Top 5 networking groups for creatives and indie businesses

I’ve had a good year of making new connections, and keeping up with existing ones, going to events online and in real life, and generally finding ways to tell people everywhere about Creativity Found and its three incarnations as:

• Podcast
• Directory of creative activities for grown-ups
• Promotional and networking membership for indie business owners.

As many of you know, I am very happy and comfortable in promoting myself and the work of my members and podcast guests through these kind of events, but if you want to do that for yourself as well, I’ve complied this list of groups and events for you to check out.

You know I wouldn't recommend anything I didn't have my own experience of, and these events and groups have given me value in 2023, and can do so for you too in 2024.

Gossip Gals

The Gossip Gals Facebook group (Networking for Women in Business/Female Entrepreneur Support) is open to all and has over 2.7k members, but if you want to really make the most of this group, you want to look at Gold membership, with these features:

• Three online networking events every month
• Weekly online co-working events
• Monthly social media planning events
• Approved posting to the Gossip Gals Facebook group

Emma Whalley, founder of Gossip Gals, has also created a host of business-skills courses for purchase, from social media planning including prompts and templates, to masterclasses in email automations, time management, how to create an online course and more.

Find out more about everything Gossip Gals has to offer using this affiliate link.

Atomic and ATOMICON

While I haven’t been to the annual ATOMICON event yet, I have booked for June this year because I heard a lot of good things about it, and in doing so I gained access to lots of freebies from Andrew and Pete which I have found very useful, including:

• Access to a Facebook group where you can find advice from other members through general posts and questions
• Access to online events including table discussions and masterminds – where I have met some great contacts
• Emails from Andrew and Pete featuring tips and advice for business owners

Andrew and Pete host two programmes aimed at helping you to increase income, the introductory Become Atomic Programme and the Rebels Accelerator Programme.

To join me in Newcastle in June for ATOMICON, click on this affiliate link, and save £311 (as of December 2023).

CreateConnect with Creativity Found Collective member Kelly Drewett

I have loved attending these monthly online events this year, and some of you may have seen the book nook miniature kit I have been building as we chat. This month I worked on a nuts-and-bolts camper van kit that Father Christmas gave my son last year and has been sat under our coffee table ever since! – still a little more work to do.

CreateConnect is a form of interactive and creative business networking where you can meet other business owners and discuss focus topics while also getting your hands and brain working together with a creative project of your choosing.

Activities such as painting, jewellery making, quilting, embroidery, and digital illustration have all made an appearance this year, and I personally relish this set time to get stuck into a creative project as a form of pure escapism and enjoyment – something I rarely gift myself the time for ordinarily.

View the calendar for 2024 and get booked on here.

The Creative Collective with Creativity Found Collective member Martin Whiskin

These fortnightly online meetups have been a source of great enjoyment and at times hilarity for me this year, and provide an opportunity to meet people working in a wide range of creative roles, from videographers, web designers, voiceover artists and photographers to writers, musicians, illustrators and podcasters.

You can try three meetings for free, then pay-as-you-go or join the Creative Collective membership (which of course I recommend!).

Click here for all the details.

The Everybody Collective for female-identifying podcasters

A more specific group for my final recommendation, and one that the Creativity Found Collective has collaborated with a little this year (see another great blog, It’s not just Apple and Spotify: Explore Podcasting 2.0 and find innovative listening apps and features that can benefit both podcasters AND listeners).

If you are a podcaster or work in the podcast industry, by joining the Everybody Collective you can benefit from:

• Regular online meetups and targeted masterclasses with industry experts
• Links to a super-lovely group of fellow female-identifying podcasters spanning a wealth of genres of show
• Complementary entry to the International Women’s Podcast Awards
• Exclusive access to a brilliantly useful WhatsApp group

You can find out more about the Collective, founded by Naomi Mellor, here and if you decide to join up please use my affiliate link to send a few fund to the Creativity Found podcast.

I am looking forward to a continued connection with all of these groups in 2024, and perhaps even seeing you at one of their future events!

Creativity Found Collective

The Creativity Found Collective is a promotional and networking membership for artists and crafters who share their creative skills with grown-ups through workshops, online courses, products or subscriptions. It is also a membership for business-support enterprises who use their expertise to help those artists and crafters to grow their businesses.

We promote their offerings on the website and connect them with a network of like-minded business owners. 

All of this is backed up by the Creativity Found podcast, in which I chat with grown-ups who have found or re-found their creativity later in life.

You can find out more about the Creativity Found Collective membership here.

And don't forget, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.