What the hell is The GDI?

The GDI (The GodDamnInspiration) is my lovely little membership group.

That’s it.

Feel free to switch off now, because if you’re anything like me, the thought of another fucking membership group completely drains you.

They’re everywhere, and everyone has one. For that very reason, I’ve only ever really talked about mine to people who either already?work with me, or have already had some kind of connection with me in some way (LinkedIn,?Mailing List, have purchased?From Blag To Blog, or similar). I’ve never written a landing page, a sales pitch, or started a social media post about it with phrases like?“founder member benefits”?or?“doors closing”?or whatever. Everyone gets the same good stuff as everybody else, and the doors are always open (even if you may have to wait a little while to get inside).

That scarcity shit likely works for a lot of people, but not for me personally, and so I don’t use it to attract new members or?clients?who may be a little bit similar to me in that respect.

Having said that, despite me always capping the membership number at 32 including myself (don’t ask me why I picked that number, as I can’t remember), there will always be times when people leave and I find myself with a space I’d love to fill – and therefore need to let people know about.

Maybe a member has got everything they needed from the group already and wants to happily sail off into the sunset.

Maybe the group is no longer a priority for a member in their writing/business/life.

Maybe the group just hasn’t been as brilliant for a member as they’d hoped.

That last one could easily happen! I mean, look at me as an example – since they closed the pub next door to my gym, I haven’t renewed my membership at all. It makes no sense for me to keep paying for something where I can’t enjoy a plate of cheesy garlic bread and a Peroni after I'm done.

Whilst in the past the spaces have been re-filled quickly and quietly by people who I’ve mentioned the membership to, or who I’ve contacted because they’d shown an interest previously, or who have worked with me and gone on to ask if I do indeed have a little something extra to subscribe to for bonus Jo (god that sounds all kinds of awful), I thought it would be a good idea to get something written down to direct people towards, so that they could have a read and decide if they wanted to join…?The GodDamnInspiration.

Here are the facts:

Everyone is welcome, but if after you’ve?dropped me a message?to show interest I don’t for whatever reason think it’s the best way for you to spend your ￡40 each month (leave at any time, by the way), I won’t waste your time. In reality, ‘everyone’ means all those who love a bit of writing, but who would also like some inspiration, feedback, and accountability with their words and stuff. It’s for people who love writing and might be quite good at it but want to get better, but similarly, it’s also for people who hate writing but know they need to get better at it for the sake of driving their business forward. You don’t have to be a business owner, though. You may work for someone else (ooh they might pay as part of your CPD), or you may not even have work-related interests for joining at all. Maybe you’re a budding freelance writer, columnist, or author! (On that note, watch this space...)

In summary, though, I think the thing that draws everyone together in this wonderful membership group is that they ‘get’ me and might be intrigued by what being in my world might be like.

I know. Freaks, the lot of them.

To keep our close community ‘feel’ and to really get to know everybody in the group whilst giving them all the opportunity to share, develop, and feel safe, I’m continuing to cap the number of members of The GDI at 32, with space only opening up whenever someone leaves (oh how very bloody dare they). Currently we have lots of OGDI-ers (Original GDI members who have been there since the start, or who may have left and come back later on because it’s cool like that), but trust me, people are welcomed so quickly and so warmly, that if you jumped, hopped, or even flounced onto one of our GDI Zoom calls, you’d think everyone had been there forever. It’s really bloody nice like that, I have to say. That’s not to say the calls are filled with flowers and fluff, though – we talk about the big stuff when it’s needed, and people are very much encouraged to say what they think. It’s not an echo chamber (echo chamber…). Most importantly, though, we need to be able to have a laugh in there.

The ‘cornerstone content’ of the membership lies in the four group calls across the month (on Zoom) that you can jump in and out of with no pressure to attend any or all at all. Every now and then, I’ll switch out a session or two in favour of a co-working space, where we all log on and get our writing done (cameras on, mics off). In addition, you’ll also have a really simple-to-set-up profile on a nice platform called Guild, where you can upload your own writing samples (blogs, articles, features, stories, post ideas, profiles, emails, whatever) for critique from other people in the group (including me, obviously). Similarly, there are loads of threads in there where you can chat and gif (is that a verb?) with other members of the group whenever you like about lots of different things. Kids, mental health, freelancing, difficult clients, tax, home improvements… and if there isn’t a thread set up already for what you want to chat about, go ahead and start one! Simple, safe, and a superb way for members to support each other in things that are in no way limited to writing. No WhatsApp groups to worry about, and no Facebook groups to fuck about with, either. Bliss.

Joining?The GodDamnInspiration?is a great way to work with me without the hassle and cost of actually having to hire me. Plus, you never know who’s going to be in that same membership group who you could end up working with in the future. Or blocking, one of the two.

The GodDamnInspiration!

I know… low key, classy, understated – just like me!

There are currently a few spaces due to become available at the end of October, but feel free to?register your interest?for further down the line, as well.

And please know this about my ‘offer’, here. The GDI isn’t a flash in the pan. It’s been running for almost two years, and every time I think I can do something to sharpen it for the benefit of my lovely members, that’s exactly what I do.

I’d love to see who else gets to be a part of this with me in the future.