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30DC Preseason Lesson 15: Google Groups
By Dee-Dee M | July 17, 2009
Doing the 30 Day Challenge with a “Team” is a great way to get help and support when you get stuck.
The ‘community spirit’ of the 30 Day Challenge is what drew me to it in the first place and is one of the reasons why I return every year.
Some thirty day challengers prefer to create local teams so they can meet face-to-face offline within their city or town (Greg and I met in the Christchurch Arts Centre for coffee last year) and others enjoy the ‘flavour’ of an international mixed team.
Google Groups – How To Set Up Groups For Your Teams
There are a number of sites on the web where a team can “meet” and communicate online – Last year we formed groups using Facebook and I created the “Kick-Ass Kiwi-Ockers” Facebook group for my fellow New Zealanders and Australian friends.
Whatever type of team you choose it is important to get a method of communication established and this year the 30Dc is suggesting we use Google Groups.
Caro is takes us through how to set up a Google Group for your 30 Day Challenge Team in the latest 30 Day Challenge lesson.
How to Set Up Google Groups – 7:12min video
Setting Up a Google Group is easy and can be done with a short couple of steps…
- First go to http://groups.google.com/ and sign in with your Google Account login (most likely this is a Gmail account)
- Name Your Group: Enter the name of your 30DC Team eg. Kick-Ass Kiwi-Ockers
- Create a Group Email Address: Usually the group name at googlegroups.com. This is so members can post to the group using their email client
- Group Web Address: Google Groups will assign a friendly URL eg. http://groups.google.com/group/30dc-kick-ass-kiwi-ockers
- Write a Group Description: This is a brief explanation of the purpose of the Group (up to 300 characters)
- Choose An Access Level: Select Restricted – People must be invited to join the group. Only members can post messages, read the archives, view the members list, create pages and upload files. Your group and its archives do not appear in public Google search results or the directory.
- Click on ‘Create My Group”: Fill in captcha then click on create my group button again to confirm.
That’s it! You have now created a Google Group!
Group Settings
You can further personalize your new Google Group by going to Group settings.
Group Settings is where you can make changes to Access, Appearance, Navigation, Email Delivery, Categories, and Advanced settings.
Edit Your Public Profile
Set up your public profile which will be viewable by members of any Google Groups you create or join.
You can share as much or as little information about yourself as you wish – at the very least upload a photo so your Teamies know who they are communicating with.
Communicating With Your 30DC Team Mates in Google Groups
There are two ways to communicate
1. Onsite: Go to your Group Page, login and write a new message or reply
2. Using Email: Once you are accepted as a member you will be given the Group’s email address. Add this to your email client’s address book and you can send an email to this address and everyone in the group will get an email of it and the message will be posted to the group page. You can reply in the same manner.
The Thirty Day Challenge Team Principle
If you have not done the 30 Day Challenge before you may not know how the “Team thing” works. Or you may not want to work with a team – it’s completely up to you. There are lots of challengers that prefer to be the ‘lone wolf’.
The Thirty Day Challenge is in no way a Group project. Everyone does their own market and keyword research, sets up their own sites, and runs their own niche market testing.
Essentially 30DC Teams offer peer support – a group of friends to bounce ideas off, help with learning the principles and techniques, and a way to pick up tips and ideas from others. Your Team mates can give your project a little “Social Love” by socially bookmarking each others content, but essentially this is YOUR challenge.
If the idea of launching into an internet marketing project for the first time freaks you out, don’t worry! Remember that 30Dc Community I mentioned earlier? Well it’s there for everyone to tap into.
Your first place to start is the 30 Day Challenge Forums. Here you can ask and answer questions and find or build a Team. Familiarize yourself with the forum rules then submit a post and you will be emailed when someone answers it.
This year we have a some brilliant new tools within the forum for Teams called Social Groups and Friend List.
Social Groups: You can create a Social Group for your Team or browse through the Groups to find one you’d like to join. If you’d like to start your own team create a social group and submit a post to tell everyone about it.
Friend List: You can ask anyone to be a friend however they have the option to approve you as a friend or not. If you are part of a team or socail group it makes sense to befriend your team/group members.
The start of The Thirty Day Challenge is just two weeks away so now is a good time to enroll, find a team, and catch up with the preseason lessons so you are ready at the starters gate come August 1st.
UPDATE: 24 July 2009…
How to Get the Most out of Your Team – 8:53min video
Being in a Team is important to the 30 Day Challenge as teams give the individual challenger a greater chance of success. Every challenger works on their own individual project however having a team for support and to bounce ideas off really helps.
How to Find a Team
Here are some tips on how to find a team, what to look for in a team mate and how to communicate with your team mates.
- Where to Find a Team
The first place to go to find & setup of teams is the 30DC Forums – Team Talk Section. Have a look at the threads asking for team mates. - Team Size
The recommended team size is 4-5 members with a maximum of 6. Any more than this & the team becomes too large to work together efficiently. Facebook App allows you to add up to 7 members - Member Experience
This depends on what you want. You can have a team of experienced marketers or newbies or an even mix - Member Mindset
Look for members who are committed and have and abundance attitude not scarcity. - Team Expectations
Try to approach the team with the expextation of what you can give to the team not just what you can take from it. - Project Privacy
It is not advised to share your project with the whole 30DC Community but you should be able to share with your team confident that your ideas stays private to the team. Sometimes you may find team mates have similar ideas. Competition isn’t bad but hijacking is not considered good manners. Project? - Team Communication
There are a number of tools your team can use: Google Groups to share ideas. Google Docs to share research data, and Skype to chat and talk one on one or as a group conference.
Being in a team is about sharing ideas and giving support to each other. To find a Team or start your own go to the 30DC Team Talk Forum.
Topics: 30 Day Challenge 2009, Pre-season 2009 | No Comments »