Top 10 Comic-Con Networking Tips

Quick tips:

• Perfect your brand elevator pitch. If someone asks you what you do, be able to describe your business in 30 seconds or less.
• Practice talking in sound bites with journalists. Talk in quotes. Every sentence should add value.
• Stats always add value. If someone asks why you decided to create your company (an app in this case), you can respond, “40 percent of the top performing apps on the App Store are strategy games and these are the games we enjoy the most. We wanted to combine our passion for these games with a sustainable business model.” (This is not a real stat, but you get the idea).
• People like to talk about themselves. It has been proven in job interviews that if the job candidate gets the person giving the interview to talk about themselves, the interviewee thinks highly of the candidate. This is the same with journalists and investors. If you find out their motivations and more about them, they will think highly of you.
• Never say anything negative about another individual or company. This can affect your own reputation.
• Don’t lie. Transparency is king. If you’re asked something you don’t know the answer to, say so. It comes across as humbling instead of like someone they can’t trust.
• Dress the part. Do not wear a full suit, but show you are there for business. This will show people that you take yourself seriously and that this is partially a business trip with real long-term goals. Act the part as well. There will be parties, but don’t let anyone remember you for something you wouldn’t share with your mother.
• Get off the tradeshow floor. Most people are there to work and many people have negative connotations with working, but they will be out afterwards. Look into evening events with media people there. Look into evening events that interest you, but could lead to meeting a potential lead.
• Capitalize on your strengths with talking to people. Maybe one of you are better at approaching people and the other is better at talking about the business. Be aware of your strengths and weaknesses and take advantage of them.
• Have takeaways. Collect business cards. Take peoples collateral. Be able to prove the value of attending the event when you leave.

Key takeaways:

• Remember, there is no real pressure. You are amongst your peers. Be conversational. Enjoy yourself.
• You are not there to sell, you’re there to raise awareness of your brand and hopefully meet a few kind journalists. Keep it light and win them over with your personality, don’t be that guy that seems like a used car salesman.

Joseph W. Doran, PR Manager