LeadsCon Storms Las Vegas. And Why You Need to Leave Your Comfort Zone

Have you noticed an absence of content here on Adrants? Well it's because yours truly is in Las Vegas for LeadsCon. Taking pictures. Getting interviewed. Doing interviews. And generally getting lost in everything Vegas has to offer. Apologies. But a guy needs a break once in a while, right?

So LeadsCon. It's a conference about lead generation. And it's grown to 2,600 attendees. This year's conference seems to be twice as big as last year's. Held at the Mirage, the exhibit hall was bustling, the session rooms were packed. And the hallways were filled with people networking and doing business.

With the downfall (that's what it is after all) of traditional advertising (and we include traditional online advertising in the statement), the ad industry is begging for new ways to connect with consumers. If you've been asleep for a bit you might not have noticed the meteoric rise of social media, affiliate marketing, content marketing and, yes, lead generation.

For the snarky ones among us, social media is just digitized word of mouth, content marketing is just custom publishing, affiliate marketing is just a form of multilevel marketing and lead generation is just good old cold calling on steroids.

Of course that's the furthest thing from the truth. Things have changed and they have changed radically. And they aren't going to stop changing either. These new forms of marketing are far more than just a new set of clothing on an old mannequin. They are fast growing segments of the ever changing marketing landscape.

So do yourself a favor. Quit relying on fat ass, expensive TV campaigns and over priced/hyped Super Bowl commercial and get your hands dirty. Because that's what it's going to take to succeed. And if you don't get your hands dirty, you're going to end up like Kodak.

So go out on a limb. Leave your comfort zone. Learn something new. And come check out the dizzying display of hotness in the exhibit halls of these conferences. OK, that was uncalled for but let's just call it a side benefit of the new, new things happening in this space.