How I get ready for my New York trip next week

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Today’s issue is a transparent summary of how I’m getting ready for my trip to New York and The Newsletter Conference.

I’m mainly focusing on non-scalable tactics for pre-networking. You might find these tactics inspiring and even borrow them to connect your subscribers and expand your online relationships as a creator.

To give a quick background for those who missed it, I’m headed to New York next Wednesday to attend The Newsletter Conference* on May 3rd and will stay by May 12th.

I’m pretty excited about the VIP dinner and the conference day, as they will provide unique networking opportunities.

My pre-conference networking efforts have already led to valuable connections and deeper engagement with some of the Newsletter Circle subscribers.

So, here's how I get prepared for the event and how I’m leveraging the subtle art of online reach-out to build relationships in advance.

1. A small meet-up with Newsletter Circle subscribers

Based on my experience having one-on-one video calls with Newsletter Circle readers, those conversations are mind-opening.

And I still believe that when it comes to building relationships, nothing can replace the power of offline gatherings.

78% of my subscribers are from the US, so I wanted to take this opportunity to meet Newsletter Circle readers in person through a small gathering.

I've already been reaching out to subscribers from New York via email or LinkedIn. However, due to a lack of available information, I may miss some names.

Please reply to the poll below if you’ll be in the city on the dates below and are interested in joining our small Newsletter Circle gathering.

How Terrell Johnson from Half Marathoner built an offline meet-up with his subscribers has been a true source of inspiration for taking the initiative.

Let’s bring the Circle together!

📌Steal this: Use Apollo to find subscriber locations on LinkedIn

Now, you might be curious about how I identified readers from New York. Here's what I did:

1. I have a segment in Beehiiv for "super readers" who have high open & click rates

2. I exported this segment and uploaded it to Apollo to access their LinkedIn profiles.

3. Apollo provided me with LinkedIn profile URLs for 98 individuals, along with their location details.

4. I reached out to each person individually, both on LinkedIn and via e-mail, starting with those located in New York, to see their interest in a small gathering.

For those who may not be captured in Apollo, I'm sharing this update today. And a gentle reminder to participate in the poll above. 😊

I've focused on reaching out to super readers first, assuming they'd be more willing to meet up. If time allows, I'll do a second run for semi-active readers.

For those interested in taking it a step further and easily identifying potential sponsorship leads among subscribers, I suggest trying Megahit*.

(This is an affiliate link but I recommend it since I really love what Niklas has been building. We’ll also meet in the conference!).

2. One-on-one meetings with industry professionals

There are some fellow creators and industry professionals whom I want to meet but who are unable to attend the conference. Among them, there are operators I’ve already interviewed, the ones I’d love to, founders and potential collaborations.

My objective is to foster my relationships and get their opinions about my next steps for Newsletter Circle.

I’ve already scheduled one-on-one coffee & talk sessions with eight people that I’m looking forward to them!

📌Steal this: Create your CRM

Regardless of whether you're attending a conference, having a CRM is crucial because, as human beings, we tend to forget things!

For the conference, I've continued to update my CRM table on Notion to plan my reach-outs easily.

You can do the same using a Google Sheet.

I've included all the names of people I could connect with either during the conference or for one-on-one meetings afterward.

I've also added the following information for each person:

• Priority (must-meet or nice-to-meet)

• Reach-out status

• Channel used for reaching out (LinkedIn or email)

• Follow-up status

• One-on-one meeting status (scheduled or not)

• Topics I'd like to cover

I love building CRM and I might need to consider using HubSpot soon!

3. Pre-connecting with attendees and speakers

My primary objective here is to raise awareness about Newsletter Circle before the conference, which will facilitate smooth face-to-face introductions.

Once again, I spent a lot of time on LinkedIn connecting with people and received very friendly replies. In addition to posting about my participation, I also engaged with other posts.

📌Steal this: Leverage posts from the event organizers to boost engagement

One effective way to find out who will attend an event is to leverage social media posts that encourage event attendees to like or comment. Organizers do this to create engagement and excitement leading up to the event.

In my case, The Newsletter Conference posted on LinkedIn, asking participants to introduce themselves.

This post received a total of 129 comments.

To leverage this post and connect with people, I did two things:

1. I sent a connection request to almost everyone who left a comment. 

   I included a short note in my request introducing myself and mentioning my participation in the conference. Almost everyone accepted, and many replied.

2. I left a comment introducing myself and Newsletter Circle.

I'm also exploring creative ways to present my content during the conference, but I'll save that for an upcoming issue.

Communication is an art, whether it's offline or online, and I'm constantly working on improving my skills and exploring innovative approaches.

I hope you found some inspiration to enhance your efforts to build relationships.

Before I go, here's a final reminder about the poll, did you answer it? :)

And if you’re not in New York, I have a solution for that, too. Book a 15-minute call with me here.

I look forward to connecting with you all!

👉 Do you want to reach over 2,100 newsletter creators & enthusiasts?