"Randal L. Schwartz" wrote:
> Speaking at conferences is necessary to establish a reputation and to
> practice your craft, but it's not really a great market for new
> customers, unless you make sure you're *really* visible during the
> rest of the conference.

I often get involved behind the scenes, and that helps with name
recognition.  I was a track chair at the last conference I went to, and
I'm on the board of the next one.  I've been known to organize dinners,
like when many of the people on my swtest-discuss mailing list are going
to be at the same conference.  

> Yeah, everything I loathed about sales when I was a simple grunt
> technician, I now find I must do to sell Stonehenge.  Schmooze.  Throw
> parties.  Have an exhibit booth.  Network with past associates.

Yup.  :-)  There's a bit of a difference selling a company and selling
an independent consultant.  As an individual, I don't think it makes
sense for me to have a booth.  I spend my time at conferences meeting
people, and maintaining contacts with my peers who are a rich source of
referrals.  It's more about having a few meaningful contacts than
blanketing the market.  I find this approach much more rewarding than
when I was doing technical sales support for a consulting firm.

> It's not enough to simply give a brilliant talk at a conference.  The
> people that hang around afterward are mostly just tech-heads, usually.

I'm told that doing a full-day tutorial is much better than a track
session talk.  Only for a longer format do they get a sense of your
ability as a trainer.  I agree that it's not sufficient.  I figure that
people have to run across my work along at least two or three
independent paths before they'll start to trust me.  I've left bread
crumbs on lots of different paths to facilitate this.  :-)
--
Danny Faught
Tejas Software Consulting
http://www.tejasconsulting.com

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