Is addiction to business conferences a thing?
If so, I’m an addict – and with good reason.
You may remember not long ago I was gushing about the Tony Robbins event I attend.
Well, last month I took it up a notch and attended another two amazing business conferences. I think it’s becoming an addiction.
And when I’m getting so much value, it’s no surprise I keep going back for more.
I’m a big believer that we never stop learning, especially when we’re running businesses. To grow and keep up, you must be willing to get out there and pursue training in your area of interest.
I got so much business gold from the Click, Engage, Convert conference and Gary Vee, that I want to treat you to the top tips I received.
Here are the gold nuggets from the Click, Engage, Convert conference
Organised by the amazing Loren Bartley of Impactiv8, Click, Engage and Convert was a social media and digital marketing conference. It was a full day with amazing speakers and well worth attending. If you’re into social media, you’ve got to check this one out.
1. Jinal Mehta: Optimising the customer experience with Google.
If you’re open to a little bit of stalking, you’re going to love this one. The latest and the greatest thing in augmented reality is Google lens. Google lens allows you to do fun things, like place furniture in your home to see how it fits (something I’ll use when I build our house!), or take a sneaky pic of someone wearing a dress you love, and Google will find it for you. Go and have a play, you’ll love it.
2. Hunter Boyle, Copilot Crew: 5 simple growth strategies that deliver big results
Having worked with brands big and small, from Getty Images, Tim Ferriss and Catch.com.au, Hunter helps businesses generate triple-digit gains. Showing us some easy to implement growth strategies, he drilled home that we need to have ‘less friction’ on a website to increase lead conversions and revenue. Something as simple as making the buy now button stand out can make all the difference.
3. Kate Toon: The future of search – is SEO finally dead?
Award-winning SEO copywriter and consultant, Kate Toon never fails to impress. She stunned the audience by revealing that 70% of all internet purchases start with a Google search – 70% - that’s huge! Kate highly recommends having a Google my Business page, and of course, knowing your audience and their intent will always be the key to ranking in Google. Craft questions they’d ask and write in their voice, making sure you get to the point.
4. And the others who rocked it…
Adam Tuttle from Active Campaign coined the phrase ‘Schmarketing’ – the merging of sales and marketing.
Dan Pinne from Organik Digital showed us how to create a really simple chatbot using messenger marketing.
Ben Amos from Engage Video Marketing explained how there is something about video that makes people sit up and pay attention.
And I can’t forget the lovely Loren Bartley who showed us how Facebook Ads need to be a part of our social media strategy, and how you must be testing, monitoring and refreshing your ads based on your results.
My next conference was Gary Vee - I was so excited
I won’t deny being a massive fan of Gary Vee. He was one of the first people to see the internet as the land of opportunity, taking his dad’s local liquor store into one of the first wine eCommerce websites. He grew his family business from $3 – 60M in sales over five years. Impressive hey?!
Gary believes we are now in a ‘personal brand world’ where people buy from people – be yourself and talk about what you like.
My top 3 takeaways from Gary Vee are:
1. Influencers: Work with influencers to increase your brand awareness. Influencers have more power because they’re able to not only create content but to create a meaningful distribution. Take advantage of influencers on Instagram – get in early before they start charging the big bucks, and target influencers that have around 30,000 to 400,000 followers.
2. Facebook advertising: Gary believes the most under-priced product right now is Facebook Advertising. Noting it’s the first social media platform to do both sales AND marketing for your business, he said we should all take advantage of it now while it’s still cheap.
3. YouTube retargeting: Again, one for the lovers of stalking! YouTube remarketing is when someone takes action on your YouTube Channel or videos, and you can save that person’s information to a list to market to them later. Did you know people could do that – I didn’t?!
Have you attended any conferences that left you wanting more?
When you attend business conferences that leave you wanting more, it’s easy to become addicted to learning. Have you attended any events lately that you loved? Please share!