#58 Take Advantage of Attending Events, Tips, Tricks and Opportunities.

I'm Kelly Jonner Byrne, the How Gal, and you're listening to The How Show, and today we are going to talk about attending conferences, attending events, what should you do, and how can you get the most out of it. I'm Kelly Jonner Byrne, the How Gal, and you're listening to The How Show. How stands for Help Others Win. My background spans from pageantry to politics, marketing to motorsports.

I love business and entrepreneurs. I'll tackle topics that every business professional can use to level up. If you want to grow bigger, well, you'll have to get better. I'm so glad that you've tuned into this short, sweet, and to the point program.

It's all good, so let's go. Well, welcome to the show today. I am so excited to talk about one of my favorite topics, and that is attending an event, going to a conference, meeting new people, creating sales opportunities. I love sales.

I love opportunities. I love networking. And I hope today I'll give you a couple of great points that will make you love it just as much as I do. Or if not, it'll make it a little bit more palatable.

So let's dive right in. I want to give you a couple of tips and tricks that I take to heart when I go to a conference and what to do. Just a few bullet points. So here is bullet point number one.

Don't ghost, let's toast. You can raise a virtual glass. You can send a quick thank you to the awesome connections you made. You know, a little bit of gratitude really does go a long way.

When I meet somebody, I always try to get their cell phone number because I want to show up in that little black box that you carry with you, that little cute case that you can't leave the house without because if you do, your life will end. No, I'm kidding, but really, nobody leaves without their cell phone. And when you have somebody's cell phone number, unless they are, you know, running on a burner phone, right, that cell phone number is something that sticks with you. I've had the same cell phone number forever and I love it.

It makes it simple. When somebody is at my fingertips, I can connect them. I can direct other people that they could do business with right to them. And here's my quick tip.

I also love absolutely love to grab a selfie and then I use that as the contact photo with whoever it is the new connection that I met Now in some situations it a little creepy you can really do that but at least collect their business card and more people today than ever before are putting their cell phone numbers on you know on their cards but make sure that you don't throw them into some random weird robo-texter. That is really poor form. So if you really want for people to remember you, then you need to reach out and you need to reach out right away.

Here is a fast fact. Do not add people to your mailing list and put them into email hell. That is not going to work for you long term. Every time I get on somebody's mailing list and they didn't ask me to be subscribed, I absolutely unsubscribe immediately or I mark it as spam because that's exactly what it is.

Just because you have my business card doesn't give you free reign or my cell phone doesn't give you free reign to put me into a robo dialing something or another or onto your email newsletter list. That is really poor form and I think it's bad manners. So if you really want to raise a toast and that virtual glass, send a thank you and celebrate with them on how great it was to meet them and offer them something. Offer them something that a tip or a trick or just something that makes the conversation more personal.

Okay, here's number two, social media a glow up. You know, share your conference highlights on social. Tag the friends and keep the good vibes rolling. You know, it does a couple of things.

It lends credence to the conference that you went to. And if you're going to the How Conference this year, shameless plug, we want you to absolutely use the hashtag TheHowConf24. We want you to use it because it's a great way that we can get the good vibes going before and after. I digress.

Back to the matter at hand. Who do you want to tag? Well, it's great to tag new people that you've met, but don't go crazy. I just read a post today where somebody tagged literally, I'm not even joking, like 30 people.

That just seemed a little bit over the top to me. At first glance, I thought the post was great. The photos were awesome. But when I read all of the tags, there was literally 30 people tagged I think that that is just I don know poor form If I was tagged with 30 people unless it was some great award or some extenuating circumstance to me it just looks like you know building your coffers of who you know and making it look cooler.

I think that that's not a great way to go. Here's a way that you can slide into the DM or inbox. This is, you know, tip number three. Follow up with those intriguing contacts.

Send a friendly message to keep that conversation going. No sales pitch. This is not the time. Just some genuine interest.

When you're doing the inbox thing, make sure that you offer something. It's really, really good. Now, that's different than sending a virtual thank you to a connection. Jumping into somebody's inbox or DMing them, it's a way to keep a conversation going that maybe you didn't quite have time for or somebody else butted into.

That happens. All right, number four, note-taking ninja moves. Yep, go through your notes. Before I ever leave a conference, I grab those cards and I make some sort of a note on them.

I have a great memory, but gosh, we're all aging and I might have something slip through the proverbial mental crack. We don't want to have that happen. So go through your notes and identify the nuggets of wisdom that you gained from someone that you met or take the notes that you took at the conference and maybe share with somebody that you know could really use it. Really, the fortune is in the follow-up.

And so many people don't follow up or they follow up just once. I want to share with you today the power of three follow-ups. I love the number three and I love the number 33. And I believe that if you follow up with people at least three times, you're much more likely to do business with them or for that referral to come your way.

And definitely three times a charm will make an impression. Just make sure you're making a good impression. Okay, next up, what we want to do is we want to be sure that you plan the next play. Don't let the day go by without planning what your next step is.

We want to be sure that you don't let the inspiration fade. Schedule a virtual coffee date, a chat, a Zoom call, a brainstorming session with someone that you've met. You want to keep the momentum alive and build on that conference magic And here my ninja tip One thing that I think is really important is if you meet someone and you know there somebody that you would really love to connect with offer to schedule a meeting first. Be the first one for the follow-up.

And if at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again. There are some of the very best connections that I have made because I've had the opportunity to grab a virtual coffee. And if that's too intrusive for a new contact, give them the option of a phone call. You can get so much done in a five-minute phone call if you are planned, prepared, and you've done the prep.

And also make sure that you get some perspective. Do a little background search on folks that you are meeting for the first time. You wouldn't want to put your foot in your mouth on a topic that maybe is something that is taboo to that person. And you'll know that if you do a little Google search.

I mean, gosh, you can Google search just about anything. Also, look for videos on YouTube that that person might have done. If they're a speaker or an author or a subject matter expert, learn a little bit more about them. You will be much more engaged.

You'll know more about where they're coming from, and you'll be able to give them better information on how you might collaborate together. Well, those are a few quick five tips that I have for you. Now, the How Conference is coming up. We are in our eighth event this year.

I just can't even believe that we've done seven other sold out events, and this one is going to prove to be absolutely amazing. Today, I want to give a little shout out to some of the sponsors of the How Conference. They have been so gracious over the years. One of my dear friends, Julie Finch at Finch Law, a big thank you.

I also want to shout out to our gold sponsors, Katie Hennen at Falco Media, Falco Creative Media Services. She's amazing. And all of the good folks at Helmuth and Johnson. In this world that we live in, you want to make sure that all your T's are crossed and the I's are dotted.

And when you are doing business, it's best to make sure that you're operating within all of the great parameters of the law and that you protect yourself and your business. I'm Kelly John Erburn, the How Gal. and you've been listening to The How Show, I hope that you'll give us a review, like us, follow us, and above all, always share.