Brainstorming groups have always been my secret weapon when it comes to learning, idea generation, and problem-solving for myself and my clients. When I had questions or was doing research on any topic, I went looking for a brainstorming group for that area.
How Do Brainstorming Groups Help?
I work with a lot of clients, and I’ve seen firsthand how brainstorming groups can help.
When one of my clients was looking for software to meet her needs, she asked me to find the best solution. I love to Google solutions, but there are so many ads and affiliates out there that it’s hard to find an unbiased opinion.
Instead of trying to do it all on my own, I went to a software brainstorming group and asked the forum members for their thoughts, insights, and experiences. They were super nice about it—within a day or two, I had over 20 replies from kind forum members who were happy to share their thoughts!
Their suggestions led me to several software options I hadn’t heard of and their experiences helped me rule out several options that would have wasted time testing. The result? I found the correct software in just a fraction of the expected time, which allowed me to report back to my client faster than expected! And I was able to save my client money on her bill with me.
Where Do I Find a Brainstorming Group
In the age of social media, it’s easier than ever to connect with people across the globe who share your interests. That’s why we’ve put together this list of groups you can join today to get your creative juices flowing!
Brainstorming.Social: At Brainstorming.Social, we describe ourselves as a global community of creative people for brainstorming and problem-solving. Our community includes a brainstorming forum, live online brainstorming sessions, brainstorming templates, and other resources.
Reddit: I have found Reddit to be an excellent place to get help. Reddit has a wide range of topics from business and marketing subreddits to personal interests like cooking and hobbies. If there is a topic you are interested in, chances are, there is a subreddit for it.
Facebook Groups: Facebook Groups are excellent in some ways and poor in others. The local chat, and buy & sell groups are awesome, with great people providing local recommendations. And I do enjoy following my favorite local vendors to see when they are having special events or sale prices.
But for groups relating to brainstorming, Facebook falls short. Most business-related groups on Facebook are run by a consulting firm of some sort and are used to attract people so they can sell their own services to them. Not to say that there are never any good discussions going on, but the organizers have an agenda. And Facebook advertising is making it so annoying that it is difficult to get good discussions going.
Counter.Social: Counter.Social is a friendly alternative to Twitter. While the Community Firehose of messages can be overwhelming, if you use #hashtags well, you can filter the deluge into something more manageable.
Software Support Forums: Some software has a community support forum that’s really helpful to users.
The reason I recommend these forums is that some very large companies, like Google and Microsoft, don’t seem to provide much support at all. On the other hand, some community software forums do have company service reps look in from time to time, but usually, the support is provided by other users who volunteer their time to help others.
I use these support forums extensively and they have saved me a lot of time and anguish while working through software issues.
Specialty Forums: Before Twitter, Facebook, and other large social media platforms, most forums were run by individuals or small groups on software like phBBB or VBulletin. These forums are still around and have some very dedicated people running them as well as participating in their communities.
You can also find specialty communities on Slack or Discord.
Get More Brains, Today!
So if you want some help coming up with ideas fast and efficiently—without having to sacrifice precious time or resources—then brainstorming groups are definitely worth checking out!
I hope to welcome you to my own brainstorming group, Brainstorming.Social.