What is a Cook Group?

Have you been trying to supplement your income, but having trouble getting starting? Maybe you want to break into reselling, or learn new ways to leverage your money to create passive income? These are all areas that a cook group can help you with. Read on for a deeper dive into these emergent communities.

So what does a cook group do?

Well, at the end of the day, you are always responsible for putting in the work because no one is going to make money for you. A cook group is a resource for you to constantly draw from. This can be in the form of tips or special alerts to things worth investing in. A good group will focus on outside-the-box methods for its members to profit, the kind of stuff they're unlikely to find on their own.

For example, everyone knows that Pokemon cards can be worth big money, but were you there for MetaZoo's kickstarter? A $100 pledge could have bought a first edition set, which could have resold for $10,000 at its peak. This is the value of having experienced resellers in your network, and an example of the kind of knowledge shared within a cook group.

But groups are also places of community. Fellow members can pool their knowledge and resources to answer any questions you can come up with, and no matter what situation you find yourself in, someone else has been in your shoes and can offer up advice.

Sometimes, members will come up with new methods to make money, and after being vetted by experienced team members, these methods can be shared with the group. This is a net positive for everyone involved, as the group profits from the ingenuity of these members, and they are typically rewarded quite well for a clever method.

Types of groups and how to choose one

Groups will typically land on somewhere on the spectrum between specialized and general.

Specialized groups focus on one or two areas of expertise, like sneakers or real estate. Members are typically quite experienced and knowledgeable, and have sizable amounts invested in their businesses. Usually, discussions center around maximizing profitability and increasing efficiency, and will often assume that members have sizable amounts of capital to invest.

Conversely, generalist groups feature a wider knowledge base, with an emphasis on straightforward methods that require less upfront capital. Oftentimes, these are the most active groups, and while not everything posted in them may interest you, generally there will be something you want to pursue on a regular basis. Generalist groups will also put a premium on approachability and providing resources for learning. It's important that members have everything they need to become experts on a topic, and feel like the group is a safe space to ask questions and grow.

Additionally, groups will differ in the tone of discussion. Some groups will prefer a very focused and professional discourse. Usually they will eschew the term "cook group", referring to themselves as an "investment community" or something simpler. More focused conversations can cut down on noise in the discussion, and make it easier to see relevant information. However, these groups can sometimes come across as cold, and newer members may be uncomfortable engaging in conversations.

It's important to remember that successful groups are always a two-way street. While members rely on the group's team to provide content and resources for making money, the team also wants members to engage with each other and foster a genuine community. Cook groups rely on the exchange and flow of information between people to thrive, and it's much easier for that to happen in a space where members know and trust each other.

When choosing a cook group to join, weigh what matters to you and what you seek to gain from it. If you're already experienced with running your own businesses, and you're looking for likeminded individuals to take things to the next level, a group focused on your interests may be ideal. However, if you are not sure where to get started, or are open to trying new things as long as they are profitable, a generalist group is likely the way to go.

Pricing and the value of exclusivity

If you've already looked into joining a group, you may have noticed quite a bit of disparity in pricing. Some groups will charge $10 a month, others upwards of $100. Some groups seem impossible to join, with spots opening up very rarely, or never. Others are always open, and can be joined at any time. There's quite a bit of subjectivity over what a fair price is.

Before we go into that though, let's take a quick look at exclusivity, and why it matters to a group.

Simply put, a group owner's goal is to provide value back for their members. How they define that value is subjective, but it's usually part of their pitch to new members: "Join this group and we will teach you X" or "We will show you how to buy X and resell for Y."

Group owners will choose to operate a private group because it allows them to control this information and sell it for profit. If they were to post every guide, tip, and walkthrough on their public social media, no one would want to pay for their group, and the owner loses out on money. Pretty simple right?

So, we've established that a group needs to be private and exclusive for it be profitable for its owners. But how private? And how exclusive? That's the tricky bit. Here's something important to consider:

For every person who has access to a particular method, the method is made worse/harder.

This is the single most important factor that a group needs to contend with. If they post a great deal, like an item that's 90% off, it is diminished if only a small portion of the group can take advantage of the deal, because they are competing with the rest of the group. This holds true for much of the rest of the group as well, for every advantage the group gives to its members, those members are now competing against each other. Too many people fighting over the same product/method/sale essentially nullifies the advantage of the group.

So that's a partial explanation for why some groups have much higher prices than others. From a group owner's perspective, there's no difference in profit between 1000 people paying $25 a month and 500 paying $50. Yet the smaller group will be much more popular, and the members will be happier despite paying a higher fee, as they are able to leverage everything posted in the group without needing to fight over it. After all, it only takes 1-2 profitable flips to make that $50 back, and a good group will provide those and much more over the pay period.

Remember to have fun

If you decide to join a cook group, remember that it's a community before anything. Everyone there is united by a shared interest to make money and grow as a person, and making connections with others can be vital to both of those goals.

Don't be afraid to ask questions, and don't discard answers that come from other members. Many groups that have been around for years have members that were there from the start, and their contributions have likely shaped the group in its current form. Whether that's submitting a flip or two, writing down a guide for a method they use, or just making jokes when things are quiet, community is built from the ground up.

Make it a goal to use the resources provided. Sometimes people will expect joining a cook group to simply be a golden ticket to print money. The reality is that while crazy opportunities do come up now and then, typically you will rely on humbler methods to create income.

Rather than let those slip past you because they don't interest you, make it a challenge to take advantage of everything you see. If it gets sent around, it means there is potential for it to be profitable, and its always up to you to see how far you can take it.

As always, have fun, stay safe and do your own research.