In this episode of the Ecomm Breakthrough Podcast, host Josh Hadley shares how to maximize ROI from conferences through intentional networking. Using Amazon Accelerate as a case study, Josh explains how pre-planning meetings with key attendees—rather than randomly networking—led to valuable connections with high-level Amazon executives, directly benefiting his business. He emphasizes researching attendees in advance, setting clear goals, and scheduling meetings before the event begins. Josh encourages entrepreneurs to stop treating conferences as content-focused events and instead approach them strategically, turning every interaction into a purposeful opportunity for meaningful business growth.

Bullet Points:

Timestamps:

00:00:00 Introduction to Networking
Most people are terrible at networking. The host, Josh Hadley, introduces himself and the topic of maximizing conference ROI.

00:01:14 Maximizing Time at Events
A travel hack for conferences: take the first flight out and the last flight back to maximize your valuable time.

00:02:22 The Power of Pre-Planned Meetings
Josh shares his successful experience at Amazon Accelerate, where he pre-scheduled meetings with high-level executives and key contacts.

00:04:42 The Old Mindset: Conferences are for Content
The initial belief that the value of conferences lies in the content, taking notes, and listening to speakers.

00:06:58 The Second Phase: Casual Networking
Realizing content wasn’t the key, the focus shifted to casual networking, which often led to unproductive and frustrating conversations.

00:07:53 The Breakthrough: Intentional Networking
The realization that “networking” is not a strategy, but “intentional networking” is the key to success at any event.

00:09:01 Executing an Intentional Strategy
How to prepare for a conference by researching attendees, identifying key people, and reaching out to schedule meetings beforehand.

00:10:01 The Conference is the Location, Not the Strategy
The conference is simply the venue where you execute your pre-planned strategy of connecting with specific people to solve problems.

00:11:12 Applying the Strategy at Amazon Accelerate
Josh explains how he proactively reached out to speakers on LinkedIn before the event to set up valuable, targeted meetings.

00:13:04 Using an Executive Assistant for Research
Leveraging an executive assistant and AI to create a detailed report on key attendees to target for meaningful conversations.

00:14:12 Conclusion and Call to Action
A summary of the principles for intentional networking and an encouragement to apply them to make every conference meaningful.

Links and Mentions:

Tools and Websites
“LinkedIn“: “00:11:12”

Events
“Amazon Accelerate“: “00:01:14”

People Mentioned
“Jenna Owens“: “00:12:09”
“Elizabeth Shiels“: “00:09:01”

Concepts
“Intentional Networking”: “00:09:01”

Transcript:

Josh Hadley 00:00:00  Most people are terrible at networking. And today I’m going to show you how to turn one conference or event into the kind of opportunities and relationships that can change the trajectory of your business. Welcome to the Ecomm Breakthrough Podcast. I’m Josh Hadley. I’ve scaled my own e-commerce brand from 0 to 8 figures, and I’m actively building towards nine figures in sales. This podcast is where I document that journey and share the systems, the strategies, and the lessons learned in real time so that you can learn what actually matters and scale your own business. My name is Josh Hadley. First and foremost, I’m a man of faith. I’m a husband to a beautiful wife and a father of four children. I’ve been selling in the e-commerce space for over a decade, doing over $20 million in annual revenue and selling multi-millionaire on channels such as Amazon, TikTok, Shop and Shopify. And last but not least, I’m the host of the number one business strategy podcast for ecommerce entrepreneurs called Ecomm Breakthrough. Today, I’m recording this podcast episode after coming back from a recent conference I attended Amazon’s Accelerate, and to be honest with you, earlier this year I was not planning on going to Amazon Accelerate because to me, I honestly thought it was going to be a waste of time.

Josh Hadley 00:01:14  I went last year and I spent three days there at accelerate, and I sat in to many of those presentations from Amazon, and I was like, this is all just scripted material that’s not actually helping me change my business. And I had a complete different mindset shift that this year when I went number one, I only spent two days. My favorite hack that I want to share with you is number one. Whenever I go to an event, I get on the first flight out of the day, and even if that means I miss the event, you know, it starts, you know, maybe 30 minutes before I get there. I’m okay with that because, number one, I’m trying to maximize my time. You as the founder. Your time is the most expensive in the entire business. And if you are stacking on days in advance to go fly, to go get settled down. Quote, unquote. The day before the conference. I think you’re wasting your time because for me, I’m investing all of that time into the business before I ever show up.

