Last month, I challenged myself to step outside my comfort zone. To learn, connect, and show up in unfamiliar spaces.
It turned out to be one of the most rewarding decisions I’ve made.
Let’s be honest – as someone who’s naturally shy, the thought of walking into rooms full of marketing professionals I’d never met was terrifying. But I knew that hiding behind my laptop, perfecting my SEO skills and building my portfolio alone wasn’t going to land me the marketing role I want.
So I committed to attending every marketing networking event I could find in Brisbane. Here’s what happened.
Why I Committed to Brisbane Marketing Networking Events
Here’s something I wish I knew earlier, you can have all the technical skills in the world, but if no one knows you exist, those skills won’t get you hired.
I’d been focusing so hard on learning Google Ads, diving deep into SEO fundamentals, and building my digital marketing knowledge that I forgot about the human side of marketing. The connections. The relationships. The community.
Brisbane has an incredible marketing scene, and I was completely missing out on it.
Quick question: have you ever felt like you’re learning in isolation? That was me. Until I decided to change it.
Marketing Club AU/NZ: The Mindset That Drives Success
The first event I attended was the Marketing Club AU/NZ meetup, and honestly, this confused me at first. I walked in expecting to hear about the latest marketing tactics and tools.
Instead, I learned something way more valuable, which is what mindset and personality it takes to thrive in marketing.
The speakers talked about curiosity and resilience being just as important as technical skills. That hit me hard. Here I was, worried about whether I knew enough about conversion tracking or keyword research, when what I really needed was confidence in my ability to keep learning and adapting.
I met brilliant professionals who reminded me that marketing isn’t just about the tools we use, it’s also about understanding people. And that’s something I can definitely do.
BNI Brisbane: Building Authentic Business Relationships
Next up was BNI networking, thanks to Rob Buchel. I’ll admit, I had no idea what to expect from this one.
What I witnessed was genuine community in action. People from completely different industries like plumbers, accountants, real estate agents, marketers. They are all supporting each other’s growth through authentic relationship-building.
Here’s the thing though, it wasn’t about collecting business cards or making a quick sale. It was about actually caring about other people’s success. One member spent 10 minutes helping another troubleshoot their website issue, not because they were getting paid, but because that’s what you do in a real community.
This completely changed how I think about networking. It’s not about what you can get, it’s about what you can give.
Humanising AI: Marketing’s Human Connection Challenge
The Just Digital People “Humanising AI” event was particularly relevant since I’d been working with AI tools at Elevaite.
While AI adoption is racing ahead in marketing, the real challenge isn’t technical, it’s building customer trust and ensuring we don’t lose the human connection that drives genuine engagement.
The panel discussion made me realise something important about my own learning journey. Yes, I’m learning to use AI tools for content creation and ad optimisation. But the marketers who’ll succeed are those who remember that behind every click, every conversion, every data point is a real person with real needs.
On the flip side, this event also showed me that my hands-on experience with AI marketing tools actually gives me something valuable to contribute to these conversations.
Global Marketing Institute: Back to Digital Marketing Fundamentals
I gave up my weekend to attend the Global Marketing Institute crash course, and it was worth every minute.
Most valuable lesson I learned here is that strong foundations come before everything else. Before you spend money on ads, you need to understand your audience. Before you optimise campaigns, you need an optimised website. Before you scale, you need solid automation in place.
I’m applying this approach to my own portfolio build right now. Instead of rushing to launch, I’m taking time to get the fundamentals right. Clear messaging, proper SEO structure, and user-friendly design is really important.
Key Lessons from Brisbane’s Marketing Networking Scene
Every conversation, every panel, every connection reinforced something I’m learning as I build my SEO and Google Ads skills: marketing success comes from understanding people first, then applying the right tools and strategies.
But here are the practical networking lessons I learned:
- Show up consistently. One event won’t change your career. But showing up month after month? That’s how you build real relationships.
- Be genuinely curious. The best conversations I had weren’t about me trying to impress anyone. They happened when I asked genuine questions about what other people were working on.
- Share your learning journey. I was worried about not being “expert enough” to contribute. Turns out, people love hearing about what you’re learning. It’s relatable and shows you’re committed to growing.
How These Networking Events Shaped My Marketing Approach
In the end, this month reminded me that showing up consistently, whether it’s online and offline, is where real growth happens.
Right now, I’m diving deep into technical SEO while building my portfolio from scratch. But these networking experiences taught me that the technical skills are just one part of the equation.
The other part is to build genuine relationships, contributing to the community, and positioning yourself as someone who’s actively learning and growing.
That’s exactly what I’m doing by writing this post and sharing my journey. It’s what I’ll keep doing as I attend more Brisbane marketing networking events. And it’s how I plan to approach my career in digital marketing.
So there you have it – my month of stepping outside my comfort zone. Grateful to everyone who made these experiences possible!
Want to continue the conversation? Connect with me on LinkedIn. I’d love to hear about your own networking experiences or chat about the Brisbane marketing scene.