It was 15 days before Underdog Influence Con in Sept.
For most event organizers, it's the point where we're most nervous about our registrations. Most registrations for an event happen within the last 2 weeks. It was the make-it or break-it period.
I received a text on WhatsApp — the kind of text I don't want to receive.
"hey reuben, saw another event during the same day as your event. Not sure if it will affect attendance".
Damn.
Who's Cult Creative? Why is their event on the same day as mine? Why now?
I clicked on the link and must have spent 2 hours browsing the site.
- Wow, their design is great.
- Whoa, the brands speaking at their event are huge.
- How are they charging so low?
- Will this kill my registration numbers?
- They have so many sponsors.
- 11,000+ big creator community?
- What an interesting business model. Why didn't I think of that?
- What website tech are they on?
- How are they doing it?
- Who's behind all of this?
- How are they this smart?
Suddenly I felt defeated. Nobody is going to come to Underdog Con. Maybe our marketing sucks after all.
But it was too late to turn back.
With no choice, I closed the browser and went back to work. Trust the process I told myself, my team, and my friend (the guy who had to send me that text.)
15 days later, I stood in front of a full audience during Underdog Influence Con. Every seat was filled. Some people were standing. More than 120 pairs of eyes were looking at me. We made it.
Funnily, a few days later, I stumbled upon a post while scrolling Instagram. Hey, it's the Cult Creative's event. Looks like they had a great turnout too.
Was there a need to even compete in the first place? No wait, was Cult Creative even my competitor? Wait, were we even competing?
No, not really. I self-imposed it.
In retrospect, we were lucky that we didn't let it affect us.
Trust the process. Marketing is a process. The little things you do every day add up to big things. The marketer who wins is not the smartest one, but the one who never gives up and is most consistent.
And Shermaine, the CEO of Cult Creative reminded me in an interview, "there's enough pie for everyone."
Yes – I connected and invited Shermaine to speak at Underdog Founder's Con in December.
Building a community and organizing an event is hard work. Together with her team, Shermaine has amazingly built a cult of 13,000+ creators on her platform. During Underdog Founder's Con, she'll share how she did it. I hope you'll join us.
