the Millennial Entrepreneur Community, is pretty darn good at this group building thing. Not only has he given it a very laid back style where people have the opportunity to present their wares, but also a place to be open about your issues as an entrepreneur and any issues you might be having! A great community for beginners and veterans alike!

 

The Rising Tide Society

Another large group (The Rising Tide Society) I recently heard about was through Steph Crowder’s (AoL Session 034) new podcast, Courage and Clarity. In session 11 & 12, she spoke with Natalie Franke who is the founder of the group.

Since Natalie made her business on photography, you can expect to see a lot of photographers in this one!

Shoot Videos That Sell

If your thing is more about video production, here’s a group that might interest you. When it comes to making great videos, there’s a couple of people that I’d recommend following. Their names are Caleb Wojcik and Travis Shields.

Now, Caleb I know from the Pat Flynn / Fizzle side of the online marketing world. He’s awesome at what he does and you can find his PAGE here.

However, since we’re talking about Facebook groups in this post, the group I’d recommend is Travis Shields’ Facebook group Shoot Videos that Sell.

I didn’t know about Travis until recently, but I have to say that I’m impressed by his work. He is currently Brendon Burchard’s video guy for his studio work. So obviously, he knows what he’s talking about if he’s been hired by one the biggest names in digital marketing!

Order of Man

If you’re a guy and you’re wanting to do more with your life, but you feel stuck in a rut – I have a group for you. Join Ryan Michler (AoL Session 82) and his group Order of Man.

Now while this group isn’t exactly geared towards entrepreneurship as a whole, I think it’s important that entrepreneurs know the material that’s covered in it. There’s a lot of truth spoken.

Ryan LOVES to live streaming in his car. But man, those car rides definitely have some deep thoughts. And if you like what you see there, he’s starting to do live events as well. The most recent one he brought in David Rachford (Aol Session 038) to help his guests get a better grip on yoga!

If you think you have to be a male to get anything out this group, you might surprised. Maria tends to get just as much out from Ryan’s talk as she has from Jordan Harbinger from the Art of Charm.

Action Steps

So there you have it, the 6 mega Facebook Groups that I check out on a regular basis.

I feel this should definitely get you started in meeting new people online if that’s a goal of yours. Also, if you’re looking for just some cool groups to get some ideas from – these work as well!

Do you have any favorite entrepreneurial mega groups that you belong to that I didn’t list? Let me know about them in the comments below!

 

virtual summit tech

Creating Big Events through Small Details: Why Virtual Summits are the New Webinars with Jaime Slutzky (AoL 076)

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As a creative, one of the biggest ways to get your name out on the web these days are through is through webinars.

You show up, give your presentation on your topic, and then, if everything goes right, you’ll soon see people signing up for your newsletter or, better yet, buying from you.

However, in a world where there are those of us who haven’t made a name for ourselves, or simply want to have a large event, a solo webinar might not be the best choice for you to promote your services or products.

That’s where virtual summits come in.

Like a conference, a virtual summit is a collection of speakers discussing one topic.

But unlike a conference, you can host it on the web like a webinar. Which is great! Virtually no overhead and no one has to travel to receive the information.

In my chat with Jaime Slutzky, founder of Virtual Summits Tech, we discuss more about the topic of virtual summits, how she got into helping people with them, and some of the keys that will make your next one a success.

As always, thanks for listening, and enjoy the show!

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • How Jaime got started in Computer Science as her major. 7:28
  • What got her interested in being in web design? 11:51
  • What made her pull the trigger to kick her corporate job? 14:00
  • How did her immediate circle of influence take the news she was leaving her corporate job? 15:19
  • Where did her first clients come from? 16:50
  • What early hurdles did Jaime overcome in starting her business? 21:09
  • What is a virtual summit? 26:08
  • Why would someone host a virtual summit vs hosting their own webinar? 27:31
  • What are some of the key parts to having a successful virtual summit? 28:48
  • How exactly does Jaime help her clients with their virtual summits? 32:01
  • How does someone find the right kind of guests for a virtual summit? 37:46
  • What’s Jaime looking forward to helping people with in 2017? 41:34
  • Who are three influencers in Jaime’s career? 44:05
  • One gift she likes giving others 45:01
  • What would she do tomorrow if woke up as the 10 year old version of herself with her memories intact? 46:53
  • What is one thing all high school students must know? 48:59
  • How can someone be a difference maker in their community? 49:54
  • … and MUCH more!

