Give Yourself Time to Find Your People

This week, I attended 4 separate Meetup groups in my neighborhood: a retro dance party, a trivia contest, and 2 different board game nights.

What can I say, I’m trying not to be a weird little hermit.

The dance party was incredible, and I totally kicked some booty at the trivia contest. Now, I just had to make some friends at the board game groups.

Group 1 made me feel like a complete outsider.

Unbeknownst to me, all the members had been friends for more than a decade and didn’t really care about welcoming newbies. They responded to my conversation attempts with one-word answers and seemed annoyed at having to teach me to the rules to their strange strategy games I’ve never heard of.

I left the Group 1 event feeling even more lonely.

On the other hand, Group 2 made me feel like I’d known them all for years.

We laughed like maniacs, included everyone in the conversation, and played more “social games” that encourage bonding and cooperation. And we all squeezed the Taboo buzzer like our lives depended on it. Bzzzz!

I left the Group 2 event with more friends and plans to meet up again next week.

Lesson learned: you gotta give yourself time to find your people.

How sad would that have been if I had given up after my less-than-cheery experience with Group 1?

I would have missed out on connecting with some truly amazing people who are just as silly as I am.

It can be like that for your business too. You might not find your ideal audience right off the bat.

It might take different marketing tactics, new offers, and persistence to attract the people who love what you do and want to be your Super Fans.

Give yourself permission to be vulnerable and authentic (and maybe ditch the niche while you’re at it) if you want to connect with the right people who need your solutions.