Should You Host Your Own Conference? | Ep. #400

<p>In Episode #400, Eric and Neil discuss the pros and cons of hosting your own conference, and why you need to accept the reality that you’re going to lose money at the front-end.</p> <h3>Time Stamped Show Notes:</h3> <ul> <li>00:28 – Today’s topic: <em>Should You Host Your Own Conference?</em></li> <li>00:36 – If you’re just starting out, the best option is to stay away from conferences <ul> <li>00:40 – The conference business is difficult and you’ll probably lose money</li> </ul> </li> <li>00:48 – Eric personally thinks that conferences aren’t that valuable</li> <li>00:51 – Eric shares his experience with <a href= "https://teamtreehouse.com">Treehouse</a> <ul> <li>00:55 – <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryancarson/">Ryan Carson</a>, CEO, is known for hosting conferences</li> <li>01:08 – Conferences are a good way to build network</li> <li>01:19 –<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanellis">Sean Ellis</a> is known for hosting growth hacking conferences too</li> </ul> </li> <li>01:27 – Conferences are exceptionally valuable if—and only if—your business is already making money <ul> <li>01:34 – <a href="https://www.hubspot.com">HubSpot</a> has thousands of customers will benefit a lot from holding a conference where they can invite their customers</li> </ul> </li> <li>01:56 – Consider hosting a conference only if your business is established and getting $5-6M in ARR</li> <li>02:25 – Alternatively to conferences, you can throw in a dinner or small events</li> <li>03:04 – There are also virtual conferences where you don’t have to spend money on venue and can retail virtual tickets instead <ul> <li>03:22 – With a virtual event, the email list that you build can be repurposed</li> </ul> </li> <li>03:45 – When you’re starting out, you don’t necessarily have to pay people</li> <li>04:11 – <a href="http://marketingschool.io/">Marketing School</a> is giving away a free 1 year subscription of <a href= "https://www.crazyegg.com/">Crazy Egg</a> which is a visual analytics tool <ul> <li>04:57 – Go to <a href= "http://