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Session 38 of Copy that Pops Podcast with Laura Petersen:

virtual summit tech
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If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

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A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

How to Grow Your Network and Start Setting Up Meetings TODAY

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Networking is vital to building your reach as a creator. Whether you’re starting a nonprofit, a business, or just wanting to build awareness of whatever else you might be doing, you’re going to have grow your network.

In this post, I’m going to share with you how you can start meeting like minded people today. This is the first step in building key relationships to help expand your community, audience, and/or business.

 

Get Started Locally

Many people in business are used to going to networking meetings in their local area. BNI, Toastmasters, and the Rotary are just a clubs you can meet other business owners. The great part about these particular clubs is that they’re everywhere.

There are a couple of places where you start looking for groups with similar interests to yours: meetup.com & eventbrite.com. The events that you might find might not be down the street, but they’ll be worth the drive.

For example, when I was first getting my feet wet when it came to entrepreneurship here in Indy, I would go to 3+ meetings a month where entrepreneurs could get together and discuss the newest and coolest things.

After a while, what I came to find out, especially here in Indy, was that I would tend to see the same people each week.

That’s great if what you’re looking to do is build solid foundational relationships. In fact, you might need to start there. However, after a while, the same people can only help you get your reach so far.

You need to keep meeting new people.

When you start feeling the itch to expand, it’s time to change things up.

 

Getting Out Of Your Town

Going to Conventions

For most industries, the way to meet people has been to gather in places where the leaders of the industries would gather. Conventions have been a part of history for a very long time. Maybe not to the extent that they are today, but they’ve been there.

When people think of conventions, they might think of something like Comic Con or CES. (Both are two that I want to check out before too long.)

I’ve been to my fair share of conventions. When the second trilogy of the Star Wars movies was coming out, I went to a Star Wars convention here in Indy called Celebration. A couple of years later, I went to a few trade shows, and then I started going to a series of business conventions.

Going to events like these – especially to those that you have a deep interest in topics discussed there – is one of the best feelings you can feel. I’m not sure how to entirely describe the feeling, but the best way that I can describe it is like going to a toy store (Toys ‘R Us for me) when you were in middle school.

You understand what it means to be there and there’s just so much potential of what could be.

The big difference between going to a toy store and going to a convention is that when you go to a convention, there’s other people there who are like you. They might have an audience already and doing what you want to do or they might be at your same level and have a missing piece to what you’re wanting to start.

Either way, conventions are a quick way to find people that understand you, think like you, and believe in what you’re doing as a creator.

 

Social Media:

While nothing can really replace the feeling of going to a convention, you can come close to the after effects (connecting with people) if you learn how to network on social media.

There’s a reason why you can max out your friends list on Facebook at 5000 people. Facebook really doesn’t expect you to really have that many deep relationships. However, they know there will be types of people who want to have as many connections as they can. Whether that’s for business or just for the heck of it, Facebook lets you do it.

So, if you’re a business owner or some other type of creator who wants to get their work known, don’t be afraid to network on Facebook.

For the last couple of years, ever since you had to pay for your page’s posts to reach more than 5% of your audience, groups have been making a huge comeback.

Luckily for you, there’s groups of all kinds.

If you want to build relationships outside of your town, you can start today. Just open up Facebook, search for something you’re interested in, find a group that looks somewhat alive, and then add value to the conversation.

Do that upwards of 20 some times (over a month) and people will know you provide value. Keep doing it over a few months, and you might actually start getting traction in that group as being a figure who knows what they’re talking about!

grow your networkAs Claude Errera of HBO said in session 72 of the podcast, It basically comes down to showing up.

As you’re engaging in those groups, feel free to add people as friends if they seem like they’re cool. Chances are they’ll accept and you can carry the conversation on outside of the group.

