12 Resources and Communities Entrepreneurs Should Follow for Industry Insight and Tips

Staying tuned in to the pulse of your industry is key to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Public groups, online forums and the like are among the most valuable resources for gathering and contributing industry information. But if someone is looking for in-depth insight into their business niche, locating the right groups where this discussion occurs is the first step. To help you find them, 12 members of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) respond to the following question:

“What’s one public-facing online group (e.g. a specific Facebook group, forum, etc.) that you recommend entrepreneurs follow for industry insight, business management tips, growth hacks, etc., and why?”

Read on to learn more about some of the most useful resources entrepreneurs can get involved with.

1. Online Geniuses

“Online Geniuses is a large Slack community of entrepreneurs and marketing leaders who talk shop across multiple areas of running a business. The community provides added benefits too, such as Q&A sessions with top industry leaders, link exchange or guest posting opportunities and business partnerships in multiple verticals.” ~ Mario Peshev, DevriX

2. Product Hunt

“One forum I highly recommend following is Product Hunt. It’s an energetic and active community of makers that curates the best new products every day. In addition to helping you engage with like-minded founders and find early adopters for your own product, it allows you to discover innovative and exciting products and stay on the cutting edge of the latest technologies before they become mainstream.” ~ Vishal Shah, Ledger & Tax

3. Lean Luxe

“Lean Luxe, which hosts both a newsletter and a Slack channel, is an incredible resource for any entrepreneur considering building a consumer-facing business. It’s on my very short list of things I pay attention to with religious fervor.” ~ Colin Darretta, Innovation Department

4. Indie Hackers

“For entrepreneurs or anyone planning a startup, I’d recommend Indie Hackers, which is a forum that has lots of great advice and resources and a large and knowledgeable community. It’s a great resource for networking, learning and sharing information.” ~ Kalin Kassabov, ProTexting

5. Akimbo

“I would recommend Akimbo. It’s run by Seth Godin and they have a great website and series of seminars and groups. There’s lots of activity online around them.” ~ Nicole Munoz, Nicole Munoz Consulting, Inc.

6. Quora

“Quora has a number of entrepreneur-based topic threads that you can follow for startup advice and industry insights. Startups and entrepreneurship are two of the most popular topics, both with over four millions followers. One helpful feature is that you can see the most viewed writers within each topic, which allows you to follow thought leaders across individual topics and subsections.” ~ Jordan Conrad, Writing Explained

7. ProBlogger Community Facebook Group

“There are several Facebook groups that are great for entrepreneurs. I particularly enjoy the ProBlogger Community Facebook group that’s built to offer resources and advice to new business owners. Members of the community can give each other advice and share their personal experiences so others can learn from them.” ~ Jared Atchison, WPForms

8. Facebook Ad Buyers

“I found the group Facebook Ad Buyers helpful when we were planning our social media marketing campaign. This group features both industry experts and first-time business owners. You can learn a lot about implementing Facebook ads to grow your channel and get more traffic to your website.” ~ Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights

9. SaaS Growth Hacks Facebook Group

“For software-as-a-service (SaaS) entrepreneurs, I highly recommend the SaaS Growth Hacks Facebook group. With over 23,000 members worldwide, the discussions that are fostered on the page are rich in insight and advice. Plus, if you need any help with a certain aspect of your SaaS business, people are ready and willing to answer any questions or point you in the right direction. It’s a super friendly community!” ~ Ismael Wrixen, FE International

10. Pinterest

“Believe it or not, I think Pinterest is a great resource that entrepreneurs should follow to get the best business management, marketing and growth hack tips. It’s an untapped resource that many entrepreneurs don’t know how to use.” ~ Kristin Kimberly Marquet, Marquet Media, LLC

11. Digital Marketing

“There’s a group called Digital Marketing on LinkedIn. They have over a million followers and contributors, so there’s a constant stream of helpful information available for marketing, design, testing and so much more. If you’re even remotely interested in marketing, I suggest you give this group a shot.” ~ John Turner, SeedProd LLC

12. Entrepreneur subreddit

“The Entrepreneur subreddit is a great place to get advice, network and seek collaborations. With around 900k members in the group, there are experts in almost every industry and area of business. Reddit itself is a community known for its brutal honesty and upfront feedback. This is a great place to soundboard your new ideas or see what others are doing and learn from their experiences.” ~ Shaun Conrad, Guitar Repair Bench Online Lessons

Image: Depositphotos

This article, "12 Resources and Communities Entrepreneurs Should Follow for Industry Insight and Tips" was first published on Small Business Trends