I love going to conventions. They’re a ton of fun, I get to meet great people, and I get to learn a lot of interesting information. They’re almost always worth the cost. Today we’re going to look at the convention follow up you can do to help make sure you’re getting the most out of your experience.
Define what you’re hoping to achieve
This is the big one. After all, it’s a lot harder to hit what you’re aiming for if you don’t know what you’re aiming for. What is it that you’re hoping to get out of the conference?
For me I generally aim to make one new professional connection and have one more prospect because of my time at the conference. I won’t complain if I achieve more than that but it’s my baseline.
Now that I know what I’m aiming for it’s easier to focus my conference follow up activities. After all, you get handed a ton of business cards at a conference. Some are fairly random (there’s always that dude who hands out seemingly thousands to anyone) and some are targeted. Make sure you’re focusing on the ones that matter to you.
Have an organization system
You want to have a way to know who you need to follow up with after a conference. The easiest way to do this is to be a little organized.
It doesn’t have to be a fancy system. For me, I take all of the cards or other contact info I’m given and put it in a small plastic bag. That way, when I’m back at home and deciding what to do next I don’t have to go hunting for cards or worry that I lost some.
Additionally, I keep a pen on me during conferences so I can write down some notes on the card. That way, if I made a really important connection I can write down some info about our conversation. That helps me create a relevant follow up.
Wait a couple of days
Finally, make sure you wait a couple of days after a conference before following up.
First, that allows for different travel times or other plans. If I’ve traveled all of the way to a city I don’t normally go to I might want to take some time to actually explore it.
Second, this lets people recover and get through any backlog they might have built up while they were gone. Maybe you’re able to keep on top of your email while you’re gone but I for sure am not. Odds are I’m going to deal with older requests before getting to something new in my inbox.
You don’t want them feeling stressed about you reaching out.
What if they don’t respond?
They’re probably busy. Sometimes people are disorganized. I have some clients who are paying me good money who I can never get in touch with via email.
It’s reasonable to reach out again if you haven’t heard back from someone in several days. You don’t want to do this right away and seem desperate.
Also, if you’ve followed up and don’t hear anything you might try a different way to get in touch with them. Some people operate best through Twitter or Discord. Regardless, follow up once or twice but don’t get creepy about it.
Conclusion
You make the most of your convention follow up by planning it out. First, figure out what you’re actually trying to get done. Then, make sure you’re contacting the right people and are picking up from where your conversation left off. Then, wait a couple of days before reaching out and don’t be too over the top with follow ups.
You don’t have to figure this out alone. This is what we do- help streamers make great money and business decisions. If that’s something that sounds interesting to you reach out me or schedule some time for a free consult. You can check out what I do here.