 

Making It Happen

Eventually you’re going to want to meet with people in person. Whether that’s face to face or through something like Skype, you’ll need to find a time to meet up with someone that you’ve started engaging with.

 

The Traditional Method:

When you’re looking to meetup with someone you’ve met outside of the usual events or groups you engage in, you might have an idea to send them an email to meet up. You send a few back and forth and you come up with a date and time to get together.

Then, you’re probably going to record it somewhere – unless you have a really good memory.

If you’re a busy person and have lots of meetings, or just like to keep track of things in a calendar, you might use one on your phone, computer, or perhaps online. For me, I use Google calendar for just about everything these days.

It wasn’t always that way. When I had a very repetitive schedule, I had no reason to use one.

Funny enough, I only started using a calendar when I had to start booking guests to interview on my podcast.

And now, I’ll just say it’s easier to write things down in a calendar then it is to try to remember all the events I have to be at or write them down on random pieces of paper.

A quick note: Always get the person’s email that you’re booking a meeting with. That way you can invite them through Google Calendar. This acts as sort of a confirmation that you’re actually putting it in your calendar. If they weren’t already, they’ll take you more seriously this way.

 

Automate It:

Since many podcasters have guests on their show like me, they have to set recording sessions on a regular basis.

Having to send multiple emails or messages and writing down the agreed upon date can take up a fair amount of time – especially if it’s repeated over and over.

To help gain back some of that time, there have been a few tools created over the years which can make this process much easier.

  • Calendly.com If you’re a host and you have a set schedule each week, then Calendly could definitely become one of your favorite tools. All you do is connect it to your Google calendar and let it know what types and length of meetings you’re wanting to do.
    After that, it will give you a link to share with people you want to meet with. Once you give it to them, they choose a time and you don’t have to have a trail of emails. Again, pretty handy if you have a set schedule each week!

 

  • Doodle.com This tool is one of my favorites because I have co-hosts who I work into the show whenever possible. It’s a solution for for more than 2 people.
    Instead of connecting this to your calendar, you manually pick a few dates and times you’re available to meet. Then, you share a poll with the other people you’re interested in meeting with. They vote on the times that they can get together and if a time has everyone match, that’s the one you choose to get together on.

There are other tools that are very similar to Calendly and Doodle, but I haven’t used them, so I can’t readily tell you the difference. Both of these do what I want them to do when needed!

 

Action Steps

Back in 2010 when I first started on my journey, groups on Facebook (or LinkedIn for that matter) weren’t as common as they are today. There’s literally no reason why you can’t start building your network today.

Here’s a few steps for you if you haven’t been leveraging Facebook to it’s fullest potential.

  1. Clean up your profile. Make it look like it’s a run by someone who cares about how they present themselves to the world. If it’s easier to start another “professional” account, then do that instead. Make sure it’s filled out so that you appear as if you’re real.
  2. Add 5 groups that you think are in your realm of expertise.
  3. Look for conversations you can add value to and do it. Don’t force yourself onto conversation you know nothing about. 😉
  4. After a couple of days of engagement, feel free to add up to five people from the group. If they ask you about a new account (provided you made one in step 1), let them know the truth – you’re original profile is too cool for the group! 🙂

Anyhow, hope that helps you build out your network guys. Let me know if you’re struggling. Remember, the more friends you have that are building the same types of things you are, the faster you all will get to where you’re going.

 

Bonus Video on Booking Yourself Solid:

If you want to set up more potential client meetings, head on over to Fizzle and check out the course by Book Yourself Solid guru Jason Billows.

Here’s an interview of him with Paul McManus to give you a taste of what he’s about:

ascension mentorship

Albert Winks on Building Ascension Mentorship – A New Kind of Networking (AoL 071)

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Networking meetings, meetups, Facebook groups.

These are just a few places where entrepreneurs go to meet others in their quest to build their businesses.

But what does being a part of these groups do for the member?

What is it about that particular group that sets it different then all the other ones out there?

That differentiation will make or break the group in the long run.

Those that are put together well are often thought of as villages because the people are seen as a tribe.

