One of my todos for 2020, along with losing 80 pounds, developing a magnetic personality, and writing my first novel…
Is to go to a marketing conference.
All the big names say you gotta do it. It’s where relationships are made… it’s how you meet the top clients… and if you’re serious about copywriting, it’s supposed to pay for itself.
So I’m putting together a list of such events, and I’m steeling myself to go. I say steeling, because my image of how conferences work isn’t pretty:
A bunch of hungry, pushy, teething pups, all pressing forward to grab a nipple on the tired bitch’s teat.
If that’s how you imagine marketing conferences as well, then I wanna tell you a story.
I heard it today while listening to a podcast episode where Kevin Rogers (of copychief.com) interviewed Dan Ferrari (a top copywriter).
At the time of this interview, Dan had only been copywriting for 3 years. And yet, he already had a string of controls for the Motley Fool, and he had made connections with some of the biggest names in the industry.
Such as for example, at Brian Kurtz’s Titans of Direct Response in 2014. This event featured a bunch of copywriting and marketing legends, including Gary Bencivenga, Dan Kennedy, Jay Abraham… the list goes on.
On the first day, Dan (Ferrari) found himself seated all the way in the back of the room, one table away from all the speakers.
When the break came, the whole room erupted as everybody pushed to the back to try and get a word in with one of the celebrities.
As the smoke cleared, Dan spotted a woman sitting meekly by herself. And rather than trying to join the feeding frenzy, he started talking to her.
She wasn’t a marketer.
She wasn’t a copywriter.
In fact, she was only there because her husband had to come.
So Dan and she had a nice conversation. At the end of it, her husband came over. She introduced him to Dan.
And that’s how Dan met and started a friendship with Gary Bencivenga.
Now, I’m definitely not telling you this as a manipulative tactic for worming your way into the inner circle of big players you cannot reach otherwise.
I just want to suggest (to you as well as to myself) that going to a conference and having normal, human-sized conversations, can be productive and useful, even in such a seemingly competitive environment.
By the way, if you too are thinking of going to a marketing or copywriting (or other) conference in 2020, let me know. Maybe we’ll be at one together, and I’d love to meet you in person.
Is to go to a marketing conference.
All the big names say you gotta do it. It’s where relationships are made… it’s how you meet the top clients… and if you’re serious about copywriting, it’s supposed to pay for itself.
So I’m putting together a list of such events, and I’m steeling myself to go. I say steeling, because my image of how conferences work isn’t pretty:
A bunch of hungry, pushy, teething pups, all pressing forward to grab a nipple on the tired bitch’s teat.
If that’s how you imagine marketing conferences as well, then I wanna tell you a story.
I heard it today while listening to a podcast episode where Kevin Rogers (of copychief.com) interviewed Dan Ferrari (a top copywriter).
At the time of this interview, Dan had only been copywriting for 3 years. And yet, he already had a string of controls for the Motley Fool, and he had made connections with some of the biggest names in the industry.
Such as for example, at Brian Kurtz’s Titans of Direct Response in 2014. This event featured a bunch of copywriting and marketing legends, including Gary Bencivenga, Dan Kennedy, Jay Abraham… the list goes on.
On the first day, Dan (Ferrari) found himself seated all the way in the back of the room, one table away from all the speakers.
When the break came, the whole room erupted as everybody pushed to the back to try and get a word in with one of the celebrities.
As the smoke cleared, Dan spotted a woman sitting meekly by herself. And rather than trying to join the feeding frenzy, he started talking to her.
She wasn’t a marketer.
She wasn’t a copywriter.
In fact, she was only there because her husband had to come.
So Dan and she had a nice conversation. At the end of it, her husband came over. She introduced him to Dan.
And that’s how Dan met and started a friendship with Gary Bencivenga.
Now, I’m definitely not telling you this as a manipulative tactic for worming your way into the inner circle of big players you cannot reach otherwise.
I just want to suggest (to you as well as to myself) that going to a conference and having normal, human-sized conversations, can be productive and useful, even in such a seemingly competitive environment.
By the way, if you too are thinking of going to a marketing or copywriting (or other) conference in 2020, let me know. Maybe we’ll be at one together, and I’d love to meet you in person.