Day 1: Tips for Tradeshows

I thought I'd give a few networking/self-promotional ideas to help small business owners (such as myself) kick off the new year. The list of marketing to-dos are infinite, but we only have so much time in a day. That said, I thought I would post one suggestion roughly every day to keep the wheels turning.

So, today's topic:
Tradeshows And Why You Should Participate In One

While tradeshows may not be the most exciting events to take part in, they're certainly a great way for people to put a face with your business name. It gives you the opportunity to talk personally with prospective clients. There are a few tricks though that can help your tradeshow experience to excel or fail.

Clear Signage: Many tradeshow exhibitors think it's necessary to spend large amounts of cash on glitzy boards. They spend so much time setting mini billboards and displays up that they miss people walking by. While some of these more expensive and extravagant pieces certainly work, so can the low budget ones.

Make sure your signage is clearly legible from the walkway area. If people can't read your sign, they're not likely to stop by. The two most important things you want to communicate are your logo and the service you're providing. For example, I wouldn't put "graphic and website design and wedding invitations" on a board. No one's going to read that. If I'm at a wedding show, "invitations" will work just fine.

Short and Sweet: Kind of going hand in hand with the previous point. Keep your display simple. Complex exhibits can intimidate or deter passerbys. To keep people looking your way, don't complicate the scenery. A large sign with your service title along with your logo are plenty. Smaller informational pieces can be left on your table.

Lights: They say lighting up a tradeshow is a good thing. It brightens up your area and allows readers to see your info a little better. The problem is a lot of tradeshow venues will charge up the wazoo for an outlet. Tradehow specialist Jean Holewa says save the money and use battery powered lights.

Move Your Table: Another tip from Jean is to physically move your table backwards in your space. This allows a sort of "gathering place" in front of your table. People are free to move out of the walkway area and can relax at your booth without feeling like they're being rushed by the crowd. Just by doing so, you can have a more intimate conversation with those interested folks.

Greenery: Strangely, people are attracted to plants. There's almost nothing more depressing than a tradeshow location - it's all cardboard, tables and pamphlets. Liven up your area with a few plants or vases of flowers. Every time I've done this people always comment on it, especially my tradeshow neighbors who wish they would've done the same thing.

Plan Accordingly: I saw a presentation given by Jean and she made a point about promotional items. Exhibitors learn that there will be about 10,000 people coming to a particular tradeshow, for example. So they buy and create 10,000 writing pens with their logo on them. While it's great to be prepared, Jean says, "Do you really think all 10,000 people are going to stop by your booth? Futhermore, if they did, you'd make no contacts and have no conversations."

Tradeshows only last 6 hours at most, typically. If you talk to each person that stops by and is truly interested for about 10 minutes each, that's only 6 people you can talk to in an hour. Who's going to grab those pens? The people who stop by. That said, keep some of those dollars for candy to rest on your table. Instead, print only about 100 pens and call it good.