Join us in this chat as we discover what makes a good village and how you might be able to get involved with one yourself.

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • What’s Al’s background? 6:48
  • When did Al know it was time to get out of the military? 15:22
  • What kind of creative influences did he have growing up? 20:19
  • Some of the Al’s thoughts on military influence in pop culture. 24:02
  • What’s Ascension Mentorship really all about? 19:56
  • What kind of businesses are involved with Ascension? 36:27
  • How can someone build their own functional offline community? 43:10
  • What the Veteran Leadership Coalition is about and who should be interested. 50:23
  • Al’s Top 3 Favorite Books 56:41
  • Something under $100 that has changed his life. 59:06
  • Something he believed as a 30 year old but doesn’t now. 1:01:12
  • … and MUCH more!

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

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Dr. David Rock on the SCARF Model:

Patrick Lencioni on one of the Five Dysfunctions of a Team:

John Maxwell introduces his book Intentional Living:

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

ascension mentorship ascension mentorship ascension mentorship

create strong culture

How to Create a Strong Culture in Your Organization

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Whether you’re part of a a business, a nonprofit, or somewhere in between, building a culture for an organization is critical to its overall success.

In fact, culture is more important than having a vision, a mission statement, and a strategy of how things are going to be done.

People want to know how the organization is run before they sign up to be a part of it, right? I mean, isn’t that part of what you were told to do when interviewing for a job? Find out about company culture and see if it fits you?

Doesn’t it make sense that you should offer your new team members or new employees the same benefit?

If you don’t have a well defined culture, people aren’t going to really know the rules of the group.

While you might be able to grab some early adopters to help you out, in the long run, not having a defined culture is going to cause problems.

So let’s avoid those problems and see if we can’t start to build a culture within your group.

Why Culture First?

You might have done a double take when I said that building a culture needs to come before your vision, mission, and strategy.

Why would I say that?

Well, the simple truth is that culture is all about people – who are really the most valuable asset in your or any other organization.

I mean, when you think of vision, sure, there’s the saying a “a man without vision shall perish”. A mission statement is kind of the same thing.

Then there’s the idea that to differentiate yourself from other companies, you have to have your own strategy.

These are all true – BUT – they’re more focused on products, services, and outcomes of your particular organization.

If your goal is to impact as many people as possible through your work, (or your company’s work,) then you’re going to have to get help. Having a defined culture will help you bring in the right people and retain them in your organization. Otherwise, you’ll bring people in, but they might not know what the lay of the land is and where they fit in it. That might just make them eventually go somewhere else that have those parts established.

What is Culture?

So, if you’re ok with the idea that the focus of your organization should be on people first and secondly on how things are done, then we should probably move on to defining culture.

Culture can simply be thought of as “the way of life” in a community, or in this case, an organization. It is cultivated over time through three aspects that are utilized and messaged throughout the group:

  • Behavior
  • Symbols
  • Systems

As human beings, we’re hardwired to adjust and fit in the communities of which we are members of. It’s essential if we want people to act a certain way when it comes to the group. If the “rules” are spelled out clearly, people will adjust their own rules accordingly. And, if they can’t, they’ll show themselves (or be shown) the door.

Let’s look at those three components a bit closer:

Behavior

work-hard-play-hard

Make sure to do team building activities beyond the office.

When it comes to culture, the first thing we need to focus on is what we ourselves are doing. Do we, as leaders, walk the walk as well as talk the talk?

Ask yourself if your actions or demeanor change when you’re in a 1 on 1 setting, compared to the setting of a small group of people, or when you’re in a large group?

The reason this is important is that once you bring people in, you want to make sure they stay. And if you say one thing and do another, it’s not going to help your case any.

For example, if you’re wanting to run a company or (be part of one) where you want to make millennials in it happy, make sure to do these three things:

  • Build Connection – Be transparent by sharing stories, valuing strengths, and recognizing individuals for their work. Don’t treat people as robots. Instead, give them activities outside of their normal work that will allow them to gel a bit more as a team.
  • Be a Coach – If you see a personal problem that needs to be addressed, don’t focus on the negative part of it – that they screwed up and they need to fix it. Instead, help them see how they can handle the situation better next time.
  • Give them Significance – Let them know how their job connects to the big picture. If they know how their role is significant, then they’re less likely to search for meaningful work elsewhere.

