With nearly a week of 2018 under our belts, we’ve had a chance to get a quick look at what the new year has in store.
And hopefully, we’ve embarked on our journey with the tools we need to make great things happen.
For example, the Spin Sucks 30-day Communications Challenge tipped off earlier this week, and the Slack community is abuzz with responses and questions around the first few days-worth of challenges.
It’s an ongoing conversation amongst a community of PR and marketing professionals setting out to start their year off right—with plans to drive measurable business results with their content and communication efforts.
In 2016, I joined The Writing Cooperative, their 52-week Writing Challenge and, by extension, the Writing Cooperative Slack group.
Without hesitation, I credit that Slack community with reigniting my passion for fiction writing.
While I admittedly only made it half-way through the challenge, the community remains a source of inspiration and support.
In 2017, I joined the PR Dream Team (prior to my joining Spin Sucks full time), a private Slack channel where I could network with other professionals, get personal answers to my business questions, and have access to the Spin Sucks team (among other amazing things).
The point?
Whatever you’re trying to achieve, it helps to have accountability and a support network.
Someone to cheer you on, help you out when you’re down, and to get you out of your own head from time-to-time.
Writing groups, book clubs, mentors, trainers, coaches, and support groups, in general, come in all shapes and forms.
But online communities, and Slack Groups specifically, are increasingly becoming one of the best ways to connect with your community.
Those people who get you, and who are in a position to motivate and keep you accountable.
So, as we stride confidently into a new year full of optimism and drive, the first Big Question of 2018 asks:
What is your favorite Slack Group?
Slack for Inbound Marketing
From Terese Kerrigan:
Inbound.org on Slack. Every week, I take away at least one huge golden nugget of information that gives me a competitive edge. For other inbound marketers—inexperienced or experienced—I recommend this Slack Group.
Best Slack Group for Marketers
Mario Peshev offers up two Slack groups: one for marketers and another focused more on community building, networking, and entrepreneurship.
Online Geniuses is a brilliant Slack community for all things marketing—content production, guest posting, affiliate marketing, CRO, eCommerce, SEO, PPC, and more.
It gathers nearly 10,000 people together, organizing events such as CRO teardowns and AMAs with some of the most reputable business and marketing experts across the world.
The second choice is Creative Tribes—revolving around tribe building, entrepreneurship, business, and startup growth, founded by marketers and professional writers.
It costs $25 to join and meets a thousand people together in a vibrant, warm, and actionable matter.
Cassandra Schwartz is also a huge fan of Online Geniuses:
Online Geniuses: this Slack community of 10k+ is an incredible resource for all things digital marketing.
If you’re looking to interact with the smartest people in the business, this is the group to join.
Buffer: This Slack community of 4k is more than a resource for social media managers. With channels focused on reading, inclusivity, and remote work, it’s a great place to invest in your personal development as well as professional.
Slack Group for SEO
From Max Robinson:
Of all the various aspects of digital marketing, I’ve always found SEO to be the most confusing.
Annoyingly, I’ve also found it to increasingly be one of the most important aspects to the growth of my business, so I’ve always made an effort to keep up to date with the latest practices.
I’ve found the BigSEO Slack group (from the BigSEO subreddit) to be invaluable for this purpose.
It’s full of great minds from all areas of SEO, and I always get an answer to my question.
Lucy Kirkness, a self-proclaimed avid Slack user, also offers up a group focusing on SEO, and she adds a second recommendation to the mix.
Traffic Think Tank: a private SEO slack community, run by three big names in the industry: Matthew Barby, Nick Eubanks, and Ian Howells.
The gem of this Slack community is the Q&A channel, where you can ask questions and learn directly from the experts.
#FemaleFounders: a great community for female entrepreneurs or business leaders who want to surround themselves with like-minded and talented people.Some of the most exciting startups have been founded by #femalefounders members, so it’s a great place to learn and grow.
From the Spin Sucks Slack Group
In the spirit of self-promotion (the Spin Sucks Slack community is amazing), we had to let a couple of our own Slack group community members chime in:
From Howie Goldfarb:
This [the Spin Sucks Slack community] is my only group, so that says it all.
Oh and my duck fighting league.
Mary Deming Barber echoes Howie’s sentiment:
There are other groups on Slack?
Up Next: A Question of Success
Twenty-five years from now, when you’re a huge success, what will you attribute that success to?
Friends, family, school… and not only the shining examples.
A podcast I just listened noted that you have to look at both the good and the bad when you measure success.
Everything has an affect.
An illness, a bad decision, a failure.
Which means that success can take on many guises.
It is different for everyone, and what it looks like to any one of us can change as we develop.
The next big question asks:
What does success look like for you?
You can answer here, in our free Slack community, or on the socials (use #SpinSucksQuestion so we can find you).