nihalsad
Elite Member
- Jan 29, 2011
- 1,648
- 3,452
As some of you know I like to attend almost all networking events and over the years they have proven to be very profitable for me. In this thread I will explain why you should be attending networking events like Ungagged and how you can make a killing while doing so.
Intro
Networking Events/Conferences attract individuals from all over the world and a bunch of speakers who are experts in their fields but what makes them special is each and every one of them is a potential business partner.
Things you need to prepare for the event
1. Business cards - At least five hundred to a thousand. You will be surprised how quickly you run out of business cards as you will end up handing them out left and right.
2. Flyers (If applicable) - Have a clear call to action about what your business does, how they can be a partner and all the contact details.
3. A team - I would recommend going with a few people as it always helps having someone with you for you to be comfortable around thousands of unknown people
4. A pitch - Have a pitch ready for what you have to offer and making partnership deals
What networking event should you start with?
If you are new to this I would recommend you start with Ungagged and the reason being you will end up meeting quite a few people that you know from the forum. That will really help you familiarize with the environment but there are tons to choose from like Affiliate Summit, Leads Con and so on but for starters I would recommend Ungagged.
The Method
Assuming you chose Ungagged which lasts for three days, make sure you are there on the first day as that's when there will be the most people attending you will be able to get a lot more traction than the 2nd and 3rd day and I will explain why in a bit.
So once you are there make sure you talk to anyone and everyone. I know it might be hard for some of you as you might feel a little shy but it's really simple.
Let me break it down the introduction phase for you-
Hi,
I am ________ the CEO of Company ______. we do "X service". What company are you with?
And there you go the conversation in on.
Follow up questions include -
Are you interested in a partnership? Would you like to do a joint venture? I think we might be able to work together etc.
Next up learn what they do and see if there is any coloration there and even if there isn't give him/her your business card and take theirs but even people who are not in your industry will be useful for you.
So even before you attend the event have your product ready either it be SEO, Web Design, PPC or whatever it is that you do have everything sorted out.
So how is all this gonna make you money?
1. Most of people attending already have a huge client base or do some sort of affiliate marketing. So what you initially have to do is offer them X amount of the revenue in a form of a partnership and get them to promote your product and in return you do the same. If you don't have a big client base don't worry everyone attending are open to business opportunities and will be more than happy to do a profit share.
2. Setup some kind of affiliate portal with HasOffers or any other alternative and get them in there as affiliates. You would be surprised how many super affiliates attend events like Ungagged and even if you can get one board you could be looking at thousands of sales and a ton of additional revenue.
You should have quite a few different products in different verticals ready but you will find a few partners/affiliates who only work in certain verticals. Some of you might have some of sort of idea how this works but a lot of you don't have a clue on how powerful networking events like Ungagged can be.
Final Points
1. Make sure you give out your business cards to everyone.
2. Attend all the exhibits. Every one of them will have amazing offers and discounts. For example one of the products I purchased goes for $1500 but the CEO was there and after talking with him he gave me a 50% lifetime discount and 1 free month to take a trial run. An offer I would never get if I hadn't been to the event.
3. Get all the goodie bags they have. I mean hey it's free stuff, why not?
4. Go to all the after parties. Once you are there and if you do what I said above you will likely be invited to a ton of afterparties with open bar and all the fun stuff. Go to the biggest one and make sure you have your business cards. This is where it's much easier to talk to people as it's not as packed as you will get a lot time to discuss ideas. Also this is the reason why the attendance goes down on day 2 and 3. Everyone who attends these events party so hard that by day 3 they can't even make it there. At least that's what happend to me.
5. Dress sharp. I know this is obvious but make sure you are in a suit as you wanna look as professional as possible.
Conclusion
Follow the points I mentioned above and if you a solid business/product you are all set. Once you are done with the event in the following week get all the emails you got from the event on file and make a VA email each and every one of them with personalized email. This has proven to be very effective for me. If you do everything right you will have a ton of new business partners or an army of affiliates promoting your service/products. Also, the reason I used Ungagged as my primary example is because a lot of you unfamiliar with other events and this should be a good start but the same applies for all similar networking events/conferences.