Symbols

ritzcarltonsymbol

The Ritz-Carlton service card is a symbol of their culture.

Next, we need to think about the meaning behind how things are done the way they’re done in our working group.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, for example, is actually pretty meta about this. They have their employees carry around a card that reminds them of their culture. Not only is the card a symbol of their culture and how important it is, but if they were to actually forget a part of it, it’s there for an easy reminder.

Other symbols of culture that you could consider for your organization might include:

  • How time is spent. Do you have short time sensitive meetings? Why?
  • Do titles actually mean anything? If so, how do people get promoted and why?
  • How communication works. Do people have to communicate in a hierarchical manner? Why or why not?

Systems

Finally, the third part of an organization’s culture are the systems that it uses to get things done.

In the online small business world, one of the topics that comes up all the time is systems.

You’ll hear many seasoned entrepreneurs say, “make sure the work you’re doing can be written up in a systematized way so that when it’s time to pass it off to someone else, it won’t be difficult to hand it over”.

As an example, this can mean something as complex as editing media and content and specifically what to do, all the way down to keeping track of what’s measured when that media is published.

It can also mean when you’re moving from one project to another that you know what gets reported to the client or other members of the group.

When you’re building systems, make sure you include the use of:

  • Structure – Is the work that people are doing being done in a effective way? Can it be better adjusted to fit the needs of the client or audience?
  • Measurables – What kind of payoff is the work having?
  • Reporting – Who needs to know about what measurables and why?

Intangibles of a Culture

Once these pieces of culture have all been considered and installed, it will definitely affect things that we can see. People might start dressing differently. They might be on time when they’re supposed to be. And perhaps you might not feel like you have to do everything.

But it will also start having an effect on things that are harder to grasp.

Knowing about these intangible parts of a culture can help you as the leader. You’ll actually be able to put your finger on the pulse of the organization to see how well it’s actually doing.

Trust

Remember me?

Remember doing this? Don’t forget the meaning behind this exercise!

Is there trust in the group? If there is an absence of trust, then it probably stems from the leader’s unwillingness to be vulnerable with the group. If you’re not open about your mistakes and weaknesses, then there’s not going to be a foundation of trust.

Unified and Distinct Culture

Can you articulate a unified and distinct organizational culture? If you can understand your organization’s culture, it will have multiple payoffs within your organization.

Members of a unified culture will more likely have:

  • Strong feelings of personal effectiveness.
  • Company loyalty
  • Consensus about the group’s goals
  • More ethical behavior.
  • Reduced levels of job stress and tension.
  • A higher willingness to work hard and care more.

Action Steps to a Strong Culture

So what culture are you trying to create or sustain? What actions are you and those around you carrying out to live out that culture?

Here are some questions that will help guide you through this evaluation process. If it’s more than you at the helm, I suggest you get those other members together and brainstorm through this discussion.

  • What type of culture do you desire? Write it down as you verbally describe it with your team.
  • Have someone else verbalize it back to you. Are you satisfied with how they translated it? If not, describe it better.
  • Creative five actions for each of the three elements of building a culture (behavior, symbols, and systems) that you and your leadership will create, display, and live out to support your desired culture.
  • Using those same three areas, list two or three things that you feel should be eliminated or changed because they creative negative tension and don’t support your desired culture.

Don’t keep this discussion in the dark. If there’s more people in the company than you and your immediate leadership, make sure they get in on this exercise too. They’ll get to know the desired culture AND learn how they can support it by their actions.

Cam Adair

Cam Adair: Traveling to Tanzania, the Value of Service, and Building Community (AoL 062)

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Making content and regularly posting it is a great way to grow an audience.

In fact, it’s like, one of the most common pieces of online business advice around right now to do some sort of content marketing as soon as possible.

Blogs, Podcasts, YouTube videos – these are all forms of content marketing.

But the real question is, how do you build engagement? And once you build that engagement, how do you keep people coming back for more?

