I never used to be able to attend live affiliate marketing events. For one thing because I had a full time job, but secondly because I’m a little shy around other people and networking has never been my real strong point.

But after I quit my job to do affiliate marketing full-time, I decided to attend an event while I still had some spending money left; hoping to gain enough inside information to give me a quick start.

I think I paid about $1,500 for the seminar, and another $1,000 for airfare, hotel and food. I had no idea what I was going to do when I got to the event. I just knew that I would learn a lot and hopefully be able to meet some interesting people. Maybe even a super affiliate or two.

In fact, I made up my mind to meet Anik Singal – because I was a new member of the Affiliate Classroom at that time, and also Rosalind Gardner – because I wanted to meet a very successful female affiliate marketer.

So, I made up my mind that in order to meet as many people as possible, as easily as possible, I would sit in one spot in the morning, and then after lunch each day and/or whenever possible I would move to another seat. I figured that this strategy would (by default) allow me to meet at least four new people a day (the one sitting to the left of me, and one to the right each time).

To make a long story short, I was BLOWN AWAY on the first day of the conference! Most of the information that I learned was NEW, and simple enough that I could put it into action the minute I got home. Some of it I even did at night in my hotel room. I just couldn’t believe that I hadn’t thought of some of the things that others were doing to increase their sales.

This first event was a huge success for me! By strategically changing my seating arrangements, I had new people to talk to, made a lot of interesting acquaintances, and learned what tools other affiliate marketers were using to stay successful.

It’s just amazing how much you can learn by chatting with people during breaks, or by striking up conversations with people you notice at the event – and just asking them what they think, or what they’re learning.

Everyone does things differently. I not only learned new techniques from the speakers at the event, but also through the networking with other attendees.

Now I make it a point to go to at least one event a year, even if I make that event my only vacation. It’s the one sure way to have fun while getting to meet people that are succeeding in the business you love doing.

It’s also a great way to get tons of FREE information from everyone!