Josh Hadley 00:02:22  And then last but not least, I always schedule my flight on the last flight of the day. And then guess what? If I ever need to bump it up because something finishes early, so be it. Like that’s great. There’s lots of opportunities. Same day flight change. It’s same day standby that you can go on earlier flights. But I’m trying to maximize my value of time. Today I’m going to show you how to get the biggest ROI from events, because this year I got a massive ROI from Amazon Accelerate. From the moment I got off the plane and I brought my son with me this time. The moment I got off the plane, I. We immediately went to the Space Needle and we did a little sightseeing tour for 45 minutes. And after those 45 minutes, I had a meeting set up with the VP that manages all of seller support. She has 20,000 people. Okay, that’s Jenna owns, 20,000 people reporting to her in her organization. Okay. She has influence. SAT down, met with her, and then guess what she did? She introduced me to some of the more significant people also that actually resolve cases.

Josh Hadley 00:03:31  They’re in seller support. We are able to exchange contact information, was able to share some of the challenges that we’re going through and have their personal contact details so that, hey, anytime we go through this, I have a personal relationship. It’s no more of this. Like, hey, how many seller support cases can I open up and how do I get through? The bots like these relationships become extremely valuable, I then subsequently was asked to go speak on a panel at the Supply Chain Summit that Amazon put together. So I rushed over there, and while I was there, not only did I meet some other entrepreneurs who we had some great hallway conversations with. Those were kind of serendipitous conversations, but I was able to meet somebody that managed or it was a high level director in all of Amazon supply chain and logistics. So when I experience issues with A.W. Ord, AGL, GW Ord, Amazon, NCF or FBA, I have a contact there and then it doesn’t stop there. I was then able to go network with other people throughout that evening that honestly, we were able to have some side conversations.

Josh Hadley 00:04:42  We talked about TikTok shop and like truly opened my mind to some new opportunities. suffice it to say, I woke up at 5 a.m. that morning. I did not end up going to bed to 2 a.m. my time, and every minute of that day was packed with intelligently thought through and pre-planned meetings that were set up in advance. That was the number one game changer. And I’m going to break down my entire playbook for you and how you can go replicate this for yourself and help you up your game whenever you go to conferences, because I will also attribute almost 90% of any breakthrough that I’ve had in our business can be attributed to a conversation or a thought that generated while I was attending a conference. For a long time, I thought that conferences were about the content, and last year when I went to Amazon Accelerate, I thought I should go there for the content. That was part of my problem. You go hear the speakers, you take notes, you sit in the breakout sessions, you come home with a notebook full of ideas, and then you just your job is just to go regurgitate those ideas to your team.

Josh Hadley 00:05:54  But at some point, I started hearing the same advice over and over and over again. And I realized, especially some people I know for me, when I go and present at conferences, I try to change up what I’m presenting about because I think, like, the worst thing that I see is the same person that they just like take their one pitch and they take it on a suitcase around the world and around the country doing the same spiel over and over and over again. And guess what? That tells me that person isn’t very smart. Because if that’s the only thing that you’ve got to share, like that means you’re not really in the game. This is just a sales presentation, whereas somebody that’s always changing up their content, you know, they’re in their game and they’re actually driving results and pushing things forward compared to somebody that’s just got a service that they’re trying to sell you. That was an unlock for myself. The real value isn’t in the content though. It’s actually in the networking. And I think that’s like 100% true.

Josh Hadley 00:06:58  But I also think that the advice right there in and of itself is incomplete, because I went through a second phase where after I learned, hey, it’s the same speakers, it’s the same spiel. you know, I thought that yes, it is about the networking. So I went through the second phase, and during the second phase I thought, okay, if networking is the real value, then I just need to go to more events. I need to hang out more in the halls and less being in the room taking notes. And I just need to go talk to more people, go to the dinners, hang out in the lobby, meet whoever I can meet. And honestly, after a while I started to get frustrated because what would happen is like I would end up into like conversations with people. Sometimes they were very good. And then sometimes I was like, this is a massive waste of my time. and we’re just kind of going around in circles and I’m not really clicking with you, but you want to keep talking to me.

Josh Hadley 00:07:53  And now this this, like, awkward thing. How do I get out of this conversation? Because I would spend my days away from my family and my business. And so I knew, like every hour and every minute I was away, I needed to provide a massive return because I had paid for the flights, the hotels, the tickets, dinner, all of it. And I’d have some good conversations. But at the end of the day, some of those conversations weren’t as helpful. And ultimately I would meet some interesting people along the way. But I’d get home and I’d think, did that actually move anything forward? Sometimes the answer was no. Like, some of those conversations, like, never really led to anything. And that’s when I realized something. Networking is not the strategy, okay? Intentional networking is the strategy. So what’s the difference between like networking and intentional networking, because to be honest with you, there is a massive difference. Going to a conference and saying, hey, I’m here to network is like going to your sales team and just telling them like, hey, go make some sales.

