When I quit my job last year I had business ideas, but no firm plans (like I should have), of what I would do professionally to help contribute to the household and no entrepreneurial experience.
Five months later, with little more than a willingness to interact and get involved, I was being introduced to you as the Leaving Work Behind Community Manager. The benefits associated with this position are numerous, but some of the prominent ones are: the opportunity to work with and learn from a top influencer, increased exposure to other top influencers, more subscribers/followers/clients and a larger network of friends and contacts to connect with, learn from, and collaborate with (talk about extreme value!).
The benefits I have seen so far only excite me more for the future. Starting with some exciting improvements to the community forum, new features in discussion for Tom’s Paid To Blog course, and venturing into social media and blog management & strategy reports, I am presented with higher profile opportunities much sooner than I could have ever dreamed.
I feel like the possibilities for my business growth are endless, and I am definitely reaching for the stars to provide as much value as possible. Completing some products, higher profile collaborations, and larger, more intense research & analysis projects — which I love by the way — are things I especially see happening in the future.
In this post, I want to share with you the steps that took me to this opportunity so that you can accelerate your own success, all from actively interacting and connecting in communities.
My Story
At the beginning of September 2013 I quit my job as a Fraud Investigator.
For many different reasons, as I’m sure many of you can relate, this was a hard and an easy decision. My one year parental leave after the birth of my third son was coming to an end, and rather than miss out on my boys’ lives at this stage (or pay horrendous child care costs), I quit my job instead.
My first inkling of an entrepreneurial endeavor was to finish some books I had been attempting to write, and this led me to consider freelance writing as a possible income source. Knowing absolutely nothing about how to go about this, I dove into research on the subject — research being my specialty after-all — hunting down people and resources to learn from.
To this day I am honestly not certain exactly what I searched but it led me to Leaving Work Behind and Tom’s ten minute video on how to set-up a blog on WordPress (because apparently, to be a freelance writer I needed one). His resources also led me to Carol Tice’s Freelance Writer’s Den (incidentally, both testimonials you see on its homepage are from members of the LWB community!) and Corbett Barr’s Start a Blog That Matters course (now part of Fizzle).
The more I dug and the more involved I got in each of these communities, the more I realized that although there is tremendous value in the resources and products sold by the aforementioned bloggers, the real gold mine is in the people you meet and interact with. (Plus it’s also the most fun part!)
I joined Fizzle in October 2013 and it did not take long for me to become addicted (in a productive way, I should add) to connecting with and learning from the people there. I became a part of my first mastermind group through Fizzle, which has been absolutely instrumental in my success so far.
My group is directly responsible for encouraging me and identifying potential business opportunities from my past experiences. Through them my new research wizard identity and direction was born, thereby playing to my strengths, and continues to be nurtured on a weekly basis through our meetings. I am happy to call them good friends.
Connecting in Communities
Because of my involvement with Fizzle, I was excited to explore other communities, so when Tom unveiled the free LWB Community Forums I joined immediately and jumped straight into the conversations (and started some of my own!). Communities are about so much more than just joining, and my results speak for themselves in terms of defining the level of participation you should be aiming for.
My experience with forums is not a passive one. From the first day I joined the LWB Community Forums I made the choice to be an active member, stepping up to the plate and offering advice or value whenever I could. If there is a topic I don’t understand, I will still make an effort to find a resource or person to help. I don’t do this because I feel that it will benefit me (although it does); I do it because I don’t know any other way to be a member of a community.
I am not suggesting that you spend all your time in online communities to the neglect of everything else, but I am suggesting that you should spend more time in them than you probably think. The trick is to spend your time in a valuable and productive manner. Whether you are an expert on the subject being discussed or learning something new, the value comes from the conversations.
Adopt the mindset that each person you are attempting to help is paying for your services and that you want to keep their business. Think ‘ridiculously helpful’ and then aim higher. It’s extremely important to still be transparent and genuine, so if you don’t understand something or know an immediate answer, take the time to figure it out and then get back to them. The appreciation from a considered and thoughtful response is more meaningful and beneficial in the long run than knowing all the answers.
Why join something if you are not going to get involved? You will undoubtedly get out what you put in, so make the choice to be active and not passive in participation, and the opportunities will present themselves.
Creating Opportunities
Tom describes the evolution of our working relationship as him having no idea who I was, to knowing me, to realizing my contributions and value, to wanting to work with me. All of this happened in the space of a few weeks without me ever making a pitch or proposal to him. Put simply, I created a huge opportunity based on my eagerness to provide value to others.
