Five Crucial Conference Considerations

Seriously, why should we take our credit cards and charge up a trip? Why should we take a weekend away from our spouse? Why should we take on the extra expense when the holidays are upon us? Seminars and conferences cost money!

Not only do they cost money, but they often require traveling to an unknown city which for some people can be quite an ordeal. Conferences can mean long hours of mostly sitting, having our minds stretched, being confronted with ideas we may wrestle with, listening to speakers we like, speakers we don't. Would our time not be more wisely spent working our business and being consistent and doing the little things?

No, our time is not better spent saying we will continue in the monotonous consistency, constantly putting out, but never taking the time or money to refresh us, to grow, to breathe and to revisit those tasks with a different mindset. I have been to seven seminars this year. I can honestly compare them for their financial value and say that this hotel was the nicest; this city had the easiest transportation; this city had the best restaurants; this city was the most/least costly. However, I can also honestly evaluate them and say that I learned something integral to running and growing my business at each and every one.

First, seminars put us in a different atmosphere, take us away from the confusion, the everyday activities, and put us in a position to concentrate on one thing: evaluating our circumstances. Is my business working for me and am I working my business? Where are the weaknesses? Where are the strengths? Is there another direction I need to consider? Perhaps the reiteration of things slowly forgotten is the most important thing gained. Perhaps a new concept that you would never have considered or heard about was presented and breathed life into an ordinary campaign. Sometimes being in fellowship with your peers, discussing your triumphs and your hardships with people living in like circumstances is the most freeing feeling. Being in a situation where you can open up and discuss things that your family and friends do not understand or, kind as they may be about it, do not care to understand, can be incredible. Seminars put us in that place of kinship with our peers.

Secondly, consider a conference presented by your company which will put you in a place of being “in the know” and allow you the opportunity to meet your leaders, hear from their mouths the plans and changes that are coming. You will be introduced to people who are making a success of their business. You may have heard their names on calls or read them on company literature or even seen them on the website. Now you have the chance to see them in person, ask them some questions. Rubbing shoulders and gleaning wisdom from people who are successful is key to becoming successful yourself. It also doesn’t hurt to be known by your leaders as someone who is working hard to improve themselves!

Thirdly, there are seminars distinctly created to teach us how to market, how to create web presence, how to connect with people, how to advertise, etc. There are many qualified, successful entrepreneurs who are now in a place where they can share the wisdom they have gained. They are free to share their strategies, their stories, and their failures in the hopes that you can learn from them. These conferences are not business-specific. As you find your weakness in your business, take the time to investigate how you can improve in that area. Ask your upline, your peers, your leaders to recommend books, listening material and coaches. Find those who are good at what you are not good at and go learn from them! Do not waste your time trying to figure everything out on your own, failing, adjusting, tiny successes, and more failing. Go to someone who has already done the dirty work of learning the ropes and download their expertise!

Fourthly, use seminars and conferences to bring your prospective teammates and your current team to a place where they can jump-start their businesses. Your prospective clients/future teammates will see the big picture, meet the people behind the names, see the energy of your company, it’s personality and structure firsthand. Your team will gain an incredible sense of belonging and pride in their representation of a company that they are pleased with. They will leave excited and ready to work. They will form goals as they see where others are and learn just what they can achieve. There is nothing that can take the place of a human handshake, looking someone in the eye, to know what they are all about. This is a strong factor in developing an unwavering belief in the business venture, believing in the people behind it.

Finally, conferences refresh dried up streams. It is easy to get so caught up in the chaos of life that the reasons we even started our business become unclear shadows. The hectic pace of the day to day can overtake the importance of consistency in our business practices. Our business that was to give us time started taking our time, so we resented it, ignored it, and blamed it for not producing results. Difficult people came our way or sales didn’t go the way we expected; teammates quit or upline let us down. Whatever the circumstances, we can become entrepreneurs stuck in the mud rather than flowing downstream. Perhaps our stream dried up completely and we’re in a state of apathy, ready to walk away.

Is it the business that failed you? Or is it that you have failed your business? You joined for a reason. There was something there that you believed in. Who moved? What happened? In this state it is difficult to justify going to a conference. In fact, in this state most people quit. You may have heard of the 80/20 rule; 80% of the people who start will quit their business and 20% will become successful. In fact, of that 4% will become super-successful and 2% will become millionaire leaders. That rule is for any business, by the way. Did you become part of the 80% because your business failed? Or did you stop working your business?

In this state of being so close to quitting, so close to not even caring, this is the most strategic moment to go to a conference. Stop right where you are. Were you serious when you started about reaching the goals you set up? Did you feel that the company you joined was able to get you there? Did you give it a truly fair shot, at least a couple years? If you still feel that your goals are there and a home business is the way to achieve them, do you need to consider another company? I am not advocating company-jumping, but perhaps you’re in a situation where it truly is not for you or the company is not keeping up their end of the training and support. Sometimes it just makes sense to jump the sinking ship. However, whether with the same company or a new one, if you know that a home business is the most sensible way for you to achieve your dreams, then it is time to recommit, reenergize, reorganize, reassess, and return to activity that will make the business work for you. Go to a seminar!

Seminars are enlivening. They are rejuvenating. They revamp your plan, offer wisdom, growth, fellowship, and knowledge. They encourage and excite your team and are a tremendous introduction to prospective clients. A conference can make or break you being in business at all. The collective wisdom and teaching presented at any good conference can save you the one thing that is priceless: time. How can we possibly take the collective years of knowledge and training that qualified presenters have and say that it is not going to help us? Why would we waste our precious time reinventing the wheel? Learn from the masters. Turn your time into profit. Invest in yourself. A successful conference is worth its weight in gold. It is tax-deductible for the self-employed home business entrepreneur. It is invaluable to the health of your business.

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