Earlier this month I attended Randy Smith‘s monthly meet up for internet marketers in the UK in his home town of Northallerton, the county town of North Yorkshire.

This time I also stayed over to spend some social time in the evening with Randy, his partner Rachel Tombling and a few of the guys and girls who came from all over the UK to meet like-minded people who don’t glaze over at the mention of autoresponders, squeeze pages and the like.

The previous gathering had been “intimate”, to say the least (Randy, regular attendee and programming wizard Terry Dollard, and myself), so I got quite a shock when I entered the room after a four hour drive to see 20 people already there – including UK “guru” John Thornhill, who, like Terry, lives just up the road.

John was apparently there to see how it was done, in preparation for holding his own live events…

Obviously the programme is going to be different with 20 participants than it was with just three, so Randy’s topic was simply “What’s The One Question You’d Ask?”

Each person said a little about themselves and what they do online, then asked their question, which Randy recorded on a kind of table flip chart.

After a break for sustenance and networking, we went through all the questions, with suggestions coming from Randy, John and a range of people in the group, i.e. a kind of brainstorming session for each person’s question.

As Randy said, if he had filmed it, he could have made a product out of it…

But most important, from the participants’ point of view, a wide range of questions got answered, and many people saw that they weren’t the only ones who get stuck – and, that there are answers, especially if you just talk to someone who may have already overcome the same problem.

Plus, by having everyone introduce themselves, we got to know a few more people in IM we didn’t know before.

Every live event you go to, whatever the size, increases the number of fellow internet marketers in your circle of contacts.

And as Robert Puddy (the man behind the Login Frequency Marketing strategy and script) emphasises again and again, you don’t do this on your own.

You need to know people you can talk to about this stuff, and help each other out – “a rising tide lifts all boats”.

And a big part of getting to know people is not only talking shop, but just generally hanging out together in a relaxed atmosphere.

Which usually means a bar in the evening, though that doesn’t mean you have to drink alcohol if that’s not your thing, or you have to drive somewhere afterwards.

So on this particular occasion, after Randy and Rachel had made a quick dash to see Randy’s newborn grandchildren (yes, children, they were twins), at 7.30 p.m. we met back at The Oddfellows Arms in Northallerton where the meet ups take place, before later walking round the corner to the somewhat more upbeat Masons Arms for the rest of the evening.

In addition to Randy, Rachel and Terry Dollard, whom I already knew from several previous gatherings, the company included Alan Cazaly – at least at the beginning – who lives on a canal boat in Hertfordshire, Mandy Allen from Norfolk (originally Channel Islands), Dawn Kay from Lincolnshire, Sally Neill from Glasgow (up the road from me…) and Steve King from Swindon with his partner Angie.

Photos were taken, and you can see these on the Facebook page that Sally set up for Randy.

Of course, not everyone was able to stay on for the evening. John Thornhill had to leave around 4.00 p.m. already.

Keith Purkiss, currently launching (or actually by now has just launched…) Pushbutton Giveaways 2.0 together with John, had a train to catch back to the wilds of Cumbria (he lives just across the water from me on the other side of the Solway Firth).

Other attendees who had to head off were Zahid Yakoob, Lee Scott, John Reed (I first met John in 2009 in Bristol, he has a shop in the heart of York), Gordan Bosnjak, Robert Corrigan (works with Steve King) and his partner, Keith Olson and Angus Mackenzie (I think).

Craig Dawber, Randy’s partner in Internet Marketing Apprentice, also had to get away after the proceedings.

Those of us who stayed had a very pleasant evening enjoying each other’s company and the entertainment of the odd karaoke singer at the Masons Arms, finally calling it a night at the relatively civil time of just after 1.00 a.m.

A few of those present had previously known each other quite well from Randy’s forums e.g. at Internet Marketing Apprentice, but never actually met, so this was a chance for them to do so.

I believe a few people also came through John Thornhill mentioning it to his list, and there were several members of Alex Jeffreys‘ coaching class too, which may have played a role in the higher numbers this month.

Presumably there will be a relatively full house again at the next meet up on the afternoon of Saturday, 9 July, especially as it is – supposedly – summer (numbers tend to drop right off in the winter for obvious reasons!).

Maybe I’ll see you there…?

Paul

“Kiwi” in South West Scotland