Conferences can be one of the best ways for a founder or business owner to generate new opportunities.

They can also be one of the easiest ways to spend £1000, £2,000 or more, lose two days of your time and come home with a bag full of business cards you'll never look at again.

The difference isn't really the conference.

It's what you do with it.

With so much networking, learning and relationship-building now possible online, business owners need to think differently about conferences...and the question isn't simply whether you should attend.

It's:

How can you turn a conference into something that genuinely moves your business forward, whether you're in the room or not?

First, are conferences actually worth it?

They can be, but you need to be strategic about it.

The best conferences put you in the same physical or virtual environment as people you would otherwise struggle to reach.

That could mean:

• Potential customers
• Investors
• Strategic partners
• Suppliers
• Future employees
• Industry experts
• Other founders

But there's another benefit that's easy to underestimate.

You get out of your own bubble.

Hearing how other businesses are tackling similar problems can challenge your assumptions, introduce new ideas and sometimes give you the nudge you've been missing.

And then there's something technology can't completely replicate.

Energy.

Being surrounded by ambitious people, having spontaneous conversations and discovering unexpected connections can create momentum that is difficult to manufacture from behind a screen.

But none of that means every conference is worth attending.

5 great reasons to attend a business conference - and the tips to make the most of it

1. The right people are in the room

A conference can compress months of networking into a couple of days.

Customers, investors and partners are suddenly much easier to reach.

Tip: Don't try to meet everyone. Identify 5-10 people you genuinely want to meet before you arrive.

2. Conversations happen differently

A 10-minute coffee can sometimes achieve more than 10 cold LinkedIn messages.

You get context, personality and trust much faster.

Tip: Don't make every conversation a sales pitch. Be curious first.

3. You escape your bubble

Other founders can challenge how you're thinking about your business and expose you to ideas you hadn't considered.

Tip: Don't just look for inspiration. Look for ideas you could steal, adapt or improve.

4. Trust builds faster

People remember people they've actually met.

That relationship might eventually become a customer, partnership, introduction or investment.

Tip: Follow up quickly while the conversation is still fresh.

5. Sometimes you need to be in the room

A great conference can give you energy, perspective and momentum.

Sometimes the value isn't one particular talk.

It's the combination of people, ideas and conversations happening around you.

5 reasons NOT to bother attending another business conference...

1. You're going because everyone else is

A famous conference doesn't automatically make it valuable to your business.

Ask: Who am I actually going to meet?

2. You're expecting the event to create the ROI

The conference isn't the result.

What you do before, during and afterwards is.

Ten great conversations followed by zero follow-up equals an expensive day out.

3. You're spending more time listening than connecting

Many keynote talks can be watched online.

The person sitting next to you can't.

Tip: Be selective about sessions and protect time for conversations.

4. You're collecting contacts instead of relationships

100 new LinkedIn connections aren't necessarily useful.

Three genuinely strong relationships could be.

Tip: Quality beats quantity.

5. You're using networking to avoid building

Another conference can feel productive while quietly becoming an excuse not to execute.

Ask: Will attending actually move my business forward?

How you can 'Virtually Attend' a real life conference, and still benefit from it.

This is where things get interesting.

A conference isn't just a physical event.

It's a concentrated pool of potential customers, partners, ideas and intelligence.

You can often access a surprising amount of that opportunity without buying a ticket or getting on a plane and this is why we're sharing the below tips, so you can benefit from a conference without spending a penny.

Our NEXUS strategy to prospect virtually through a conference

1. Start with the attendee list

Check the conference website, app, attendee directory and speaker list. Some conferences give access to the app for free, some will charge for virtual access, where as some will make you buy a ticket (but getting access to the app for a few hundred pounds, can still be good value instead of the transport, hotel, food and time costs of attending in person)

On the app, look for:

• Your ideal customers
• Decision-makers
• Potential partners
• Interesting companies
• People entering your market

Build a shortlist of 10-20 people.

Don't contact them with "I saw you're attending." Find a genuine reason to start a conversation.

2. Mine the conference app

Conference apps often contain valuable information about attendees, companies, interests and networking activity.

Use them to identify people who are actively looking to connect.

Tip: Prioritise people showing activity rather than simply chasing the biggest job titles.

The app can effectively become a prospecting database for the week.

3. Turn speakers into prospects

Speakers are usually highly visible before, during and after an event.

Research their:

• Company
• Role
• Recent announcements
• LinkedIn activity
• Challenges they're discussing

Then engage naturally.

Don't immediately pitch.

A useful comment on someone's post before the event can make a conversation at the event feel completely different.

4. Follow the social conversation

Search the conference hashtag, speakers, companies and event location across LinkedIn and other relevant platforms.

Look for people:

• Talking about problems
• Asking for recommendations
• Announcing something new
• Sharing what they're attending
• Discussing the conference themes

This can reveal warmer prospects than an attendee list.

And you can do it from your desk.

5. Treat the conference as a three-week opportunity

Don't think of a conference as two days.

Think:

BEFORE

Research → Identify → Connect → Book meetings

DURING

Engage → Listen → Meet → Spot opportunities

AFTER

Follow up → Add value → Continue the relationship

Keep a simple CRM or spreadsheet containing:

Person | Company | Problem | Conversation | Next action

This stops good conversations disappearing into your inbox.

How to maximise the conference if you ARE attending

The biggest mistake is arriving with no plan.

Before you go, decide what success actually looks like.

It might be:

• 5 useful new relationships
• 3 potential customers
• 2 partnership conversations
• 1 investor meeting
• A better understanding of your market

That gives you something to work towards.

And before the event...

Research the attendees.

Connect with people beforehand.

Book a few meetings.

Know your one-sentence explanation of what you do.

But don't schedule every minute.

Some of the best opportunities are the conversations you didn't plan.

What To do during the event

Listen more than you pitch.

Ask people:

• What are you working on?
• What's proving difficult?
• What are you looking for?
• What brought you here?

You might discover an opportunity simply by understanding someone's problem.

And don't spend the entire event with people you already know.

The value is often in the people you haven't met yet.

After the event

This is where a huge amount of conference ROI is won or lost.

Don't wait three weeks.

Follow up while the conversation is still fresh.

And don't send:

"Great to meet you at the conference."

Remind them what you actually discussed.

Then give them a reason to continue the conversation.

An introduction. A useful article. A relevant idea. A solution to the problem they mentioned.

Make the follow-up about them, not you.

The conference ROI equation

A useful way to think about conferences is:

Preparation + People + Follow-up = ROI

Not:

Ticket + Coffee + Business Cards = ROI

The conference itself is only the environment.

You create the value.

And here's the biggest opportunity

Whether you're attending in person or sitting at home, the same principle applies:

Follow the people, not just the event.

The attendee list tells you who is there.

The conference app tells you who is active.

Social media tells you what they're thinking about.

The sessions tell you what the industry is talking about.

And the conversations tell you where the opportunities might be.

Put all four together and a conference becomes much more than a couple of days of talks and networking.

It becomes a concentrated source of market intelligence, prospects, relationships and opportunities.

🎯 The ultimate conference test

Don't come home asking:

"Was that a good conference?"

Ask:

"What happened because I went?"

And if you didn't go:

"What did I learn, who did I identify and which conversations can I start because it happened?"

That's the difference between attending a conference and actually using one to grow your business.

Whatever you do this conference season, we hope you found this article useful and wish you great success when building your business!

If you're interested in starting, running or scaling your own business, then why not enquire about NEXUS membership here

...and if you're interested in featuring your entrepreneurial journey on the NEXUS Startup Diaries blog, then get in touch and let's share that story with the world!