Countdown To TRAFFIC 2012: 3 Things Not To Do At A Domain Conference

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With TRAFFIC 2012 less than a week away my countdown has begun. I’ve been to enough conferences now (Domain, Affiliate, Consumer Electronics, etc.) that I have learned some best practices, and some worst practices. You don’t want to be “That Guy” (or gal) so try not to do any of the three things below and you’ll enjoy your conference experience a whole lot more.

  1. Get Really Drunk And Throw-Up At A Business/Networking Event – we all like to party like a rockstar, right? There’s nothing wrong with having a blast partying but once you get too sloshed and end-up throwing up at a business event in front of your peers you just won’t be taken as seriously any more, sorry but it’s true. Just like every wedding has a “That Guy” every conference does too and the telltale sign that you’re “That Guy” is if you find a photo of you online with your badge on surrounded by people you want to do business with, covered in vomit. I don’t actually know anyone that this has happened to but I have seen it happen multiple times and I can tell you that you sure don’t want it to be you.
  2. Brag Like Crazy About Everything – conferences are a great opportunity to learn more about other people and techniques they are using within their own business. If you spend every conversation bragging about yourself you’ll miss all the great lessons you could learn from someone else’s experience. Talk to any of the big guys like Frank, Rick, Michael, etc. and you won’t hear them brag about themselves, they are confident in what they do, know what they know, and truly do want to get to know other people. Nobody cares if you drive a Ferrari and own a Yacht, people care that you are a real person and you’ll regret the experience if you don’t learn from everyone around you.
  3. Ask Every Domain Broker At The Conference If They Will Sell Your Domains – so you’re not selling enough names? Rather than spending your time asking every broker to sell your names, take some time to run them by some full time Domainers who do this day in and day out so you can better understand what you have. Tell them to be brutally honest not only with how good your names are but what you can do to sell them. Everyone is going to be nice to you in person (unless they’re a total jerk) so to be polite a broker may say, “Sure I’ll definitely take a look.” Which means exactly that, they will take a look. If you leave the show and don’t learn which of your names are junk and which might have some potential you may spend the next few months emailing brokers asking why they haven’t sold any of your names yet. Be proactive and don’t be afraid to hear something bad about your names, just because they are your babies doesn’t mean that your babies aren’t ugly.

Of course there are a lot more than three things not to do at a domain conference so feel free to add some of your own in the comment section below.

(Photo Credit)

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton