Tonight was my first conference that wasn't solely based on info products even though it was a product lanuch for an info software program. Because of my history in the info products niche, I "assumed" there would be a lot of people from that niche at the conference .... WRONG! There were a variety of people that were from all different types of niches in the marketing arena, so I felt a little out of sorts at first when people were asking me what "business I was in" and they had NO clue of the people's names I was mentioning. So even though I have my list of "hero's" and they have been (in my mindset) my "A" list since 1998, it was clear to me that they weren't some of these people's "A" list marketers and they had their own list as I soon learned. (When I say I have my own list, I am referring to Jimmy D. Brown, Mike, Mark Joyner, Joel Christopher, Ken Evoy, Marlon Sanders, Joel Comm, Ewen Chia etc. etc.) and some of these people seriously had NO clue whom I was talking about and to be honest I was a little stupified at first. Because to me, "how could you not know these guys?" They've been around "forever" in internet years lol
Tonight Joel Christopher and I were speaking about it and he was like "wow Laurie it sounds like you're on a different planet" lol and honestly that's how I felt at first. So for those of you that are planning on attending conferences in the future, don't expect that everyone whom is attending is going to be familiar with what info products are (if that's your niche). Don't expect that they are going to be familiar with the people in your niche (no matter how famous they are). Do expect them to be very welcoming and interested in what your niche is (some will be and some won't) and it's not insult, it's just an arena they are unfamiliar with.
Warm up to them and listen to what it is that they do, because some day you may need them as a contact .. who knows right? And do expect them to help you out if you have an issue - (they lost my registration) and if it weren't for the comradery that the internet marketing industry offers, I wouldn't have met one of the organizers to help me sort out that issue in the lobby lol
Bring a lot of business cards with you and network with other people attending other conferences where your venue is being hosted, you never know what kinds of leads you may encounter. ie: Tonight I met a gentleman from the mining industry in the lobby and he happened to ask what conference I was attending, so explained it to him and he gave me his card and asked me to send him some information. So even though it wasn't his niche per se, he was very interested in what was being offered and I didn't even give him a lot of information.
Well there you have it, some tips for those of you that hven't yet experienced a conference.
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