Well it’s official, TRAFFIC is less than 30 days away and that means that Domain Investors around the world are gearing-up for an exciting week of learning, networking, and my favorite – doing deals.
I have been to more domain conferences than I can count on one hand and over the years have learned a few ways to optimize my time to make sure I get the most value out of each and every day.
If you spend your time wisely you can use every conference as a major accelerator for you business. On the flip side, if you don’t spend your time doing things that truly impact your business you can leave a conference without getting much accomplished.
Below are three tips that I’ve used over the years to make sure I get the maximum value out of a domain conference.
1) Set firm goals – this is listed first for a reason. If you don’t set goals you won’t be able to put together a solid plan for getting the most out of a conference. I’ve seen too many people go to conferences with no plan, just hoping that something good will come of it. While they might have lots of great conversations and meet plenty of interesting people if you don’t set a goal you won’t have that sense of purpose that you need to really take your business to the next level.
Goals should be based on numbers and should most-likely be closely related to things that drive revenue. If you make money selling domains, you should have a clear idea of specific companies you want to talk to, deals you want to structure, etc. Then set specific goals like, I want to meet with these five companies and make sure that each of them will list at least two of my domains for sale over the next three months. Be as specific as you can, that way you can check in with yourself mid-conference and determine if you’re 50% of the way towards your goal or if you’re only 10% of the way there.
2) Don’t feel like you have to attend every single session – I see many new domain investors that push themselves to attend every single conference session. Conferences have lots of incredibly interesting sessions, just make sure that you don’t also miss out on networking opportunities and one-on-one meetings with specific people that can help you hit your goals.
My rule of thumb is to carefully comb the conference schedule and pick out the sessions that are directly relevant to my business goals. I then schedule my meetings around those. You can’t do it all and if you try to you might miss out on some of the things that will make the biggest impact on your business.
3) Don’t be a drunken idiot – too blunt? Well it should be because without fail I see someone fall into this category just about every night at a conference. Remember, you represent your business, and yes, you should party and have a great time with everyone else, just know your limits and try to keep the lampshade off of your head.
The easiest way to do this is to avoid things like shots and drinks with lots of hard alcohol in them (i.e. no Long Island Iced Tea or Margaritas) late at night. Just stick with good old beer and drink it slowly.