Cam Adair, today’s guest, is all about building relationships with people. That’s one of the main things he gets out of helping those in his Game Quitters community. Relationships.

Oh, that, and he just loves helping people with whatever he can.

In fact, this past October, Cam went to Tanzania to help a village get potable water… and he made even more “online” friends while he was there.

So in this first Silver Edition session (meaning second interview), Ginger and I get the chance to chat with Cam about his recent trip. We also talk a little strategy about how he’s been able to engage so well with his followers, and finally what he’s planning on doing to continue building Game Quitters.

Enjoy!

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • What was Cam’s recent experience in Tanszania like? 8:51
  • What is EPIC all about? 9:57
  • How Cam is going to relate his experenice to Game Quitters. 11:53
  • What was the most meaningful part(s) of his trip? 13:54
  • What’s his involvement in CampuSpeak? 19:14
  • How do you meet people that have the same interests that you do, even if you’re in college. 25:17
  • How has travel made Cam more creative in his business? 27:46
  • What was the biggest hurdle in building the lifestyle he wanted when he started Game Quitters? 30:34
  • What has worked for Cam in creating a following on YouTube? 33:23
  • How does someone get people involved in the work they do? 35:37
  • Does Cam think that commenting is dead on most blogs and sites outside of the big social media platforms? 39:37
  • How does being of service to people actually fuel Cam to do what he does? 42:13
  • What is Cam looking forward to be working on in the New Year? 47:01
  • What is something that he believed as a 25 year old but doesn’t now? 52:24
  • What is one thing that all high school students must know? 53:16
  • One thing under $100 that has changed his life. 55:42
  • What does it meant to live a life of abundance? 52:03
  • How can someone be a difference maker for their community? 57:36
  • What are 4 steps to being more like Cam? 1:01:21
  • … and MUCH more!

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

What is the Meaning of Life?:

Expectations vs Requirements with JuVan Langford :

Moving on from Pro Gaming with Adam Roa:

Cam on Adam Roa’s Podcast – Deep Dive:

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

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Generational Marketing: How to Connect with Millennials

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Last week we discussed how Millennials should and can become the next Greatest Generation.

Our generation is full of leaders. It’s just a matter of realizing whether you are one or… a victim.

Whether you’re part of the Hero Generation or the Lost Generation.

If you’re part of the Hero Generation and see yourself as a leader, then you’re going to have to build a following. You can’t be a leader if no one is following you!

So how do you build that following?

In today’s post we’re going to talk about that a bit. And hopefully, once you’re done with this post, you’ll have a little more idea of how to communicate more with other future leaders.

The Past Can Teach Us So Much

Last week I talked a bit about how the Greatest Generation is all about principles vs ego. They sacrificed themselves for the greater good.

Whether it was for their families or for their country, in their heart, they knew their sacrifice was worth it.

This past weekend I was watching CBS Sunday Morning and there was a very pertinent story to all of this.

It was a story of a community coming together to put together an old B-29… to preserve history and give a tribute to those in their community who had done so much for the country.

If that isn’t a feel good story, I don’t know what is.

Find More Context by Seeking More Answers

If you had seen this video on Facebook or YouTube, there’s a number of things you could have done after viewing it. Many folks will watch this and think “Awww!” or “Cool.” and go on with life – continuing on with whatever they were doing or maybe watching another YouTube video.

If you’re like me, that video might actually stick with you a bit more. You might have wanted to get more context about it.

You might have wanted to find out more about the project and how it came together. Maybe find out more about how they pulled the B-29 out of desert, or maybe learn more about Witchita being a capital for producing the aircraft.

These are all big questions.

They’re all forms of “How was this done? If I was wanting to do something like this, how would WE do this?”.

Because really, from the it’s very beginning, the story of Doc, the B-29, was a product of a community.

Leaders are always asking questions that come in the form of “How can I get a group of people to do a certain activity? How can I call them into performing a certain action?

Connection is a Big Deal For Millennials

Comradery and a sense of being connected and contributing to the planet and having vulnerable intimate contexts to be celebrated and creative in is empowering for young leaders and people in general.

