Hi everyone! If you are an IBN member and want to skip this post and get started right away, join our Facebook group here!
A few years ago, IBN launched a small book club for a few of its members. It was an experiment designed to create a new way for members to connect, learn and grow together. It was a super fun success, and one of the things I did this year was make plans to improve it for return in 2013. Today, I’m excited to share that Indie Business Book Club is back, and ready to launch in a new format on January 2, 2013.
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
This African proverb sums up why I am investing in this book club.
Indie Business Book Club is designed not only for shared reading, but also for shared action, growth and progress, not just in business, but also in our personal lives. As the facilitator, I plan to help everyone hold each other (and that includes me) accountable to not only read and learn, but also to take action on what is read and learned. Our new format will make it easier and more fun to participate, plus a few new components will allow the book club to feed other parts of your business. Here is how it will work.
Indie Business Book Club Format
- Indie Business Book Club is a benefit of IBN membership. This level of exclusivity will allow us to create an intimate community of sharing that can be extended to IBN’s new members only forum, which will launch in 2013 with our new website. (To join IBN, click here).
- A new and private Facebook group allows participation at your convenience. Our last book club met by conference call once a week. We had great conversations, but it was difficult for everyone to meet at the same time and a recorded version of the lively conversation was not a good substitute for the real thing. This time, we are using a private Facebook group.
Submit your request to join Indie Business Book Club on Facebook at this link. All IBN members will be approved, and you can remove yourself at any time.
- Each month, a new book and the reading schedule will be announced. Our book for January is The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy. I have read this book before in a book club setting, and I cannot say enough about how it has changed my life.
You can read a hard copy, e-book, or an Audible version — whichever works best for you and your busy life.
On a pre-announced schedule now posted in the book club Facebook group, a new question will be posted in our Facebook group from January 2 to January 25th. The question and other aspects of the chapter we are reading will be open to discussion. Members will be encouraged to build on what they learn as we move forward together.
Members will be encouraged to challenge the author’s conclusions or methods, and also to challenge each other to implement what we learn and make it visible in their lives. This is where the accountability and growth comes in. This is where the real action is!
- You’ll be encouraged to share what you learn and do. I will encourage everyone to use the book club to increase blog readership, Facebook engagement and Twitter and Pinterest followings by sharing snippets of what is discussed and acted upon in our book club. You can use the #indiebookclub hash tag on Twitter if you’d like. Blogging and Tweeting what you learn and do is a super way to encourage your clients and customers, and to build your own leadership skills.
We’ll start a new book about every four to five weeks, and everyone will be able to suggest new books, authors, and topics. If it’s not too cumbersome, we will take a vote to decide what to read next.
The best coaching and mentoring for handmade entrepreneurs is at Indie Beauty Network. Click here to connect at our social network.
