Succeed with Small Business Workshops

Five Tips for Turning Business Conferences into Opportunities

Sep 8, 2009 Marie Powell Mendenhall

A workshop or conference allows business people to share tips on how to increase success in the modern marketplace.

Small business owners face many of the same challenges across the country, such as utilizing new technology and attracting new markets. Attending a business workshop or conference can help boost business success. Opportunities abound for savvy business people to increase knowledge, explore best practices, and make contacts to strengthen their business networks.

Here are five tips to help prepare for business conferences:

Research Increases Opportunities

Agendas, schedules, and speaker biographies are often available on conference websites months before the dates. Read over the workshop schedule and other available materials. Connect with others in the same company or industry to discover the percolating issues and workshops that will prove to attract colleagues or potential contacts.

Preparing for the Business Conference

Between workshops and social events, conference schedules generally mean full days and nights. The buzz leaves little energy left over for business concerns back home. Clear away last-minute assignments and niggling details before the conference date. If you need to, get new business cards made, and include social media addresses like Twitter and Linked In.

Best-Practice Ideas Begin at Workshops

Get to the sessions on time, and participate in the workshop. Take the opportunity to find a seat with a clear view of the workshop leader, and the screen for power-point or other multi-media presentations. Use hand-held devices when possible, and follow the Twitter feed for extra action. Posting updates and valid comments may also help increase a business person’s profile.

Make Connections for Success

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the number of people and opportunities. Don’t be tempted to try too hard. Luckily, most small business people are inherently curious about other people and the way things work. Strike up a conversation with those seated nearby. Ask what workshop they enjoyed most so far. What have they learned? Be prepared to offer a comment, too. Take along enough business cards, and set a quota to give away each day in order to make new contacts and connections.

See the Opportunities in Socializing

Opportunities can be found while standing in line for coffee, sitting down with a table of new people at lunches and banquets, or slipping out for lunch with new friends and acquaintances. Conference breaks and events offer prime times to compare notes and get to know what other business people are doing to keep up with the changing marketplace. Hidden markets may even exist for business-to-business opportunities as well.

Conferences are always useful for learning or sharing best-practice ideas, and keeping up with changes in technology and processes. These are just a few of the ways to enjoy a business conference, to take home some valuable insights along with a sense of anticipation for the next opportunity.

The copyright of the article Succeed with Small Business Workshops in Small/Home Business is owned by Marie Powell Mendenhall. Permission to republish Succeed with Small Business Workshops in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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