Can I also like be alone at times? Is that okay or do I not fit in? If you’re a millennial you couldn’t possibly enjoy solitude. What about the moments that I’m sitting on a mountain or swimming down the river alone. Appreciating life.

I have no interest in community. I’m not gonna be like “Oh thank goodness.” I have no interest in being part of a community without context, and also just because I want to be part of a community doesn’t mean I want it to define me. But then again maybe I’m just special.

When I was in college, I was part of several student run organizations. I got to see up close how much community and volunteerism meant to our generation.

If you’re identifying yourself as a leader, then you’re going to have to learn how to influence others.

In my last post I mentioned that you could study up on creating influence by reading books by John Maxwell. If you took that advice and clicked the link on the last post, you probably realized that there were TONS of books to read.

I’m sure some of them might have seemed interesting, but where do you get started? Which one is for the novice? Which one is a good intermediate option… and so on?

I have several recommendations – and I could tell you which one would make more sense for your particular situation. But I don’t know you – yet. (Feel free to say hi on Twitter!)

But there’s definitely an underlying thing you MUST know when reaching out to Millennials.

As adults, believe it or not, we are not egocentric. We’re all about helping each other while helping ourselves. That’s why the Sharing Economy has blossomed as much as it has.

But why is that?

Just like the Greatest Generation, it’s part of who we are.

The Pendulum Theory – We’re Now a We Society

Our millennial generation – which the Hero Generation is a part of – is part of a larger 40 year cycle.

One can think of his cycle through the movements of a Pendulum – going back and forth between two extremes. The We and the Me.

We are currently heading towards the We extreme. We know this because for the longest time, people took refuge in having things simply to have them.

The Boomer generation is/was all about collections. Having certain things meant having certain status. It was all about Me.

You can’t blame them, though. Many of them and their parents came from a time of forced scarcity. While minimalism is something that many millennials subscribe to, it is a form of scarcity – and there lies yet another example of this cycle.

Anyhow, here’s some resources to further educate yourself on the movement of the Pendulum:

Michael Drew, Pendulum co-author, on TEDx:

Pendulum co-author Roy Williams on Glenn Beck (pt 1):

Pendulum co-author Roy Williams on Glenn Beck (pt 2):

Other Examples of the Ever Moving Pendulum

In Roy’s conversation with Glenn linked above, one of the things that he gets a chance to show towards the end of the conversation is how he’d change one of his most famous commercials from the late 80’s.

It’s really fascinating to see how you can do that.

Here’s a few more of his examples in how things have changed in popularity over the years:

This brings us to…

How Donald Trump Got Elected As President

One thing that has definitely been on many people’s minds since last week is the results of the election. Many people thought Hillary was going to win. But now they’re having to come to terms with Donald Trump becoming our next president.

Currently there’s tons of protests against the results – and it’s easy to understand. Trump is a prime example of the Me side of the pendulum swing.

Millennials who are completely “We” are going to fight that tooth and nail. Especially if they took what he said during the campaign litterally.

However, those same millennials are forgetting how he actually campaigned. He campaigned as part of being in the We. His slogan was “Make America Great Again”, and that completely spoke to those who feel like they’ve been forgotten for the last 8 years. He got elected not because what he was supposed to represent, but because of what could be representing. His supporters took the words he said seriously, not literally.

In fact, it seems to me that many “rust belt” counties that voted for Obama in 2012 voted for Trump in 2016.

And if those numbers aren’t enough for you, here’s what Trump means to many of his supporters from around the country:

Action Steps:

So, what to take from all of this?

Understand that whatever marketing tactics you learned about in 2006 don’t apply anymore.

If you really want to connect with millennials, think and talk to them as if you’re coming from a place where everyone needs to fight the good fight. They want camaraderie. They want to feel other people are with them. So it doesn’t make sense to focus on making one person stand above everyone else.

Make people feel like they’re part of something larger than what they already. If you can do that as if you’re starting a “movement”, you’ll have more success with that than not.

BONUS: If you want to check out the entire hour and a half footage of Doc, the B29 getting off the ground for the first time, here’s that footage.