I’ve attended FinCon, THE conference for peeps in the personal finance space, since 2012. I initially heard about it 2 weeks before it was hosted in Denver. I was broke, depressed, and frustrated at the the time. And, the only thing that really picked up my spirits was reading personal finance blogs. Somehow I discovered that a conference called FinCon would be hosted in Denver and that it was only around $100. Honestly, I really didn’t have the money. Remember, I was broke. But, I found out that several of my biggest blogging idols would be there and I felt it would be worth it to go. So, I scrounged up the $100 bucks and bought a ticket. I figured I could walk to the venue and food was covered in the cost. I had no idea how much that one experience would change my life. In the 8 years since I first started attending FinCon it has gone from around 200 people that 2nd year in Denver to around 3,000 people in 2019. I’ve paid off over $60,000 in debt, become and entrepreneur, and even hosted a personal finance focused event called Money On the Mountain. All of this was a direct result of attending that first FinCon, the connections that I made, and the knowledge that I’ve learned. In today’s episode I will share my thoughts on if you should go to FinCon. Listen on.
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Before we get deeper into this episode, here’s my FinCon Street cred
- Head of Colorado FinCon for 5 years and grew the community significantly
- Attended: Denver, St. Louis, New Orleans, Charlotte, San Diego, and Dallas
- I missed Orlando and Washington, D.C.
- I plan on attending the 2020 event in Long Beach
- I’ve also spoken on panels at two of the events (don’t ask me which ones LOL!)
So, I’m very invested in this community and love seeing all that it does. I decided to address the “should I go to FinCon” question because I could tell that people are confused by the type of conference FinCon currently is as of 2020.
What Kind of Conference is FinCon?
- In its current iteration, FinCon is a conference that helps influencers in the personal finance space learn how to better:
- Market
- Engage
- Connect
- Grow
- Monetize
- The content that they are creating for their individual communities
- When I first starting attending FinCon in 2012, there was a lot of personal finance related content. People were still actively talking about: paying off debt, personal finance journeys, etc. However, over the years many of the attendees lives changed as a result of the actions that they took to better their finances. They now need different content.
- Currently, the content for FinCon has a marketing focus as dictated by the attendees’ needs and requests.
- If you’re going to FinCon for a conference that focuses heavily on personal finance related sessions, etc. This is not the conference for you. Instead the following events would be a better fit:
- Lola Retreat (on hiatus until 2021)
- Cents Positive
- CampFI
- Money on the Mountain (on hiatus until late Spring 2021)
- The Financial Freedom Summit
- Elevate Influencer Conference-This conference is for personal finance influencers of color and is hosted by Sandy Smith. I would say that if you’re a POC attend both because you build two different sets of connections. And, there is content specific to the state of POC finances at the core of this event.
FinCon is Huge: How to Manage the Size
Every time I attend FinCon it feels like a family reunion. I have very specific strategies that I use to make large events feel small. You can watch my free webinar “Crush the Conference: FinCon Edition” There’s a link to it in the show notes.
- Tip #1-Begin connecting with people in the FinCon community now. Show up at the conference with people that you’ve had conversations with and would like to meet in person.
- Tip #2-Start attending FinCon local Meetups ASAP!
- Tip #3-Be intentional about your FinCon experience.
- Tip #4-Be helpful when you can. Sometimes community members will ask questions about things. Be the one who answers them. This is a super low-key way to be remembered and have people looking to meet with you at the event.
- Tip #5-Hang out in the hotel foyer. I’m really serious. Some of the best conversations happen at 2:00 am in the foyer.
- Bonus Tip-Coffee meetups, jogging in the morning with a small group, yoga hangouts, karaoke, happy hours, etc. Or, attend interest based meetups such as: communities focused on: religion/sexual orientation/regions/culture/ethnicity/etc. Those are the events that make a large event like FinCon small.
I’m an extrovert, but I’m an only child extrovert. This means there are points in the day when I’m over being around people and I head to the pool, take a nap, or chill out. Because I don’t need or want to be “on” the entire time I’m there.
