9-11, Theme Parties, and Resilience

A little "conspiracy of the universe" happened to me this weekend.

I got an email from the founder of MeetUp.com.  If you're part of a MeetUp group, you might have gotten it too.

Meetup Founder Scott Heiferman said, "I don't write to our whole community often, but this week is special because it's the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and many people don't know that Meetup is a 9/11 baby"

He went on to say:

"When the towers fell, I found myself talking to more neighbors in the days after 9/11 than ever before. People said hello to neighbors (next-door and across the city) who they'd normally ignore. People were looking after each other, helping each other, and meeting up with each other. You know, being neighborly.


A lot of people were thinking that maybe 9/11 could bring people together in a lasting way. So the idea for Meetup was born: Could we use the internet to get off the internet -- and grow local communities?


We didn't know if it would work. Most people thought it was a crazy idea -- especially because terrorism is designed to make people distrust one another…"

The rest is history… Meetup is a strong organization where people meet for fitness groups, babysitting groups, meditation, and cooking, personal finance and on.

Here's where my story comes in… the first Meetup group I joined is a local one called the NYC Entrepreneurs Association.  I joined it in January this year, because instead of making a new year's resolution, I made a theme party…mine was "networking."  I wanted to get offline and meet more successful, creative, ambitious entrepreneurs in person.

So I started networking offline at this Meetup group in Manhattan.  And then I started buying more plane tickets to events I otherwise probably wouldn't have gone to… to meet other successful, creative, ambitious entrepreneurs.

I didn't have a real plan for "networking" other than "show up and ask the right questions."  Nine months later, my business is booming, my rolodex is filled with power-players who will answer my calls without a gatekeeper, and I have a client list whom I absolutely love working with…they give me energy!

So I started articulating how I get results…it's called The First Impression Method, and it's about applying your online marketing strategy to the same way you would enter a room at a social networking event or party.  Have you prepared the right questions? Do you know who you're going to meet?  Do you know what you want out of the event?  Are you engaging in meaningful conversations or are you sticking your nose in a wine glass all night (I used to be horrible about drinking too much at parties to ease social anxiety)?

I'd like to invite you to come learn how The First Impression Method applies to a phenomenal online income strategy I call the "Youtube, facebook, Webinar Trifecta: Could This Be the Ridiculously Fastest Way to Promote Your online business Ever??"

Watch the Video and Register for the Event Below:

On September 11, 2011, I was living in Los Angeles, and I remember feeling very odd because the sky was as cloudless and bright blue as the New York City sky that I was watching on Television.  It was a similar existential moment that Albert Camus described in his book The Plague (1949):

Everybody knows that pestilences have a way of recurring in the world; yet somehow we find it hard to believe in ones that crash down on our heads from a blue sky. There have been as many plagues as wars in history; yet always plagues and wars take people equally by surprise.

There is a saying in New York now since 9/11.  New Yorkers are resilient.  And as someone who has lived here for six years, I have witnessed this many times.

But this blog is for entrepreneurs.  And entrepreneurs are resilient.  That's a wonderful trait to have.  We're the ones who can share a catastrophic experience like 9/11 and turn that into Meetup.com.

Come join me for a very candid conversation about this marketing phenomenon that is so freaking easy, you can use it to launch your great idea no matter which industry, service, or product you're delivering, especially in a catastrophic economy and war-ridden world. Click the picture below to register: