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I've got a few questions for you all and your input would be greatly appreciated.
Have you ever attended an event? What was your experience at the event, if you did attend.
If you've never attended an event, what's your reasoning behind not going? :ie never heard about the event soon enough, financial constraints etc.
Are you one of the folks that believes all events are just a giant sales pitch with a bunch of uptight "guru's" pitching their wares, the whole time you're there?
I attend events and deeply believe it's the absolute best way to network in this industry. Especially in the product and affiliate space, networking is an absolute critical component of success
I attend event myself, but not often enough. When I first cut out on my own and when I needed to expand a bit more technically I would go to events to network. Hanging out in the Karaoke on Mike's cruise landed me enough work for all of 2009 and up to when we started the redevelopment of JVNP 2.0... I missed a few of the masterminds but the different group activities as well as dining with folks i've only heard about online definitely humanized the experience.
I am a huge fan of attending events and have been for the last 10 years +. My selection criteria for the events I do attend has been much more focused than previously because I've learned to focus on those opportunities that will grow my business and expand my circles of influence. I have nothing against attending multi-presenter events where products /coaching, etc...are pitched. What I advise my clients, coaching, and mastermind members to do is to prepare ahead of time, be strategic, and really know yourself and your business prior to attending! In that way, you can determine...what will grow their business while allowing them to maintain focus, not re-direct them toward the next "shiny object". The networking opportunities and real friendship are there if you take the time to be sincere, genuine, and give first.
As I've been involved in Online Marketing for a quite a long time, I've attended a fair number of events, seminars, bootcamps, workshops, etc.
Agreeing with Kenster, MJ and Walter ... nothing beats interacting face to face.
Though many seminars wind up being lean on real content and big on sales pitches, you can still salvage the weekend by creating new JV relationships ... most of it happens for me in the bars, restaurants and lobbies after the presentations are over, or during intermission. ;)
That's not to say there aren't plenty of incredibly informative ... perhaps even life changing, events out there. Just making it clear that even the most uninformative ones have the potential to be well worth the while, JV relationship wise.
Haven't been to one on a couple of years, largely due to working on JVNP 2.0 ... should make up for it a bit in 2012. ;)
Cheers,
Mike Sr
I am new to this entirely, so am still finding my way around. But, if these live events/seminars are anything like I have attended before for sales pitches then NO I won't be going!
There are some events out there that are heavily pitch fests and not focused on content and they don't have many experienced marketers in the crowd to build relationships with nor networking opportunities. With that said, most of the events I've been to have been phenomenal for networking.Quote:
Originally Posted by Emjay Burton
I didn't really want to name individual events but I will because this one in particular has been instrumental in helping me start and then grow in this business and I've gone the last handful of years....and the event is Yanik's Underground event. There are many presenters and it's very rare that there are any real "pitches" from the speakers...probably because it's mostly "underground" type guys that are killing it online and many times it's their first time on stage.
But, the audience is filled with people of all experience levels. Many are hugely successful marketers and of course many of the big gurus are there as well. The networking opportunity is massive. The great thing about this event in particular is that Yanik has all kinds of crazy fun activities that aren't even IM related, things like disco parties and stuff that are super fun and make "networking" super fun, friendly, a non-pressured
The thing to remember is the value of many events is therefore the networking, not even the actual presentations. Many times the conference room has less people in it than the hallways...because that's where people are meeting each other, talking biz, and establishing relationships.
If you go to a lot of the small-time local type events, the pure purpose is to sell to the crowd, but many of the big events out there (though expensive) are super networking opps
Just my two cents
Laurie... I attend events.
I find terrific value in them. I even attend events (like real estate or gaming) that are major conferences but have no direct relation to my own businesses.
Many events are pitch fests but that's almost preferred by me (if I'm the attendee, not the host). As an attendee, the worse the presentations, the more people are in the lounge. And 90% of the reason I attend an event is for the networking. That being said, as a host... I want people in seats so I aim to create the opposite.
Events build friendships, rapport, get your name out there... while also giving you privy to insider information from others you meet in lounges who had a few too many cocktails. And the networking can often produce IMMEDIATE sales that greatly outweigh the money and time costs of attending.
One of the reasons I don't attend as many as I should is I'm not a big fan of traveling the world. If I do go to a place, I'll fly there and aim to say a month or three... but the 3, 5, 7 day trips for conferences aren't appealing to me.
If you're comfortable, perhaps you can share what event it was that you attended. As everyone has stated, some events are giant sales pitches (I really don't care, because I'm there to network) and if the speakers interest me I'll listen, if not I'm out hamming it up in the lobby with the rest of the crew - which I did do at one event Rob and I attended a couple years ago - I sat and talked to one person in particular, we had some wine, food and did a lot of talking about business.Quote:
Originally Posted by Emjay Burton
Local events - I know the guys here in Vancouver that host our local events aren't really pitchers, they do actually have value in their events. If one appeals to me, then I'll go, if not, I just don't, because it's local, so you're meeting the same people. Local events would really depend on who's running the group and if the other attendee's are going to be of value in your business. You always go on the premise that someone MAY know someone that can be of benefit to your business - you never who knows who.
We're pretty lucky here in Vancouver, we've got a lot of heavy hitters and experienced internet marketer's, our biggest problem is getting everyone to converge on a set schedule to do an event lol
Internet Marketing (as with any other business) to me, is at the very least, 50% relationship building (80% of which is networking at events) and if you're not willing to do that, you will find you may have some success or not much at all.
And I'll toss in a P.S. here - not all guru's are uptight pretentious snobs trying to get every cent you have in your pocket, in my experience most are pretty decent and fun folks.
Rob,
I was going to toss your bit about travelling in my initial post, but I thought I wouldn't bug you for once about it LOL!
Hi Laurie, I attend every event that I can afford to go to.I find terrific value in them because I believe it is the best place to get your name out there and build relationships.
Definitely nothing like it for coming in physical contact with a large number of potential JV Partners of all levels of experience and success in a concentrated period of time. Getting to know one or two new acquaintances can easily turn into a number of potential JV relationships through referral and introduction. But I would seriously recommended working on those at your level or slightly above if you're new rather than chase the Big Dogs all weekend. Grow and work with your circle the right way and you'll grow right along with it. And make sure your own house is in order before inviting anyone else in. ;)
Cheers,
Mike Sr
