Conference Networking Tips to Change Your Life!
Ready for some expert conference networking tips to change your life?!
After attending and speaking at over 20 conferences this year alone, we wanted to give you our top 8 tips on how to max out an event – because they honestly have for us, even as just attendees.
We let you into our secrets on how we prepare for conference networking, ways to boost your confidence when you’re there and what do after the event to make maximum impact on the people you met.
Networking is an investment of your time AND money – so let’s make sure you get the most from it!
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In this video ☝️ we give you some expert conference networking tips to change your life!
They’ll guarantee you make connections with the right people and make the right impression at a conference. Networking is an investment of your time AND money – so let’s make sure you get the most from it!
We let you into our secrets on how we prepare for conference networking, ways to boost your confidence when you’re there and what do after the event to make maximum impact on the people you met.
Attending a conference can be expensive and take a lot of time out of the business as you travel, but the rewards are second to none and personally we have got so much from events.
Including… making new friends, getting guest blog opportunities, meeting amazing celebrities, getting new clients, geeking out with peers, learning about new opportunities, meeting our clients and strengthening those relationships, getting speaking gigs… all in addition to actually learning from the talks.
Where else could all these things happen…?
- Meeting celebrities like Tina Fey
– Meeting mentors who have changed our life
– Picking up new clients, and
– Getting speaking gigs from spending time with the right people…
After attending and speaking at over 20+ conferences this year alone, we wanted to give you our top 8 conference networking tips on how to max out an event, so you come back feeling like it changed your life!
Act on Opportunities
When we were at the Youpreneur summit, we were invited to a meal ConvertKit was hosting that we knew nobody going to. It would have been easy to say, “no thank you”, and go have dinner with our friends, but we knew there was still time to do that. So, we said YES and actually met some super cool people, which might lead to something awesome in the future!
Moral of the story? Always be open!
Have a flexible schedule
It’s easy to fill your calendar with back to back sessions and stuff to do. But don’t jam pack your schedule. Give some freedom for wandering and mingling, and having those all important serendipitous moments where you just happen to be in the right place at the right time and get chatting to someone who could open up incredible opportunities for you!
BUT have a plan
Yes, be flexible we don’t wing it.
Know what’s going on where, especially all the networking events, to give yourself some structure. If the organisers have things planned then be a part of it.
You could also plan WHO you want to meet, and arrange to meet at a pre-organised event.
Have some conversation starters ready
If you’re an introvert there’s some key questions that you can have ready to ask people you meed, such as asking them how they’re enjoying the event, what they’re looking forward to and if they’ve been before.
Even something as simple as “Hey, what’s your name?” can be quite effective 😁 YES – bit boring, but a good starter question!
Have a system for following up
After the event you’re going to want to follow up, even it if was just to say, ‘nice to meet you’.
You’re probably going to meet a lot of people, so just making a note somewhere of peoples’ names and what they do is a good idea. You could scribble on their business card, or take a photo of them on your phone.
Say hello to the staff 👋
The staff and/or organisers are great people to talk to AND to thank for putting on an awesome event.
They’re also great people to build relationships with as they’re are in the know! If you want an introduction to somebody then often they are the best people to ask!
Keep up the energy!
This is one of the most important but often overlooked of our conference networking tips.
Attending conferences is tiring! Eat healthily and try and get plenty of sleep so that you can max out the social occasions.
The networking events are where it’s at!
Book time off after the event
You’ll need time to digest all that you’ve learnt, to brainstorm and plan.
It’s also really important to follow up with people you met there and really invest in striking up lasting relationships.
What are your biggest struggles at conferences? Do you have any conference networking tips that we haven’t mentioned?