I have since adopted Tom as my mentor, and my enthusiasm for getting involved in his community has resulted in a glowing testimonial for my website, having him as a paying client and guest post opportunities (this officially being my first guest post). Not to mention the increased page views, followers and subscribers for my site based off of his support.
Getting appreciated and ‘singled out’ by an online influencer is an extremely exciting and validating experience, but experiences with Tom aside, I have connected with so many other talented people and benefitted on so many levels. Everything from service swaps, testimonials, exclusive deals, client referrals, guest post requests, increased authority and reach, free services, collaboration requests, appreciation, approaches and introductions by or to top influencers, and who knows what else I am forgetting to mention!
Some notable examples of awesome people I have connected with are Omar Zenhom & Nicole Baldinu of Business Republic, Tom Morkes of Insurgent Publishing, John Corcoran of Smart Business Revolution, and Darlene Hildebrandt of DPS and HerView Photgraphy.
There is a practically unlimited pool of people out there to connect with and you never know how you can help each other out.
Now What?
You know the saying, “everything I need to know I learned in Kindergarten?” Well everything I have learned about succeeding online I learned in online communities. I’m still new and I’m still learning, but by joining and actively participating in online communities, I have reduced my learning curve and created opportunities that have accelerated my progress dramatically.
If you go above and beyond in showing yourself how much of an asset you can be, you can get your foot in the door and be exposed to the kind of opportunities that you wouldn’t find on your own. After all, bloggers, influencers and entrepreneurs are almost always looking for good people to work with (ask Tom -– they’re rare!).
So not only will you make friends and connections to carry and support you through your own leaving work behind journey (because let’s face it, it can get lonely!), you probably won’t even be able to anticipate some of the doors that will open up to you. Make the choice to be active (and beyond ridiculously helpful) and you will be on the path to emulating my success.
So what are you waiting for? Come join the conversations in the community forum and let’s see what we can learn from one another!
Image Credit: Alberta Culture
Jawad Khan says
Hey Jo,
It’s the first post I’ve seen from you (haven’t been very active in the community) and it’s really good to see your progress.
I’ve always enjoyed reading Tom’s posts and I am sure it’ll be the same with you as well.
Cheers
Jo says
Thanks so much Jawad!! You should join the conversations in the forum, there are some awesome people in there!
jo
Katharine Paljug says
Wonderful perspective! Its true that the life of a freelancer can get very lonely – thank goodness there are now so many ways for us to connect and learn from each other online.
Jo says
Absolutely Katharine! There are so many options out there!
Temmy says
The power of networking and online communities can never be over-estimated. I love the tips laid out here and how you took us through the journey. Thanks for sharing!
Jo says
So true Temmy! Thanks so much!
jo
Matt Schmidt CPRW says
Great example of how you transitioned your mindset from fraud investigator to present position. What is especially inspirational is your willingness to learn and motivation to soak in as much information as you could.
Jo says
Thanks Matt! I definitely feel a little bit like a sponge 😉 but I love learning everything that I can from everyone I interact with! I’m so happy that my journey can inspire others!
Thanks,
jo
Corey Pemberton says
Fantastic post, Jo. I think Tom made a great decision to bring you aboard.
We hear a lot about the value of “networking” and “building community,” but it’s hard to get motivated to do those things when they’re presented as little more than abstract terms. Your story illustrates it in a much more powerful way.
The technology and tactics are always changing, but building meaningful relationships will always be important to thriving in business. Thanks,
Corey
Jo says
Thanks Corey! I don’t think that you could have summed up what I was trying to do any better 🙂 Connecting & Building relationships is indeed an ever present and important aspect of business, one often overlooked by other things. I am glad that my story can illustrate how powerful the connecting can become and what it can do for your own business. I like to think that Tom has pretty excellent taste for asking me to join the team 😉
Thanks, jo
Brad Z says
Go go go Jo!!!
JoDavies says
Thanks Brad!! I feel like Inspector Gadget 😉
jo
Siedah Mitchum says
Awesome story Jo! 🙂
JoDavies says
Thanks Siedah!
Carsten says
Briliant post Jo, really liked reading it. I haven’t left my work behind (yet) and am in the first phase which you described… Everyday i wake up and know that the right time to make this descision is coming closer.
