Power of Community
DISCLAIMER: This post is not a push for people to sign up for the Get Messy community, nor do I received any affiliate payments by recommending any of these communities (except Get Messy obvs). I just truly believe in the Power of Community. Community is a powerful thing. Online and offline. I have shared before about our offline, in real life community we have. They are our bread and butter, the salt and light in our life. We would not exist without them. We would simply wither away in this world with no one to notice if we did not have these wonderful groups of people surrounding us. When we moved we left the, literally, most amazing small groups we have ever (and quite possibly will ever have) been in. As soon as we moved though, we jumped right into a new community group. These are small groups of like-minded people from our church that we meet with and learn from on a weekly basis. I believe this is absolutely essential to everyone's life, no matter what stage of life you are in, no matter what you believe. Find a group of like-minded people and create an intentional community of people to be friends with and people who will support you when the going gets tough, celebrate with you when life is awesome, sit at the pool with you and make you laugh daily.I recommend this for your offline life first and foremost. Then I recommend this for your online life also.When you are a part of an online community, you learn and grow in your specific niche. You can make legit online friends who turn into real life friends. You receive SO much inspiration and new ideas from all over the world you would never be exposed to otherwise.I am a crafter and I have plenty of in real life friends who are crafters. But it is hard to find people who totally get how crazy much I love crafting and who are always available at 2am when I want to craft or who are also constantly pumping out inspiring and new craft ideas. This is where I turn to the internet. Many of us have very niche interests and sometimes our in real life friends (are wonderful and supportive), but don't 'get it' the way someone who lives in South Africa/Germany does. I come to this internet space to feel validated, inspired, encouraged and to be with the like-minded crazy paper hoarding people. I am a social worker/counselor by day and crafter/blogger by night. I receive training and support at my job and through conferences for my day job. So why shouldn't I get training and support for my night-time hobby/job? That's where I turn to ecourses and communities.Ecourses and communities can sometimes be the similar in nature. Programs like Get Messy and 100 Rejection Letters are courses and communities in one. You learn valuable content, but it is balanced 50/50 with the community side.Some programs are just learning centered (and they are awesome) but have no real interaction except maybe comments can be left or you can email the teacher. These are great for learning a skill and then putting it to work and moving on.Then there are programs that are just community driven. I am a part of a small (less than 10 people) Facebook group that is for women who have an Etsy business and are like-minded. Someone just started the group and invited people we are friends with through the internet. It is just a forum for anything you need it to be. Sometimes people post great resources they have found. Sometimes people rant about terrible customers. Most of the time though, we are asking and answering questions such as 'How much should I charge this client?" or "What's wrong with this design layout I made because I can't put my finger on it?" or "how do you schedule your day to be most product?". Some questions are super specific to each of our unique businesses and some are general 'life' questions. I learn SO MUCH from this group and it is free and has no curriculum. It can go silent for weeks and then one day I have *literally 120 notifications from it. There are other communities like this that are free or paid for. When you pay you usually are paying for the expert advice of the person who runs it or the exclusivity of the group. But you can always start your own like we did.There is power is all of these different types of communities. From having a safe place to vent or ask personal questions to learning a specific skill set to enhance your craft or business to finding like-minded paper junkies to inspire you and hoard with you. This is important for me. My husband and my friends support my love for crafting as best they know how, but know that I need a true, unfiltered, totally craft saturated outlet and know that I am a better, more inspired, happier person because of it.Being part of an online community though is not an excuse to check out from the real world, nor should it turn into an unhealthy habit or obsession. It should fill a need or a void and only be a supporting voice in the chorus of your life. So go find your community (online and offline). Here are a few I whole heartedly recommend because I am either a paid (or free!) member of them or I follow all of their other stuff and know they produce quality content.Lemon and Raspberry: A group for creative entrepreneursRuKristen: Currently listers and Awesome Ladies group are for scrapbookersSean Wes: for online entrepreneurs100 Rejection Letters: for biz's who want to seek out new opportunityGet Messy: for art journalersBlacksBurgBelle: for creative biz'sBig Picture Classes: for craftersStudio Calico: for scrapbookersDid I forget any? Please add your favorite community program in the comments!