Making SMX East Profitable

SMX East is fast approaching and alot of smart people are coming to NYC. It is not going to be cheap with airfare, hotel and the conference pass. If you are smart and willing to work hard you can make a huge profit from this investment. Here are some tips to help you squeeze the most out of your SMX East experience.

Research Prep – Many people are sent to these conferences because their company needs them to become educated overnight. If you are want to be one of these overnight success stories then you better realize it can’t happen in one night. You should start laying down the groundwork with some preparatory research so you can make the most of your time at SMX. Check out Search Engine Land and the thousands of pages filled with free information. This way you can spend your time talking about advanced topics instead of being shocked that meta keywords will not get your site to rank #1.

Create a Wishlist – You don’t know what you don’t know. If you have do a good job with your prep research you should be able to come up with a list of questions you wish you can get answers to. Having a written list of questions during the conference will help you avoid realizing you forgot to ask someone while you are flying home. SMX East is filled with experts that can answer just about every question you can think of. The expo hall is filled with search engine reps and vendors that can help you. The sessions have great presenters that always hang around after to address questions from the audience. At night there are countless casual networking opportunities where you can brainstorm with fellow marketers and the presenters. Make the most of your time at SMX East and make sure you address all the questions bouncing around in your head.

Schedule Your Sessions – There is nothing worse than attending SMX East and missing the most interesting session to you. Before you even pack your suitcase go online and check out the sessions. Do a little research on the presenters by browsing their blogs. Remember to bring your question wishlist so you don’t forget to ask them. Then schedule your days around those sessions. This will help prevent those scheduling mistakes like when you happen to schedule a lunch meeting during your most valued session.

Schedule Your Free Time – This is very important. In my personal opinion this is the most important piece. There will be sessions you don’t care about and evenings with no formal schedule. Don’t be lazy with this open time. Maximize this opportunity. Start scheduling breakfast and lunch meetings before you even arrive at the conference to make sure you get face time with the people you really want to connect with. Hang out and network in the hotel bar and follow the party wherever it moves from there to help you make new connections. Don’t forget to bring a business card with your email, twitter and/or blog site to help connect you with people after they fly home.

Properly Manage Twitter – Twitter has become the defacto bulletin board and gossip hq for conferences. Want to know where people are and what is happening? Just check out Twitter and search for the smxeast tag. As incredibly helpful as twitter is for conference attendees remember that you are there to personally interact. If you are in a session – DON’T TWITTER. Pay attention to the helpful tips the presenters are sharing and after the session is over you can scroll through your twitter stream to see what you missed.

Bonus Tip – Dealing With Shyness – Not everyone enjoys large crowds and very few people I know like to events where they know no one. To make yourself more comfortable here are some tricks to overcome your shyness and to quickly gather a group of friends at the conference.

• Buy Drinks – While hanging out in the hotel bar (or the neighborhood bar we always end up at) if you see someone from the conference and they are alone or they gave you really good tip don’t be afraid to have the bartender give them a drink from you. 9 out of 10 people will walk over and thank you for their drink and that is how a conversation starts and a new friendship.
• Bring Cigarettes & Lighters - I’m not a fan of smoking but there is no denying that alot of networking is done on the sidewalk where the smokers huddle together. Someone is always looking for a cigarette or light – this a great opportunity to meet someone new and start the conversation.
• Connect with Online Friends - If you have been participating in online forums now is a great time to meet the people behind the posts that you find helpful. Send them an email and ask them in they are attending and if they are attending would like to meet for breakfast – your treat. It will cost you $20 for breakfast in a diner and you have just made a good connection in the industry. I would call that a bargain.

I hope you have fun and make the most of SMX East, I know I will. Feel free to add this list.

ps dont be afraid to come up and say hi to me or any presenters, i promise you’ll be surprised at how friendly people can be in nyc