Your post really contains and sends out a positive vibe!
JoDavies says
Thanks Carsten!! Good luck with leaving your work behind!
jo:-)
Raspal Seni says
Hi Jo!
Thanks for sharing how you became a mod on LWB. I agree with you about the benefits of being actively participating in forums and communities. I’ve used forums since more than a decade and know how invaluable they are.
Though I can’t join communities like fizzle due to the pricing, I was part of freelance writer’s den for about 2 months in 2012, and whenever I make some money, I’ll be back there.
I’ve found a lot of value at LWB community too, especially from you. Haven’t been active the whole of March. Partly because it doesn’t work on my mobile. If it’d work, I could’ve been much more active.
Is there a list of good, free online communities for bloggers you can recommend? Problogger.com is one but again, price is a factor. Rise forums is another one ine the same category.
JoDavies says
Thanks Raspal! I am glad that you are finding great value in the forums! We really love them and there are great people there! The forum seems to work fine on my mobile, if you keep having issues, let us know in the forum and we will take a look! There are many communities for bloggers. Another great free one is Sophie Lizard’s. It depends what you are looking for though. To me communities are like the forums here where people can really get to know each other and help each other out and provide value. There are lots of free ‘blogging’ communities where you basically promote your stuff and rate other people’s stuff, so it’s a different type of community I guess, but I feel like there is less value in those. I know of more, but that’s a conversation for the forums! 😉
Thanks,
jo
Dayna says
Jo, I really appreciate this article and your story. As a mother who also left work behind (kind of) after the birth of my second child, I can totally relate. The last two years has been an interesting but VERY fulfilling road. And I completely agree, everything I have learned about being an entrepreneur, I have learned in a community. They say that adults learn best from their peers and that has certainly been the truth for me. Our unique experiences make us all natural teachers. (My personal area of expertise is adult learning and course design so I know what I’m talking about here). Looking forward to learning more from you and the forum here. Thanks for the great post.
JoDavies says
Thanks so much Dayna!
I love ‘our unique experiences make us all natural teachers’. That is a great way to look at things and you are totally right there is much we can learn from each other! Nice to hear that your own leaving work behind story is working out for you and you are happy! 🙂 See you in the forums!
Thanks,
jo
Sofie says
Great post Jo. I’m impressed by how far you’ve come in such a short period of time.
I’ve been a bit absent of the forum lately, not knowing what tasks to do first, but I’ll definitely get back.
Great peeps in there!
As far as online communities go: I don’t don’t the value of them, however I find it difficult to choose one and focus on it.
I know I don’t have to choose just one, but there are so many communities about blogging and writing out there lately and I too easily get caught up surfing in between them, which makes that I can’t properly engage with or learn from any of them.
Something to work of for me.
(By the way, I have the same problem with subscribing to blogs, which is why I’m cancelling some blog subscriptions, but not this one!:))
Tom Ewer says
Choose us, choose us! 😉
Sofie (@WonderfulWanderings) says
Hahaha:)
Jo Davies says
LOL 😉
Jo Davies says
Sorry I just got this, the notification got misdirected, apologize for the delay! Thanks Sofie! You definitely need to come back in and check out the new features, we miss you in there! It can be difficult to make a choice of where to participate so my advice is to try to pick based off of the people and the value you feel you are getting. All the communities I am pretty active in are based in places where I have genuine “call me when you are in town” friends and those relationships all started online… These communities can be so beneficial in so many ways if people just get in there and stop sitting on the sidelines! We are glad that you are not cancelling this one! Thanks again Sofie!
jo
Sofie says
Haha no problem Jo.
Great job of making us feel special:p
Taylor says
Can I say this story is amazing! I’m leaving work at the end of the month and my first order of business – expand my online network. Even though it will pay nothing right away, I hope I can turn my engagement into your success. Good going!
Jo Davies says
Thanks Taylor! Glad you think so! Good luck and I hope that getting involved is as fun and valuable for you as it is for me! Good luck on your leaving work behind transition!
Claire says
Thanks for the inspiring story Jo. I think yours is the perfect example of the many possibilities you can get from online communities. I once was active for a popular Internet marketing forum and 100% of the clients I got came from there. Since becoming heavily involved in a client’s project though I became less active. Needless to say, the inquiries I’m getting now spiraled down. Now that I’m finished working with this client, I’m looking to get active again on online commuties and do it consistently.
Keep up the great work!