I decided to attend Elite Retreat this year and I carefully weighed out the costs and benefits before buying my ticket. After all, I’ve only been making $3,000 to $5,000 a month since early this year and still haven’t come close to hitting $10,000 per month. But after speaking with Shane Pike and Al Carlton (former Elite Retreat attendees) I decided to take the plunge (thanks again guys).
The Venue:
Sunrise from the top of the Gansevoort Hotel
Me in Times Square
This year’s Elite Retreat was based in New York and being from Seattle it was a long trek for me to undertake and my first time in New York. The event was held at the Hotel Gansevoort for a discounted rate of $350 a night. I went over a day before the retreat started so that I could make sure that I would be able to attend the networking party held that night. The food was great and the drinks were unlimited but that’s sort of what you should come to expect if you’re paying $5,000 just to walk in the door right? 
The hotel was very nice and apparently a legitimate night life spot for New Yorkers. It was funny coming back to the hotel at night and seeing people standing in line outside trying to get in to the club at the top floor of the hotel where during the day we were doing our sessions. I was also able to walk to a few of the cool New York tourist locations like Times Square and Madison Square Gardens so that was pretty fun. There was also a neat elevated park that was converted over from an old railway system.
The Speakers:
I had an opportunity to listen to the following individuals; Jeremy Schoemaker, Neil Patel, Aaron Wall, Chris Winfield, Brian Norgard, Jon Kelly, Loren Feldman and of course key note speaker Seth Godin.
In terms of practical advice I could use on my websites I would say Jeremy, Neil, Aaron and Chris provided the most relevant info for my business. The other individuals still had valuable things to say, but not something I felt I could immediately implement in my websites. The one one one sessions were great and where I took down the most notes but beyond that I’m not really allowed to discuss the contents of the presentations because of the NDA. Technically I didn’t sign anything. In fact, I don’t think the NDA’s even got passed out, but Jeremy mentioned they haven’t had any issues in the past.
Overall
I thought the event was definitely eye opening. It’s hard to believe just how much money some of the speakers are making and especially the attendees too. I got a ton of advice from several of the attendees and I’ve already begun to implement their suggestions on my websites. The conference as a whole seemed very laid back in it’s presentation format which can be a good and a bad thing I suppose. I thought it was a good thing as it allowed even more time to meet each and every person and learn from each other. I believe there were only a couple individuals I didn’t get an opportunity to speak with at length.
Officially there won’t be another Elite Retreat but knowing the past history of the conference (hint: he always seems to say it’ll be the last Elite Retreat every time he does one) I have a feeling we could see more hah hah.
Is the Elite Retreat worth the price?
The price is certainly something that holds most people back. As I indicated earlier, the overall trip cost me close to $6,494.03 for the price of admission, flight, lodging and a few meals. But to get back to the focus of this post, is it worth it? For me I would have to say – wait for a follow up post in 3 months . I know that the advice I received from the speakers and conference attendees should more than pay back the price of this trip, but until I implement the tactics and see the results for myself I can’t say for sure. I will do a follow up earnings post at the end of the year where my new goal is to break the five digit monthly barrier. Needless to say if I’m successful at accomplishing this I will say the conference was worth it.
Should you go to the Elite Retreat?
I think this question is very dependent on where you are at in your business now. If there is another Elite Retreat and you’re on the fence please contact me and I’d be happy to hop on a phone call with you and help you decide if it’s right for you or not or we could simply trade emails.
I will keep you posted on how my earnings climbs, stagnates or falls based on the implementation of the advice I received from the Elite Retreat in the coming weeks and months. If this sounds good to you then I suggest you subscribe to my blog for future updates.
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I also have a 19 inch I could throw in as well via a wall mount and I may do that eventually but I’m just not sure yet.
