A week ago today, I finally decided that I would sign up for Kitchen Table Companies, a site created by Human Business Works, Chris Brogan, and Joe Sorge. I had been going back and forth about this for awhile. Although I am familiar with the day-to-day existence of a small business, I don’t own one. I’m not an entrepreneur. So really, what use could this site have for me?
A week later, having had a tremendously fun time over the last 7 days, I am writing to suggest that you join the conversation at Kitchen Table Companies, and I am writing as an affiliate of the site.
Now, for those of you who have known me for awhile, affiliate marketing is something I usually shy away from. I have only agreed to be an affiliate for 4 things – an e-book by Mark Dykeman, an e-book by Tommy Walker, The Hip Roof Real Estate Forum, and now Kitchen Table Companies. I don’t like you to think that my opinion is being purchased. It is not, in this case. Rather, I feel so strongly that this is a great thing growing that I want to somehow give you a stamp of approval to see. Being an affiliate is what I came up with.
I’ll bet you’re thinking…
Let me address some concerns you might have at this point.
1. You’re just saying it’s awesome cuz Chris Brogan is involved, right? Hopefully you know me better than this, but just to get it out there, my opinion would be the same even if the Chris Brogan name was not involved.
2. $47/month to talk to people seems like a lot of money. I know, I thought the same thing, and I’ve been in some other forum sites where I would agree – it was hard to get $50 of value a month out of the community for what I wanted to do. However, just like 501 Mission Place is a place for not-for-profit organizations to share, and just like The Hip Roof is a place for real estate agents to grow and share, Kitchen Table Companies is really about small business owners and entrepreneurs (and people who work with both) to come together and share knowledge, expertise, advice, good information, and all kinds of other stuff.
I would look at it this way. If you’re having a hard time getting your business started, or if you’re thinking about starting a business but you just don’t know where to start, you might consider hiring a consultant who would potentially charge hundreds of dollars an hour. When you join this forum, you pay $47 a month, and you get to talk to everyone who is in there. For every person that offers you advice on a question you post, your value goes up and the ratio of cost goes down. Would you pay someone $5 to give you business-altering advice? I bet you would.
3. I don’t need people telling me how to run my business. The nice thing about this particular community is that there really is no preaching. There is no “talking at.” And in fact, most people are asking questions that they want answered specific to their own businesses. There are people wondering whether they should use their persona name or their business name on Twitter. There are people asking super important questions like whether their business is salvageable. Do you have similar questions? You could ask them. Do you have thoughts and opinions for the folks answering those questions? You could answer.
Just like The Hip Roof is taking off now without Maya Paveza having to start or visit every thread, Kitchen Table Companies will, I think, grow to the point where it’s the community running it, not Joe or Chris. It’s like a 24/7 Social Media event. It’s like a 24/7 think tank. It’s a place to go when you have those 3AM scary dreams about whether your business will be okay or not. Or whether you did something wrong on your blog.
I really and truly believe that you would find the support at those moments just by logging in. And if you join based on my recommendation, I want you to not be shy about tapping me for advice and support in there. That’s what the community is about.
So, I humbly invite you to Join Kitchen Table Companies [affiliate link]. You can just stick around for a month to see if you like it. It’s not like you’re signing a car lease or something like that. But I really think you will enjoy it in there, and I really think you’ll find it useful. And if you aren’t feeling it, talk to me and I will try to make it better for you.
In Geoff Livingston’s Welcome to the Fifth Estate, he mentions that communities will eventually grow beyond any 1 person or brand. This community is ready to do just that. Will you join me over at Kitchen Table Companies? Let’s get the conversation going!
Image by Felipe Horst. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/felipeah