Should I / how do I start a Moore County NC Meetup?

Question

Howdy everyone! We do not have any meet ups in our area that I know about. I would like some advice on how to start a meet up with people here on BP. I was wondering who all would be interested in going to one here in Moore county if I were to try to organize one. This will be for people in Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen, Pine Bluff, Seven Lakes, Cameron, Vass, Carthage, Robbins, Whispering Pines, and the rest of Moore County. I have never done anything like this or even been to a meet up before, so if you all have suggestions or advice then let's hear it!!! I would love to get people together so we can start networking. I am thinking like once or twice a month?

Michael Hacker · Answer

@Joseph Druther I've been organizing a BP meetup in Phoenix for over a year now so I will share some info that I've learned along the way.  When posting a meetup on BP but you must use the Community / Networking Events forum, which requires at least a 'Plus' membership (it looks like you have a 'Pro' account so no problem there).  You will want to include as many relevant keywords as possible so more people pick it up on their alerts.  I also keep an email list of interested people as I meet them so that I can send out an email notification in addition to the BP posting.  This helps notify people who may have missed it on BP.  I believe Lane may be referring to meetup.com, which you could use to help organize and advertise the meetings but they do charge the organizer.  I would expect that you will get more than enough response from BP alone.  I used eventbrite at first, which is free, to keep track of contacts and send out notifications but I found it too cumbersome for what I was trying to do.  Now I just have a contact group in gmail and send out the notifications as mentioned above.  Our meetups are free and everyone simply buys their own food and drinks.  It is a good idea to find a place that either has counter service or doesn't mind splitting up the check for you.

Logistics aside, I have found the meetups to be a great way to meet people on BP and build strong relationships with other investors.  Hope this info helps, feel free to reach out any time.  Good luck Joseph!

Joseph Druther · Answer

Lane Kawaoka. Thanks for the great info! I am officially full time now with this and I really want to make sure I do everything I can to make this business work for me. I know that networking is very valuable, so I figured I would see about starting one. I am going to attend the one in Raleigh to see how it goes and then come up with a plan for organizing one here locally next month. I hope everyone who wants in would jump on and say hi so I have a better idea of how big a group would be to start out.

Joseph Druther · Answer

Cool deal everyone. I Know there are some others on here from the area, I just hope they have keyword alerts set up. @Paul Trevarrow I have been wanting to connect back up since I closed my last house with you. Also saw you on my direct mail list so you should be getting one of my postcards soon LOL. Glad to see you on BP, you could add a ton of value here! @Adam Schneider Thanks for that. She used to be on here didn't she? I can't seem to find her now. @Matthew Bamber That is awesome. thats how we started. Lane Kawaoka So most meet ups charge? I just figured on meeting at a coffee shop or casual restaurant where people just ordered their own stuff.

Pete K. · Answer

Joseph, I will be there if you start it. It's a pain to drive up to the one in Raleigh with a full time job going. We are in downtown southern pines and are interested in meeting other investors in the area.

Paul Trevarrow · Answer

I do not know how to start a meet up but I would definitely attend and I know several other local investors that may be interested.  I will send you a PM with my email.  Hopefully a more experienced member will coach you on how it works.

Adam Schneider · Answer

@Joseph Druthers   Reach out to Becky Addison.... she lives in Cameron and is an active REI. She might have some good tips.

Matthew Bamber · Answer

Hi Joseph, my wife, Jody, and I (Matt) are in the beginning stages of breaking into the real estate market and live in Carthage, NC. We have been doing a lot of reading and preparing to jump in on our first deals which we hope to purchase our first investment property in the next few months using the BRRR method. The Moore County area is where are focus will likely be since it is our backyard but we are keeping our options open at this point. We would be very excited to meet with other investors in the area to learn and network. If we can help in anyway to set up a group please let us know.

Abraham Saldana · Answer

hey Joseph,

I invest in southern pines/Pinehurst but will be going to the meet up in Raleigh.  You should come on up.  See what they do here then emulate it back in SOP.  Either way best of luck!  We should talk sometime!

Andre Barrow · Answer

welcome to bp

good idea you meet some amazing real estate investors