Should You Invest in Attending a Live Event? This Will Help You Decide.

About 5 years ago I decided that it was time for me to invest in attending some live events where I could learn from and network with people who were highly successful online Entrepreneurs. I noticed that many of my more successful colleagues did this on a regular basis but I was a bit scared about making the investment.

After all, I had to take into consideration the cost of the ticket, airfare, hotel, meals and time away from my business and I wondered if it would really give me a return on my investment. I had no criteria to use to measure this but since I liked the speakers I took a leap of faith.

My first event was an Internet Marketing seminar and conference and there were some big names that I’d followed for a while. It was in Austin Texas and I convinced a friend and colleague to join me there. Maybe I was just lucky but it turned out to be so much better than I’d anticipated. I walked away with pages and pages of notes on new strategies, and met some amazing people. One of them was Willie Crawford, a marketing and joint venture expert who runs a 7-figure business and is highly respected. We are friends to this day and his generosity is inspiring. I also met several women who became part of a mastermind group that helped me grow my business by leaps and bounds. Plus those few days away from the office re-energized me and renewed my excitement about the possibilities for my business.

I was hooked. But the next event I attended was disappointing. Not much content but endless “pitches”. Now I started to think seriously and strategically about what I wanted in an event so I made the right choices. I developed a list and when eventually I started planning my own events I relied on this list to create the type of event people would be happy to attend. I’d like to share the list with you.

What to look for in a live event

1) Workshops and presentations that relates to your business – Is the subject matter something that will really move your business forward. Will this teach you something really valuable?

2) Highly qualified instructors – are the speakers or instructors experiencing the kind of success you want or do they have an area of expertise that you don’t and they could teach you something you need to learn.

3) Lots of high value content-minimal pitches—There’s nothing wrong with a speaker telling attendees how they can go deeper with her after an event, but you come there to learn. Solid content is what you want.

4) Great networking – This is CRUCIAL. Most events I now attend end up bringing thousands of dollars into my business, even when I don’t speak there. How? From the new joint ventures and collaborations that result from meeting new people and networking. The networking at a live event is not possible anywhere else. It far surpasses what you can accomplish online or even on the phone. Nothing beats connecting with other successful people in person.

5) The integrity and reputation of the organizer—does the organizer have a reputation for holding high quality events and are they passionate about delivering a rewarding, welcoming, memorable experience? This is important, because this will be reflected in every aspect of the event.

Try making a list of successful people in your niche that you’d like to meet and skills you’d like to master and see where these come together in an upcoming event then put aside a budget to attend. Set some event goals, like finding 3 joint venture partners and really work on achieving your goal.