Jul 31, 2015
I’m sharing 10 tips (plus a few bonus ones, too!) for attending and getting the most out of your first blogging or social media conference. As regular listeners know, this year I spoke at the #WeAllGrow Summit by Latina Bloggers Connect and #BlogHer15: Experts Among Us. These were my first two blogging conferences, and I have plenty of ideas to share!
You may be thinking this episode isn’t relevant to you if you aren’t including blogging as part of your business model, but most of these tips are transferable to any conference or event where both colleagues and potential sponsors are in attendance.
The tips are:
These tips will help you prepare for, navigate, and then get the most value for your business out of the event.
Let’s talk about saving money on attendance. The primary reason I haven’t attended blogging conferences in the past is because I didn’t want to spend a lot on registration and travel. There are four great ways to save money on any conference you plan to attend.
And, it goes without saying that you’ll save a lot on travel by attending a local conference.
Once you’ve gotten registration (and travel plans, if necessary) out of the way, let’s talk about the other ways to get the most out of the event.
As yarn crafters, we often travel with yarn, hooks and needles, works-in-progress, and more. I’m definitely guilty of this. However…
Dress appropriately for your niche/brand. Fashion-oriented bloggers will need to dress differently from mommy bloggers. As a yarn-related business owner, don’t miss the opportunity to show off your handiwork. Handmade accessories (or clothing) are great conversation starters and help people to recognize you. There are hundreds (or thousands!) of people at these events, so everything you can do to stand out (while promoting your business) helps.
At each of these blogging conferences, someone came up to me and introduced themselves, knowing who I was based on recognizing something I made!
As an online business owner and blogger, you may think that everything is electronic, on your smartphone, or in the cloud. Actually, a lot of people are still dealing with paper!
Here are two bonus business card tips:
This is the hardest tip to follow! Most events will bombard you with emails, especially in the weeks leading up to the event. When you are stressed out about taking time off for a conference, it might seem best to skip reading these all together.
These emails often include special pre-conference events, opportunities to meet with sponsors, and other activities that may not be on the formal agenda. By deleted or skipping these, you may miss out on a lot!
Again, with the time pressures before the event, many bloggers just want to show up and dive right in. As an introvert, this strategy doesn’t work for me as I get easily overwhelmed once I’m on site.
Instead, I review the emails and the posted agenda and I create my own schedule. This may include workshops or panel events I plan to attend, meetings with sponsors, meetups, sightseeing, or meals with friends. I create two tiers in my schedule – activities that I must attend (like a one-on-one meeting with a potential sponsor) and activities that I might attend (like a workshop that looks sort of interesting). When I get on site, I’m very flexiblle about ditching those activities in the second category.
So, what are you hoping to get out of this event? Understanding your goal in advance will help you focus all of your preparations and your activities at the conference.
Some of the main reasons people attend blogging conferences are to:
Conferences can get expensive. If (ahem) you’re also a bit on the cheap side like me, you’ll find it tempting to have a very tight budget. Keep a cushion for a restaurant lunch with new friends (rather than the on-site panel lunch), sightseeing, or to purchase books or other goods from vendors and speakers.
If you’re also an introvert, you may also need to skip some of the larger meal events and eat alone, so having some leeway in your budget is helpful.
If you want to speak to sponsors and vendors, schedule your visits in the off hours. These will be different depending on the conference, but in general the night before the main conference “kick off,” during workshops or popular panels, and early in the morning are quieter times. Avoid the scheduled “expo break” times, if possible.
You may be losing out on a lot of work or family time to attend a conference, so what many people do is work up to the last minute and then try to immediately jump right back into the swing of things when they return.
If you’re traveling, you may be jet lagged or have a travel delay. Even if you are in your hometown, you’ll find that you may be exhausted after the conference. You’ll probably be doing a lot of walking, projecting your voice in loud spaces, etc. Be sure to add some recovery time into your schedule. You may find that prescheduling blog and social posts for the week of your return will give you some breathing room.
Another bonus tip: Preschedule some of your social media activity related to the conference, using the official conference hashtag. This will give you more time to focus on the conference and not on sharing while on site.
Separate yourself from the pack by following up with people after the conference. Build time into your schedule after the conference for following up with potential sponsors, collaborators, and others that you meet. Even if you do one or two emails a day, you will be doing more than most people.
Think about how/if you want to follow people you met at the event. I find Twitter lists very helpful because I can keep track of people I met at an event without going over my follower limits.
The Creative Yarn Entrepreneur Show is no longer broadcasting. Episodes are available as a service to the yarn community. This episode originally aired in July, 2015. Be aware that content may be outdated.
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