Meetup.com is "an online social networking portal that facilitates offline group meetings in various localities around the world. Meetup allows members to find and join groups unified by a common interest, such as politics, books, games, movies, health, pets, careers or hobbies. Users enter their ZIP code (or their city outside the United States) and the topic they want to meet about, and the website helps them arrange a place and time to meet."

In running four successful Meetups with over a 1000 small business owner "members," I have discovered what works and what does not. It has been great for my business, and outstanding for my personal brand. Meetup brings your networking to you, introduces you to new people you would not meet otherwise, and gives you a platform to display your talents.

 Here are few tips to make your small business Meetup efforts work.

 

1. Like most everything worthwhile, Meetup takes commitment. It takes time to build a strong group. If you have a good reputation and a large database, you might even do it quickly. But, expect to invest several months before your group gains traction.

 

2. Check the Meetups in your area and do not duplicate what is already working. Find something new as your focus.

3. Create your Meetup for a niche market with common interests. The narrower you are the more likely it will take off.

4. Do not create Meetup meetings around subjects with obvious answers. Look to cover subjects that everyone in your niche wants to know about but are neglected and hard to find.

5. Give your meetings creative, stop-you-in-your-tracks titles. My favorite title was "How to Make Chicken Soup out of Chicken Poop." Use a tag line that explains it in plain English. That was much more compelling than "How to Survive the Recession" - which is what the meeting was about.

6. Write up your descriptions of your upcoming topics at meetings in the outrageously promotional, persuasive, forceful way you can. Really stretch. Dull will get you nowhere.

7. Use a fun stock photo to go along with each title. People like photos and they help to encourage attendance.

8. Hold meetings in the early evening when the business day is over.

9. Keep meetings down to 90 minutes, no more.

10. Finding space is one of the biggest challenges you will encounter. Avoid noisy restaurants or bars, which is the wrong atmosphere. Try to find a free space so you will not have that expense. We list our venue as a sponsor on the Meetup.com site in exchange for using the company's very large boardroom.

11. Promote your Meetup on the site to people who have signed up as members. I strongly recommend you promote your meetup outside the system. Meetup.com will help you create postcards (which I suggest you hand out, not mail out). Several times a month I also send out an email blast to my own database promoting my meetups.

12. Try incentivizing your members. "Attend 5 Meetups and get a rebate at the last meeting."

13. The Meetup system strongly suggests you charge for your meetings. I charge $10 for people who RSVP in advance (they must pay in advance on the website). Walk-ins are $20. This is critically important. You must know how many people are going to attend so you can have adequate handouts. Walk-ins create havoc trying to collect money at the door. Since you probably are not in a gigantic space (which you can't get for free), you need to know when you have reached your limit.

14. Treat your "members" like friends. Don't pitch your business on the Meetup site. You can say what you do, but no one will come if they think it is a "pitch party."

15. Bring in other people to speak. People will get tired if you are the only speaker at every meeting.

You can check out my Meetups by asking the system for San Diego Meetups of interest to small business to see these concepts in action.