RecruitFest! 2009

It makes me smile every time I post that.

I was very tentative about going last year. It would make my 4th conference in as many months and that seemed a bit hard to justify just from a time off perspective, let alone the costs involved. Working for myself means that I have to really think hard about where and when to spend money. So for me, a trip to Toronto was in place of a vacation to Europe or Jamaica.

But I had a hunch that this was not only a necessary conference, but also a very fun one. And if we don't believe in our hunches, we may as well stop recruiting, right? As my friends know, I am a gambler at heart. And our hunches are usually right. This was no exception.

I was not disappointed. In fact, I found some new tools from one of the sponsor's and decided to try them out. And you know what? By the time I made it to ERE 5 weeks later, we had 2 new placements that we only made because of the connections I made at RecruitFest!

Wow, more than 20,000 in placements in 5 weeks!

And it was the conversation on the way to the airport that made me that money. The information I brought back after my conversations with Susan Burns, Craig Silverman, Gerry Crispin and Jerry Albright actually helped me change, no tweak a few things that sent my profitability soaring. We lost our top producing recruiter practically as I was heading out on the plane, but six months later, we had the same billings but much lower overhead. that means more profit, which is something I like alot. It is something that managers like alot too.

You may be wondering, what are these magical conversations, Julia?

They were simple conversations over lunch, or a drink, or in a session generally. But they were thought provoking and insightful.

try telling this guy that your cold calling skills were rusty

Or have this guy tell you

"Julia, people get paid big bucks for that, why on earth are you offering it free to your client? you should be charging 30,000 or more??!!"

How about having someone offer to do an article on you reaching many potential partners & clients? That is exactly what this guy did for me.

Want to know how to grow an agency to have many successful recruiters? Me too, that is exactly what I talked with this guy about.

Brilliant advice and uncanny street skills, not to mention charm and the most gracious host you will find.

But they all got me thinking about new ways of making money. And they were not alone, I met some many more people that have helped me make money that I couldn't list them all.

Nobody is an expert at everything, but think of how much better you could get if you could take 1 idea from the best of every expert and find a way to implement them.