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Had to pick between a big national networking group and a local meetup in Phoenix.
The national one cost $500 a year. The local one was free. I went with the local group. Met my first two angel investors there last month. Anyone else find the smaller groups more valuable?
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uma_baker885mo ago
Did you find that the free group had a different vibe with the conversations? I actually had a similar thing happen with a local networking group here in my town. It was just a handful of us in this tiny room above a hardware store, but I got two solid referrals from people who actually knew my work ethic. The big fee-based groups always felt like I was just paying to hand out business cards to people who didn't really care.
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hollyramirez6mo ago
Honestly, my bank account made that choice for me. I tried one of those fancy national groups once and spent the whole year trying to get my money's worth out of the coffee. The free local meetup at that weird coffee shop downtown, though? That's where I actually met people who remembered my name and what I do. The big group felt like shouting into a void, but the small one got me my first real client referral over a truly bad muffin.
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linda_murphy6mo ago
Yeah, the big groups feel like a transaction, not a connection. You're just another name badge. At the small meetup, you end up talking about real problems, like how to handle a late invoice, and someone actually has a useful tip. That bad muffin probably built more trust than any fancy lunch.
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