Intro
Networking Events/Conferences attract individuals from all over the world and a bunch of speakers who are experts in their fields but what makes them special is each and every one of them is a potential business partner.
Things you need to prepare for the event
1. Business cards - At least five hundred to a thousand. You will be surprised how quickly you run out of business cards as you will end up handing them out left and right.
2. Flyers (If applicable) - Have a clear call to action about what your business does, how they can be a partner and all the contact details.
3. A team - I would recommend going with a few people as it always helps having someone with you for you to be comfortable around thousands of unknown people
4. A pitch - Have a pitch ready for what you have to offer and making partnership deals
What networking event should you start with?
If you are new to this I would recommend you start with Ungagged and the reason being you will end up meeting quite a few people that you know from the forum. That will really help you familiarize with the environment but there are tons to choose from like Affiliate Summit, Leads Con and so on but for starters I would recommend Ungagged.
The Method
Assuming you chose Ungagged which lasts for three days, make sure you are there on the first day as that's when there will be the most people attending you will be able to get a lot more traction than the 2nd and 3rd day and I will explain why in a bit.
So once you are there make sure you talk to anyone and everyone. I know it might be hard for some of you as you might feel a little shy but it's really simple.
Let me break it down the introduction phase for you-
Hi,
I am ________ the CEO of Company ______. we do "X service". What company are you with?
And there you go the conversation in on.
Follow up questions include -
Are you interested in a partnership? Would you like to do a joint venture? I think we might be able to work together etc.
Next up learn what they do and see if there is any coloration there and even if there isn't give him/her your business card and take theirs but even people who are not in your industry will be useful for you.
So even before you attend the event have your product ready either it be SEO, Web Design, PPC or whatever it is that you do have everything sorted out.
So how is all this gonna make you money?
1. Most of people attending already have a huge client base or do some sort of affiliate marketing. So what you initially have to do is offer them X amount of the revenue in a form of a partnership and get them to promote your product and in return you do the same. If you don't have a big client base don't worry everyone attending are open to business opportunities and will be more than happy to do a profit share.
2. Setup some kind of affiliate portal with HasOffers or any other alternative and get them in there as affiliates. You would be surprised how many super affiliates attend events like Ungagged and even if you can get one board you could be looking at thousands of sales and a ton of additional revenue.
You should have quite a few different products in different verticals ready but you will find a few partners/affiliates who only work in certain verticals. Some of you might have some of sort of idea how this works but a lot of you don't have a clue on how powerful networking events like Ungagged can be.
Final Points
1. Make sure you give out your business cards to everyone.
2. Attend all the exhibits. Every one of them will have amazing offers and discounts. For example one of the products I purchased goes for $1500 but the CEO was there and after talking with him he gave me a 50% lifetime discount and 1 free month to take a trial run. An offer I would never get if I hadn't been to the event.
3. Get all the goodie bags they have. I mean hey it's free stuff, why not?
4. Go to all the after parties. Once you are there and if you do what I said above you will likely be invited to a ton of afterparties with open bar and all the fun stuff. Go to the biggest one and make sure you have your business cards. This is where it's much easier to talk to people as it's not as packed as you will get a lot time to discuss ideas. Also this is the reason why the attendance goes down on day 2 and 3. Everyone who attends these events party so hard that by day 3 they can't even make it there. At least that's what happend to me.
5. Dress sharp. I know this is obvious but make sure you are in a suit as you wanna look as professional as possible.
Conclusion
Follow the points I mentioned above and if you a solid business/product you are all set. Once you are done with the event in the following week get all the emails you got from the event on file and make a VA email each and every one of them with personalized email. This has proven to be very effective for me. If you do everything right you will have a ton of new business partners or an army of affiliates promoting your service/products. Also, the reason I used Ungagged as my primary example is because a lot of you unfamiliar with other events and this should be a good start but the same applies for all similar networking events/conferences.