Using Events To Acquire Customers And Show Your Expertise

Peter Balog is a marketer from Budapest who has freelanced for 15 years. At Freelance Unlocked 2024 he argues that trust is hard to win in a noisy online feed, so freelancers should add real-life events to their digital presence. His example is an expo in Budapest where, by his account, a 150 euro ticket led to three follow-up sales calls.

What the talk covers

• Choose the right event. Freelancer conferences are full of peers, so go where your ideal clients gather, for example a trade fair for restaurant owners if you build restaurant websites.
• Prepare: pick ten companies from the exhibitor list, rate them as potential clients, and write one conversation starter for each, plus one thing you could improve and one similar case study. Bring a business card so people can place you afterwards.
• Set low expectations. Aim for ten conversations, not a big deal, and look for fun. Treat the first talks as practice rounds with the companies you like least.
• Engage: skip your backstory, find the decision maker rather than a salesperson, and ask questions in a consultative way. You are not there to sell, he says, only to be remembered.
• Follow up the day after by LinkedIn, email or phone, and once more a week later. In his experience two follow-ups are enough.
• His numbers: of ten conversations, three or four are poor and about three are very good. By his count the expo cost him about 50 per lead and produced a pipeline he values at 36,000.

From the Q&A

He finds events through Google, meetup.com, Facebook and local chambers of commerce, expects one or two truly useful ones a year, and says introverts should set small goals. At this scale he would not automate follow-ups.

Who it's for

Freelancers who rely on online channels and want a simple routine for meeting clients in person.