You’ve just come back from a WordCamp. You’ve got your swag, your notebook is full and you met some amazing people (in person!).
But now what? How can you capitalise on all that energy and good will? Follow this list and you’ll 10X your WordCamps.
1. Book that call
If you’ve attended a WordCamp (or any conference event), you’ve probably met a bunch of people who inspired you or excited you.
This year I met Tim from WPM Dev, Robbie and Justin from Beaver Builder, Lee from Agency Trailblazer, Nathan from WPBuilds, Andrew from Elegant Marketplace, Nemanja from ManageWP, Zac Gordon… and the list goes on.
I’ve promised calls with all those guys AND dozens of others. I want to spend time on appear.in with every person and talk about where they are in their business.
List out all the names you collected, the cards you’ve got and the twitter handles you’ve written down and book some calls. Use appear.in and get just 30 minutes with anyone and everyone you can. The more conversations you have, the better you’ll get.
Yes, the first call or two will be awkward. But it’ll be worth it. Talk about what THEY want in their business and see if you can add value.
2. Find that book
No doubt a load of books and authors came up during your time at WordCamp. In WordCamp London 2018 this year, I’ve written down a bunch of new books I’m supposed to read.
- Speak with Confidence by Dianna Booher
- Factualness by Hans Rosling
- When Buyers Say No by Tom Hopkins
These are just 3 of a whole list I wrote down. The 2nd thing I’ll do today is order all of them. In fact, I bought Factfulness by Hans Rosling at the train station on the way home.
3. Write up what you learned
Writing down notes is proven to increase retention and application.
“New research by Pam Mueller and Daniel Oppenheimer demonstrates that students who write out their notes on paper actually learn more.”
A Learning Secret: Don’t Take Notes with a Laptop. Scientific American.
All your scribbles and notes need to be rewritten so you can digest them. One of the exercises we give to clients, is to get them to rewrite someone elses’s sales letter. It helps them learn the pace and structure of what makes good sales copy.
Rewriting your own notes has the same effect. If you rewrite all your notes, even into just one page, you’ll begin to sort all your thoughts into something more tangible.
As you’re writing, you might add things or decide some things aren’t worth remembering. No big deal! Even if you write up everything and have just ONE key point that changes your business – that’s great. It doesn’t need to be an entire new process or life style change. Just one key gold nugget is all you need.
4. Share what you learned
This is killer and the fastest way to grow. Grow yourself, grow your business and grow your influence and authority.
Share what you’ve learned. Take your new notes and takeaways and write them up in a post. Even just 500 words on your new found knowledge.
Those that share more, receive more. You’re more open to ideas and new learnings when you share what you’ve got.
Do a Facebook live video, record a video, whatever it takes to get your new ideas out there. Do this TODAY.
5. Send those emails
You probably have a list of emails that you need to send. Do this TODAY.
I used to think “I’ll wait until tomorrow, because everyone else will be tired. I don’t want to seem too keen.”
Wrong! You need to capitalise on everyone’s excitement and heat! Prove you’re ready to go and willing to help. Your new contacts are excited to hear from you and they’ll remember you now. In a few days, you’d be surprised what people forget.
6. Reach out to a speaker
When I started doing this, it changed my career forever. I started finding speakers I’d seen and would reach out to them.
At first, I didn’t even know what the end game was. I just knew I wanted to connect with those speakers.
I would make a list of the talks I had seen and the speakers I wanted to talk to. I’d research their contact details and book a 30 minute call.
Even on appear.in, I’d just ask them about their business. The call wasn’t to tell them about me, it’s to ask about them and their business.
Pretty soon, I’d have regular contact with speakers on multiple circuits. This is also how I started speaking. The more people who knew me, the better. The more I knew about them and their business, the better.
Book a speaker on a call and ask questions.
7. Make one tiny change
This is the hardest one of all. It’s not just the calls, the conversations, networking and casual chats lead to some amazing insights. It might be despite all the great calls, something that really spoke to you came from a talk over a beer at the social (often the case).
Committing to that idea and making that change is what matters now. It’s easy to wait for the right time, it’s easy to let the enthusiasm die down. Especially when you think it’s not as easy as it sounds or you’re not ready yet.
But it is the right time, you are ready now. You MUST push past your initial fear and just make that change TODAY.