Is It Worth Going to FinCon?
In a word: Yes. But, let me explain in detail why.
- You’re in rooms with people who are all in alignment with your vision and focus. To empower the people in the community that you’re building with money. This is important because in your everyday life, it’s likely that not everyone “gets” what you’re trying to do.
- Build connections with brands and influencers that you would like to collaborate or do business with.
- Connect directly with the course creators (if they’re in attendance) for courses you may be considering such as:
- Make Money with Ebooks-Me
- $10KVA by Kayla Sloan
- Flourish with Facebook Ads Monica Louie
- Small Business Incubator-Sandy Smith
- Earn More Blogging-Holly and Greg Johnson
- Earn More Writing-Holly and Greg Johnson
- Make Money with Affiliates-Michelle Schroeder-Gardener
- Trade Your 9-5 Tela Holcomb
- Connect directly with people who can help you make money!
- Clients who may purchase your:
- Products such as courses/books/or coaching
- Freelance writing skills-Meet with editors looking for writers
- Virtual Assistant services
- Social Media Management Services
- Marketing Services
- Editing Services (podcast/writing/etc.)
- Clients who may purchase your:
- Connect with people who can help you:
- Grow your page views
- Get on podcasts
- Create your first course
- Be a part of a mastermind group
- The last time I attended FinCon I made an extra $10,000 extra 3 months of attending the conference from contacts that I made at the event.
- Become potential supporters of your projects. Money on the Mountain was expensive to host! But, a number of amazing FinCon people sponsored the event publicly and privately-people whose names you would recognize. And, I look forward to supporting their projects too.
How to Afford FinCon
Attending events that may require you to fly from one state (or, country) to another, stay in some type of accommodation for a minimum of 4 days, and eat at the same time can get expensive. Here are my thoughts on how to afford FinCon and other events like it…that you SHOULD be attending.
- The earlier you decide to go, the cheaper the ticket. Ticket prices go up, the closer it gets to the event. However, pay attention to people looking to sell and transfer their tickets because they’re no longer able to attend.
- Fly a safe low-cost carrier. I grew up flying Frontier. So, I fly Frontier and save a ton on flight costs. One note: I do check in luggage for FinCon because of ALL OF the Swag. Crazy amounts of swag.
- Room with other people. I’m a great roomie at FinCon because I’m never in the room.
- Stay in an AirBnB/Friend’s Place/Hostel-if the choice is to not attend or economize and stay at a hostel. Stay at the hostel.
- Side-hustle and use that money to pay for the event. Work your numbers for everything add 20% to your numbers and then begin stashing away that cash to attend.
- Apply for scholarships.
- Volunteer tickets-One thing to consider is you may miss some of the content, etc. because you’re volunteering.
- Apply to be a speaker and bring your A game.
Going for Your Avatar
I think it’s important to bring this up. Your ideal client avatar, podcast listener, vlog watcher, may or may not be in attendance at FinCon.
If you’re going to any conference with that focus, spend some time doing the following:
- Looking at who actually attends the event
- Asking yourself what they’re wanting
- Is this the right space to connect with them?
- If your avatar IS at FinCon host an unofficial meetup and meet with a group of them. I plan on doing this for anyone who is interested in Make Money with Ebooks or The Brand Building Lab with is my group coaching program.
Timing
I plan on being in Long Beach at least for a week. Why? Well, I learned the hard way that the official 4 days of FinCon was not enough time to do everything that I needed to do at the event. My current plan is to arrive in Long Beach on Monday, September 28th, 2020.
If at all possible arrive one day prior to FinCon or early the morning the first day and leave on Sunday. Why?
- You can connect in a low-key way with some of the more well-known influencers who’ve arrived early and will be crazy busy during the actual event.
- Why leave Sunday? The closing event is always A TON of fun!
There you have it, my thoughts on should you go to FinCon. Don’t forget to grab my Crush The Conference-FinCon free webinar with more insight, ideas, etc. So that you can kick butt at your next FinCon! Hope to see you there.
Watch the Free-Crush the Conference Webinar
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