One of the most effective things I have done to boost my progress and personal relationships in internet marketing has been to attend live events.

This takes the form of workshops, seminars, exhibitions and mastermind groups, and as you can see from the picture below, I’ve gathered quire a few name tags in the past 12 months …

The first live event I attended was one Lee McIntyre’s live, 2-day events in Newcastle in February 2010.

You know, I nearly didn’t go … but I realised straight rom the start of that event that it was something I needed to repeat.

I met so many marketers that weekend, many of whom I went on to work with, running webinars, giveaways or other events,and now they form my growing network of internet marketing contacts.

So why am I telling you all this?

Well, the reason for writing this post is to encourage you to get out more … to attend workshops, conferences and seminars and grow your contacts in the business.

It’s a small world in internet marketing, and the more people who get to know you, the better the knowledge and support network that you’ll build.

And it’s a lot more fun that doing it all alone!

I was bitten by the bug at Lee’s event in 2010 and in 2011 I have attended a great variety of live events.

Here’s a taster of where I’ve been and how it helped my business …

My 2011 world tour (okay, it was just the UK!)

 January 28/29/30 2011 – Ultimate Facebook Marketing Seminar

A Mark Anastasi event, not only did I meet lots of marketing friends, I finally got to meet Steven Essa who I’d been emailing and chatting to on Skype previously, and made plans with Chris Freville, who I’d just launched Auto Cash Funnel with in December.

I was there primarily to gather as much Facebook related information as I could in preparation for my Fast Fan Pages launch which was scheduled for later that year.

With Chris Freville and Steven Essa at Mark Anastasi's Facebook Marketing Seminar in February 2011

March 12/13/14 2011 – The Greatest Facebook Show On Earth

I went here primarily to meet Jo Barnes and Chris Farrell – which I did – but I also met an amazing group of people at this event, many of whom went on to be friends and customers for my Fast Fan Pages software.

I also added to my Facebook learning in preparation for my Fast Fan Pages launch and got a great feel for who my potential customers would be and what they needed from my fan page service.

March-September 2011 – Daniel Wagner & James Watson Mastermind Group

This one involved travel to London once a month and I met a remarkable group of people many of whom I would now class as friends.

This was an excellent, supportive group – I learned so much from the entire experience – and although I left in September I keep in regular contact with many of the members and continue to work with them.

25th March/1st June/16th June/11th November – Social Media Presentations in partnership with regional newspaper group

I’ve done 4 presentations this year to groups of 50-100 local business people (plus one to a group of journalists) on using Facebook for business.

In each case I’ve made excellent local contacts and got a feel for the concerns and issues facing local businesses in social media – as well as promoting my Fast Fan Pages software.

Paul Teague talking about social media in Barrow-in-Furness (Copyright CN Group, image may not be reproduced)

4th June 2011 – Ministry Of Traffic Live

This event was hosted by a mastermind group friend called Phill Turner and I was supposed to attending as a guest.

As it turned out, the main speaker cancelled and guess who got shipped in at he last moment to replace him?

This was my first event speaking toa group of internet marketers, so I was incredibly surprised – and flattered – when I was voted ‘best speaker’ by the audience.

What is it they say about facing your fears?

On this occasion, I’m pleased that I did

 21st September 2011 – Ad Tech Exhibition

This was a fascinating experience and as well as meeting with my mastermind group at this event, I also met a very well established internet marketer here for a business discussion, left with lots of useful contacts and information … and may well even exhibit there myself in 2012!

19th October 2011 – A4UExpo

I went to this exhibition specifically to source software based affiliate partners for a launch I’m working towards in early 2012.

I made two brilliant contacts here, one of which was actually interested in using my software, and I also attended a meal and meeting with Clickbank representatives and many of the UK’s top internet marketers whilst in London.

So, do you need to get out more?

As you can see, it’s been a busy old year and me and the train from Carlisle to London know each other very well now!

And I’ve missed out lots of 1-to-1 meetings and small meetings with other marketers … this is  just a selection from a list of ‘public’events.

But as you can see, although much of my work as an internet marketer is done at my desk, in isolation, I highly value those face-to-face meetings and they’ve been an essential part of my business building and strategy in 2011.

So, what events have you attended in 2011 and how have they helped to move your business forward?

Please leave a comment below.

Start 2012 with your first great event!

My friend Phill Turner is holding an event in London in mid-January and if you want and information-packed, pitch-free seminar and a place where you can meet like-minded internet marketers, I can’t recommend Phill highly enough.

This is a great opportunity to start as you mean to go on in 2012 – getting out and about and making contact with people whowill become your friends, possibly business partners and maybe even customers.

Check out details of Phill’s event here