Top 10 Tips on How to Smash it at a Conference
Make Things, Make Sense Podcast
Episode 20
Play in Spotify App
Introduction
Welcome to this episode of MAKE THING MAKE SENSE, today we make sense of conferences and trade shows – specifically on How to successfully market yourself at a conference.
Whether you run your own business, or are part of the sales or business development teams, conferences and trade fairs are an important outing for most businesses. Whether you are attending, exhibiting or hosting a panel or speaking, your presence at a conference is not enough. You need to know how to work the room, how to step out of your comfort zone and mostly, how to sell to people trying to sell to you.
I know people that love conferences and I know people that find this work extremely taxing, mentally and physically, it doesn’t matter if you are an extrovert or an introvert. It matters how prepared you are!
With conference season kicking off, I’m excited to introduce the conference king himself. He has spoken at a conference every month for the past 6 months across Europe. He leads a team of superstars through each conference, each with their own goals and strategies. He’s written articles, created videos and even given talks on how to tackle a conference head on.
I’m lucky to call him my business partner, Josh. Here’s a very warm welcome back to the show.
Josh’s 10 Tips
1. Prepare what you re going to wear on the night before, have a good night sleep and healthy breakfast.
2. Clear your calendar from all other meetings. Don’t be that guy stuck to their phone trying to sort out office emails and missing out on opportunities.
3. Set very clear objectives of what you are trying to achieve at the conference, make it SMART / “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
- Do your homework before, make sure to plan before.What are you aiming to achieve? What would you like to learn
- Who do you want to meet? Pre-Schedule Your Meetings
4. Understand your audience, which of their problems you are able to solve. Questions you should be asking yourself include:
- How can we give value to our customers or potential customers?
- What pain points can we solve for them?
5. Use social media to promote yourself – connect with people, post interesting content during conferences.
6. Draw people’s attention and be confident in starting a new conversation. Don’t expect other conference attendees to come and speak to you. Find opportunities to start conversations.
7. Focus on developing relationships not just on selling. Listen, and don’t always speak about yourself. You must also know when to tweak your approach depending on who you are speaking to but always be true to your brand and recognisable as who you are.
8. If you give anything away make is useful, eco friendly and connected to your brand values.
9. If you are given the opportunity to be a speaker – this is a fantastic opportunity to smash it. Take it. Prepare a lot. Shine.
10. Don’t forget your business cards
To really help with Tips 3 & 4 – SMART goals and your Target audience we have an awesome free giveaway below to identify who exactly your target audience is. That’s our Audience Persona Builder – make sure that you and your team are clear on your target audiences and only focus on them at the conference.
Don’t get distracted!