Josh Hadley 00:09:01  And they’re like, okay, with who? What do you want me to go do? For what? What are you trying to accomplish? Who do you need to talk to? What relationships are you trying to build, and what problem are you trying to solve in your business? Today, I approach events very differently, and I came across a great example from Elizabeth Shiels. She’s the CEO and co-founder of Rock Paper Coin. Before she goes to a conference, she doesn’t just buy a ticket, show up and start wandering around shaking hands. She actually gets the attendee list. She researches who is going to be there. She figures out the handful of people she actually wants to meet and why she wants to meet them. Then she reaches out before the conference even begins. And I think that’s the distinction. She isn’t eliminating serendipity. She is guaranteeing that the trip already has a purpose before she ever gets there. And then all of the random introductions, the hallway conversations, the dinners, those are all upside.

Josh Hadley 00:10:01  And that is very different from how I used to approach conferences. I would show up thinking, hey, I’m here to network, but that’s not really a strategy. That’s again, it’s like telling your sales team and just like, hey, go, go make sales. But at the end of the day, you need to be asking yourself the question, what is the constraint in your business and what’s the biggest problem? And who might know the answer to that question? Okay. The conference itself should not be the strategy. The conference is just the location where you execute the strategy. That is the unlock. And I’ll say it again, the conference is just the location where you execute the strategy. Because before I ever get on a plane, I want to know why I’m going. What are the one, 2 or 3 outcomes that would make this trip worth my time? Who is going to be there that I should meet? Who is already solved that problem that I’m dealing with now? Who has access to something I need or contacts? Who do I want to have a relationship with 2 or 3 years from now? And then I start reaching out before the event.

Josh Hadley 00:11:12  And so here’s the key takeaway that I want to share with you. That’s exactly what I did for Amazon Accelerate. I reached out to all the people that were going to be speaking on stage at Amazon, Accelerate and message them, connected with them on LinkedIn, and tried to set up as many meetings as I possibly could in advance. And often it was like, hey, can we just meet up in the morning, whether it be for breakfast or hey, can we chat during lunch? Whatever it was, I was open to anything, but I was also very flexible. I was like, hey, I know you. You’re going to be speaking at the conference. You tell me if you have a 15 minute gap, I would love to meet you wherever you want me to meet you, and I will show up. And honestly, that’s what I did. and funny enough, when I met with Jenna Owens, I didn’t even have an Amazon accelerate ticket quite yet because I knew, like, hey, I was just going to go network with these other people outside the conference.

Josh Hadley 00:12:09  And I was like, I don’t want to pay the 600 bucks or whatever it was to get into the event. I don’t need to go to any of the general sessions or anything like that. However, Jenna Owens is a really, really good contact to have. She was like, hey, meet me at the fifth level in the seller cafe, and I knew I couldn’t just say, like, actually, can you meet me in the lobby? Because, like, she was squeezing me in into a 15 minute gap between a couple other things where she was like preparing for her, speaking for the show, and I was going to be able to grab 15 minutes of her time in passing. And so sure enough, I ended up having to, like, buy a ticket there because I was like, I’ve got to make this thing happen. And if that cost me $600 to get that introduction, so be it. And ultimately, like, she then opened up a massive Rolodex that was very, very meaningful for the business.

Josh Hadley 00:13:04  And so that’s the way I want to encourage you to like, show up to events. So number one, reach out in advance, get the attendee list. And on Amazon Accelerate. Super easy to see who is speaking on stage, who I like, what are the constraints I’m facing right now in seller support or, in various issues in the business, and then go try to set up those meetings. And then last but not least, when I went to different networking events and there were different like little offsite groups, I had my executive assistant put together a list of everybody that was going to be in the room and then gave me a list of here, the top ten people that you know. According to AI and chat and things like that seem to have the most significance or seem to have bigger businesses and seem to be, you know, maybe have solved some of the constraints I’m focusing on in our business right now. And I got a basically a three page report with names, their titles, their experience, their background, where they’ve worked at, and a little short two paragraph sentence as to like why that person might be significant to my business.

Josh Hadley 00:14:12  So guess what? As I showed up in that room, I can pull up that document and be like, okay, here are the ten people. Okay, yes, these are their experiences. Cool. And then I could look out in the room and be like, there he is, and I’m going to go hunt down that person, go talk to them. That is where the meaningful conversations came to arise. And so that’s my encouragement. I hope that you’re able to take some of these kind of principles and go apply them to the next event that you were attending, because the value in the event is not just sitting in the halls hoping for a serendipitous, you know, conversation with somebody to magically happen with you. Although those do happen and they happen at every event. But when I go there with much more intentionality, knowing who I’m meeting in advance like that trip more than pays for itself over and over and over again. And sometimes I do find myself listening to some of the sessions, and those are good as well.

Josh Hadley 00:15:10  But overall, I hope you go apply these principles. Make every conference. I’m a big fan of them, but make them meaningful so that you’re not wasting your precious time as the CEO leading your business. If you found value in this episode. Please make sure to drop a note, leave me a review on the podcast, share it with another operator who needs to hear this same message, and share it in your Mastermind Slack community, or share it on Twitter. But until next time, good luck out there.