Always go to the networking event – Birmingham’s Local University

Today we’ll take a break from our regularly scheduled programming to bring you a special message about how to learn SEO. Always, and I mean always, go to the networking event after an SEO event.

Yesterday I got to go to Birmingham’s Local University. The actual talks on organic SEO were a little basic, since they were aimed at local business owners who don’t work in SEO full time and then freelance SEO on the side. But I got a TON out of the local portion. I don’t do much local at work, and I’ve always found local a bit confusing, so the talk by local search master Mike Blumenthal was very helpful. He broke down how to do local search and made it seem really straightforward.

The portion of the social media marketing talk by Will Scott that I found most helpful was when Will was breaking down how finely you can target people on Facebook with your ads. The problem I’ve encountered is that most of the businesses I work with don’t know whom to target. This is one more way online marketing can sometimes highlight problems with a business.

But the very best part of all was the post-event networking at Dodiyos. I’m always nervous before I go to these things. I’m scared of approaching people, scared of saying something dumb, and I’m scared of sitting in the corner alone like a weirdo. But I always end up getting something out of going, whether it’s good advice, a contact, or both.

Last night I got to talk, at length, to all of the presenters and ask question after question. It was wonderful. If you want to learn anything, get a few drinks in a presenter, ask a question, and then shut up. You’ll learn more than you ever wanted to know.

In my next post, I’ll go over what I actually learned about SEO. Stay tuned!