Why You Need to Attend Conferences
Why should we attend conferences? I mean, you just spend money to sit there and not really learn anything. If this has been your past experience with conferences, then you are probably going to the wrong conferences. In this post I hope to show you the benefits of going to conferences in and outside of your industry.
Networking
This is the #1 reason to go to a conference, PERIOD. You have hundreds or thousands of people meeting in one place. This presents a great opportunity to get to know them face to face and build relationships. Every conference I attend, I make it a point to introduce myself to the instructors and exchange personal contact information. Over the years, I have built a huge network of people I actively rely on for advice, services, or support. Without this network, I can honestly say my business would not be as far along as it is.
Learn New Skills and See New Tech
Usually at conferences there are always two things; education and vendors. The classes are generally taught by very knowledgeable instructors who are leaders in the area they are teaching. When selecting your classes, I always recommend classes that are higher than your level and at least one class outside of your comfort zone to challenge you. It also helps to select subject areas that you feel you are weak in. To help with that, read our blog post on SWOT.
The other aspect is the numerous vendors that show off products. This helps to keep us informed about new technology or products happening in our industry. Sometimes the vendors will have exclusive show deals that bundle or severely discount products they are selling. To help prevent you from buying something that is “new and shiny” that you don’t need, we recommend you refer back to your SWOT and see if that product will make you life better or will help to overcome a weakness or a threat.
Keep up to Date With Current Trends
Let’s face it, no one is an expert at marketing. Some people are very good but no one is an expert. By going to conferences you have the real potential to learn about market trends all over the country. You can hear what market campaigns are working and what are not. What social media platforms and strategies are working and so on. Learning these trends will put you leaps and bounds ahead of your competition.
If you liked this content and want to dive in more, ensure you watch our You Tube video and leave a comment with your opinions of conferences:
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I hope you have enjoyed this post. Do you want to dive deeper into how to be successful in new markets or are relocating your business and need some help? Come join our course Break into a New Market.
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