As I started teaching online courses I kept trying to figure out a good way to be able to provide ongoing support and help to my students. I also wanted to have an easily accessible way others who may be interested in the topics I teach courses on and that I write about would be able to get information about those things to help them make informed decisions about how to proceed toward setting and achieving their own goals within those areas and beyond.
Facebook groups are a near perfect way to do this.
First of all, practically everybody who doesn’t live in a cave already has a Facebook account and knows how to use it. So that makes it both convenient and easy to be part of a group on that platform and to be able to get help and support and participate in a community in an already familiar way.
So I decided to use Facebook groups to accomplish all that and more. We have already set up a number of groups, each one focusing on specific topics I teach and cover. At first, I thought about just having one group for everything. But I soon realized that not everyone who is interested in setting goals and task management is going to be interested in how to become a truck driver – or interested necessarily in any of the other topics I cover either – other than the one thing they are interested in at the moment. Even then people who are interested in truck driving are not all at the same stage of starting or building a career nor do they have the same goals within trucking – which is a huge industry with multiple different options all which require a ton of specialized information.
For example – if you are interested in getting your CDL and starting your trucking career you probably would not be interested in discussing the finer details of accident registers or the specific item by item drivers qualification file requirements or in how to set up and manage a company-wide drug and alcohol testing program – would you?
On the other hand, if you are trying to start a fleet or maintain and grow an existing fleet you better bet you would! Ok – you may still not necessarily want to – but you would absolutely need to fully and clearly understand these things and so much more – otherwise it could not only hinder your business it could actually get your business shut down if you screw these things up… So Fleet owners and other trucking business owners will absolutely find this type information extremely valuable. In fact, many are having to pay consultants and trainers THOUSANDS of dollars to get far less information elsewhere.
Using Facebook groups in this way makes it an effective way to cover all the things we need to cover efficiently and in a way where you can pick and choose which topics you are interested in by choosing to become a member of a specific group or groups that meet your current needs. By the way, you do not have to be a student of mine to join and participate in our groups either – you are still welcome – student or not.
Of course, if you do find the information we provide helpful – and I know you will – then you may decide you do want even more in depth training, information, and support. We have you covered there too, if and when you are ready for more – and our group members will receive advance notice and special discounts on most of my upcoming books, manuals, courses and many of our other products too!
So come and join us! You can find us on Facebook by searching for Trucking Business Success or Trucking Career Success or better yet go to our Free Resources page at www.ldsewell.com and follow the links from there.