I’ve been in the SEO industry for nearly 7 years. I started in the industry when I was hired to learn SEO on the fly for a real estate marketing & training company. I moved on to become the SEO Manager for Network Solutions, the original domain registrar. After a few years at that position, I gave in to the alluring call of self employment and started Direct Match Media. Throughout my entire SEO career though, two of the best decisions I ever made was to attend and then speak at SEO conferences.
I’m not the first to say it, but the most important part of any conference isn’t the information shared in the sessions. What made conferences so valuable to me and my career was the connections I made while networking at the conferences. Meeting others in the industry, sharing experiences, discussing common problems, and developing friendships broadened my horizons, literally over night. I was suddenly able to verify my hunches and experiences with others practicing SEO on a daily basis. Information that would never be shared on forums, blogs, or Twitter was readily shared over a drink or dinner.
I can confidently say I wouldn’t be where I am today, had I not attended multiple search marketing conferences. So how can you get the same kind of quality from attending search conferences? Well I’m glad you asked because I have 7 quick and easy tips for Search Conference Success.
Choose Your Conference Carefully
I’ve attended several different conferences and the only two that have achieved “must-attend” status for me are BlueGlass and Pubcon. BlueGlass offers unparalleled intimacy in the conference space. Each event offers a limited number of tickets which means every single attendee can easily connect with the rest of the attendees as well as the speakers themselves. I honestly have never seen a conference where the top minds in the industry are so easily accessible. And no, I’m not including myself in that top minds in the industry category. I’m pretty sure the BlueGlass folks are only letting me speak because I’ve been to so many of their events that they just assumed I must have been on their speakers roster or something.
Anyway if you’ve never attended a BlueGlass conference, stop what you’re doing and register for BlueGlass TPA on September 26th and 27th. Go ahead, I promise this post will still be here when you get back.
Pubcon is almost the exact opposite of BlueGlass, but in a very good way. While BlueGlass offers unparalleled intimacy, PubCon Vegas (also open now for registration) offers an incredibly wide array of talented people to connect with, at a whole host of dinners, events, and parties on the Las Vegas strip. While I would never pass up the intimacy BlueGlass offers, PubCon’s size means that people in all sorts of industries and all kinds of expertise will be converging and making connections. And they don’t have to be shallow connections either. Some of my fondest PubCon memories are 5am breakfasts with a handful of people I’m now proud to call my friends.
There are so many search marketing conferences to choose from, that unless you want to be on the road more than you are at home implementing the things you’ve learned and leveraging the connections you’ve made, you simply MUST pick and choose which ones to attend. For my money, BlueGlass and PubCon are the cream of the crop.
Have Goals
As with any business activity you undertake, you should have a goal for what you’d like to get out of the search conference you attend. Do you want to meet and talk with certain people? Do you want to learn more about local search or expand your knowledge about PPC?
Don’t be a passive participant, no matter which conference you decide to attend. Make a list of the things you’d like to achieve or learn, and then take the initiative to make sure you do learn or achieve those things. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to leave some room for the unexpected. Some years you might discover you only accomplished half of your goals, but the unplanned portion of your conference experience was worth much more than anything you could have planned. But by having a plan of action you’ll ensure that at a minimum, you get what you wanted out of each and every conference you attend.
Talk to People
I know not everyone is naturally social. However, it’s going to be incredibly difficult for you to make the kinds of lasting connections that make conferences so valuable, if you don’t talk to anyone.
If you’re attending the conference in a group, or if you know a few of the other attendees, be careful not to close yourself off to other connections. Get outside your group of friends or co-workers and meet new people. If you have trouble getting the conversation started, ask them what they do. Nothing will get an internet marketer talking like asking them to tell you what kinds of exciting things they’re working on. If you can’t figure out a way to jump into a conversation or introduce yourself to that person you wanted to talk to…
Buy People Drinks
There’s no more effective ice-breaker at a search conference than an offer to buy someone a drink. It’s almost a cliche at this point, but we web geeks like to drink. If you offer to buy someone a drink, I guarantee you they’ll talk to you. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you’ll be able to get Matt Cutts drunk enough to spill the secrets of Panda, but a drink is a quick and easy (although not always cheap) way to break the ice.
I once offered to buy a drink for a guy that had been in AA for several years. To this day I’d call him one of my closest friends in the industry and I still can’t remember if he took me up on the offer for a coke instead.
Take Notes on Business Cards
At any networking event if you talk to a few people, you’re going to wind up with a pocket full of business cards. And if you’re anything like me, you won’t be able to remember who half of them are from. Now I’m probably worse at remembering names than most of you, but even social savants are going to have a hard time remembering who belongs to which business card after a long night of networking that may or may not involve a few drinks.
One easy way I’ve found to help me remember why I have any business card in my pocket is to simply write on them. It can be something as simple as “crazy Hawaiian shirt” or why I want to contact the person later, perhaps “content vendor” or “PR guy” etc. If you meet someone you REALLY need to make sure to remember, take a minute to drop yourself a quick email or voice message from your phone. Even if it’s slurred, I promise it will help jog your memory in the morning.
Attend the Sessions
Gasp! Look, I know the most valuable part of the conference is networking, and there are plenty of conference veterans that don’t attend most of the sessions. But there’s still valuable information to be gained from most of the sessions, and “Hey great session today” is a fantastic ice breaker.
There’s a saying that little hinges swing big doors, and that’s exactly why I recommend attending a majority of the sessions. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve gotten a small nugget of information from a session that has paid off for years afterwards. I remember specifically a session with Michael Gray where he mentioned something in passing about how he handles a large number of 301 redirects. The comment caught my attention and I asked him for more information after the session was over. That single conversation was worth the money Network Solutions had paid to send me to the conference.
Don’t Pitch Unless Asked
Giving every person you come into contact with your sales pitch is NOT networking. Look we’re all in this game to make money, but networking events are not the time or place to make your sales pitch. Search marketers are some of the most skeptical people I know, and we also tend to be very vocal online. Even if we’re your target demographic, don’t piss us off by wasting our time with a sales pitch when we’re trying to enjoy our lunch. That’s what the exhibitor hall is for.
Networking, making connections, having actual conversations with people will likely result in FAR more leads for your company, and a much better reputation. Take of your sales hat, and actually have some conversations with people. At some point we’ll probably ASK you to tell us what you do or even to give us your sales pitch. I can’t count the number of times I’ve met someone, found out their company offers a service I’m interested in and have said “Awesome, give me your pitch!” I can tell you that’s a much better interaction than the guy that tried to pitch me his companies’ services while I was trying to use the restroom between sessions (I wish I was kidding).
If it sounds like I’m trying to sell you on attending BlueGlass TPA and PubCon Vegas, that’s probably because I am. I’m not trying to sell you on them because I’m speaking at both (I have an ego but it’s not quite THAT big), or because I get paid for promoting the conferences (I don’t). It’s because these two conferences have been incredibly valuable to me both professionally and personally. They’ve helped me make thousands of dollars, and friendships I value more than money. So go register today, and remember to come back here and thank me afterwords.
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image source: kaptain kobold