Fatrank Podcast

James Dooley: Hi, today I'm joined with James Norquay who has created a very successful SEO conference. I want to dig a bit deeper into why you initially set up an SEO conference and then move on to the benefits that came with it. So James, it’s a pleasure having you. Why did you set up an SEO conference?

James Norquay: Basically we decided to set up the Sydney SEO Conference because there were not many good conferences in Australia and the existing events were pretty small. We wanted to bring some international names like Matt Diggity, Kevin Indig, Aleyda Solis and Kyle Roof to Australia. The idea was to bring high quality international speakers while also featuring strong local speakers. We wanted to save people from flying 24 hours to Europe or 15 hours to America for events when something good could happen in their own region. Making it accessible and affordable for people in Australia was a big motivation.

James Dooley: That explains why you created the SEO conference. Now that you’ve built a successful event and brought these international speakers in, what have been the benefits? Is it mainly benefits for the community or have you personally gained business or other advantages from it?

James Norquay: Definitely both. The biggest benefit from starting your own conference is building a brand in the market. The branding agency we work with describes it as the king of kings strategy. We run the event and let every other agency come. Every time we run an event we win business off the back of it. That might be partnerships with other agencies that attend, especially ones that are not SEO agencies, or it might be in-house brands that attend the event and see members of our team speaking on stage.

They like what they see and they like the atmosphere. It becomes a great networking environment because you spend time with people throughout the event. We also run masterminds connected to the event. Those create deeper relationships over drinks and conversations. Another benefit is hiring staff. People attend the conference and then approach us about working for the agency.

There are also partnerships formed with speakers. For example we paid Matt Diggity to come to Australia and later he invited me to speak in Chiang Mai. Tim Soulo from Ahrefs came out to our event and later invited me to speak in Singapore and the United States. Those relationships would never have happened if we had not run the conference. Personally the exposure has multiplied massively from running our own event.

James Dooley: If someone is listening and thinking about creating their own event, maybe something like a London SEO Conference, what should they watch out for? You’ve shared the success stories, but surely things go wrong along the way. What problems should people expect?

James Norquay: Running an event is a completely different game. I used to promote nightclub events when I was younger, so I learned how difficult it can be to promote something. There are a lot of things that can go wrong. You need a good events manager. Audio visual issues happen every year. Even when you pay the AV team tens of thousands of dollars there can still be problems.

You need checklists for everything and testing procedures to make sure equipment works. Speakers sometimes cancel at the last minute. That happens every year. You must always have backup speakers ready. Luckily within our agency we have people who can step in and present if needed, and I also have friends in the industry who keep presentations ready just in case.

You also need to prepare for cost blowouts. Running an event is expensive. In Australia a high quality one day conference can easily cost over $100,000. Even the minimum for a decent event might be around $50,000. You also get backlash about all sorts of things. It could be speaker choices, diversity discussions or simply people complaining online.

The social media side is probably the worst because people do not see the hundreds of hours of planning that go into the event. They do not see the dozens of emails it takes to convince someone like Kevin Indig to travel to Australia. People criticise events without understanding how much work goes into organising them.

James Dooley: The diversity conversation comes up a lot around events. Personally I think organisers should focus on choosing the best speakers for the audience. If someone is the best person for the topic, they should be on stage.

James Norquay: It is definitely a tricky area. Ideally you want a mix of speakers. I am a big advocate of promoting female speakers and there are some excellent ones in the industry. Aleyda Solis is fantastic. Jess Schultz is great as well. The challenge is that SEO is still a male dominated industry, so a lot more men apply to speak.

As an event organiser you must focus on delivering value. If speakers do not deliver value the audience gives negative feedback. You have to strike a balance between diversity and ensuring the event has the strongest speakers possible.

James Dooley: You mentioned earlier that your event also includes masterminds. Are those connected to the conference?

James Norquay: Yes. Sometimes we run a two day conference with a mastermind before it. Other years we run a one day conference with a mastermind the day before. This year we are running three events. On Wednesday night we are hosting an SEO FOMO event with Aleyda Solis. It will be a relaxed event with around ten speakers and networking.

On Thursday we run the mastermind. That is a full day session following a format similar to the Chiang Mai mastermind where people bring three big problems and one growth hack. We split attendees into small groups based on business level so the discussions stay relevant.

Then on Friday we run the main conference from morning until late afternoon followed by a networking event that goes into the evening. People love that format.

James Dooley: Have you ever thought about adding an awards night alongside the conference?

James Norquay: I have thought about it, but it can be controversial when an agency runs awards. Some companies may question the fairness of it. Running awards also adds another layer of work because you need judges, a scoring system and legitimacy behind the results.

That said, awards can be powerful. They give companies recognition and create assets that get cited online. For example an awards page on a website can become a strong credibility signal.

James Dooley: I agree. Awards, reviews and case studies are often the only way people can judge quality in the SEO industry.

James Norquay: Exactly. Some organisations already run good awards programmes, but there is room for more if they are done properly.

James Dooley: Are you travelling to other conferences this year?

James Norquay: I have bought tickets for some events for the team. I usually buy tickets for Chiang Mai SEO every year. I have also been invited to speak at an Ahrefs event in Singapore. There are several conferences in India that invited me as well, but scheduling can be difficult.

I have a family, a young child and a company with more than thirty staff. Coordinating travel around those responsibilities is harder than it used to be. When you are younger you can travel anywhere easily, but later in life there are more commitments to balance.

James Dooley: It sounds like there is a lot happening in the SEO events space.

James Norquay: Definitely. Ten years ago there were not many SEO conferences. Now there are many people organising events. You have SEO Estonia, Chiang Mai SEO, Masterminders and several others. It is great for the industry because people can share knowledge and build relationships.

James Dooley: Anyone watching who is thinking about starting their own conference or mastermind should understand that it takes a lot of work. The first couple of years can be very challenging. But once it grows it can bring huge benefits including partnerships, hiring opportunities and new business.

James Norquay: Exactly. It is difficult but if you do it well it can be extremely rewarding.

James Dooley: James, it has been a pleasure having you.

James Norquay: Thanks for having me.