Last year, I made a decision. This decision has turned out to be one that has opened my eyes and changed the course of my life and what I want to get out of it.
I knew if I was going to make a difference, if I wanted to make a real impact on other people's lives, I first needed to make an impact on my own.
So I decided to invest in myself and attend a conference. But which one? After a lot of searching, I settled on the Financial Bloggers Conference (FinCon).
That decision has become a turning point in my life.
It's not just for Financial Bloggers
Let's get this out of the way up front. While called the Financial Bloggers Conference and many of the attendees are financial bloggers, the conference is not just for financial bloggers.
Most of the sessions did have a financial spin to them; all of the information shared in each session could easily be applied to other disciplines or niches.
It's ok to attend if you're not a financial blogger. You will learn a lot. Maybe even more, than you would at other conferences.
It's a great value
FinCon is usually held in a smaller venue than the “bigger” conferences. Because of this, your out of pocket expenses are minimized. You can do FinCon on a budget.
But it’s not just the expenses that make FinCon a great value. FinCon's founder, Phillip Taylor (everyone calls him PT) does a great job attracting top notch, high profile speakers to the conference.
Some of the high profile speakers at last year's conference included Pat Flynn, Derek Halpern, David Siteman Garland and Dustin Hartzler.
While each of their presentations were fantastic in their own right, the size of the venue allows you to actually interact (read that as have an actual discussion) with each of them.
At some of the bigger conferences, you're lucky if you get to see these speakers after their presentations. At FinCon, not only can you talk to them, you might actually get to have breakfast with one of them.
A group of brains are better than one
Because the venue was inclusive and intimate, this allowed for quick friendships to form. As anyone who has attended a conference knows, the magic to every conference is in the impromptu introductions and sidebar discussions that happen in the hallways.
The smaller venue for FinCon facilitates this very nicely. In fact, it was through these sidebar conversations that I met three people who would eventually form my first mastermind group.
Napoleon Hill talks about the value of masterminds in his book, “Think and Grow Rich” (affiliate link). One of the quotes from the book that really resonates with me is the following:
“When a group of individual brains are coordinated and function in harmony, the increased energy created through that alliance, becomes available to every individual brain in the group.”
I would never have met these three people had I not attended FinCon. Since then we have helped and pushed each other on our separate but related journeys in the online world.
In the time since FinCon 2013 ended, with their help, guidance and sometimes persistence, I have been able to refine my mission, record, edit and release a course on my site and on the popular internet training site Udemy.
I'm not sure I could have done this on my own. I'm very thankful to have them all in my life.
Is it possible for a conference to change your life? I say yes and for me, FinCon was that conference. If you have the chance, I highly recommend you attend. You'll never regret it and it may just change your life.
QUESTION: What type of impact have conferences had on your life? Let me know the name of the conference and the result you achieved by attending in the comments below.
