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"Trade Shows"
by Bob Osgoodby
Trade Shows are a great way to meet prospective clients. Atfirst, it seems like a "walk in the park", and they can be a lotof fun. Many of the visitors to the show are there to see whatis being offered, and to them it is more of a holiday than work.
If you are there to show your wares, it is work. Don't confuseyour role as a vendor with that of the visitor. You must bethere before the exhibits open to ensure your booth is set upproperly, and have coverage at your booth until the exhibitsclose for the day. Trying to do it alone, is at best, adifficult proposition. There will be times when you must leavethe booth, and if it is unattended, you may be missingprospective clients.
Let's assume you have all the "goodies" you should have such asbusiness cards, brochures, signs, and free samples. I'm notgoing to cover that, as it will be different for each business.
As you walk about the exhibit hall, you will see some boothswhere there are crowds of people, and others where the exhibitorsare trying to stay awake. What is drawing the crowds to onebooth while the others are dying on the vine?
Giveaways are nice, but they usually pick them up and are gone.You want something, which will make them hang around a little, soyou can talk with them.
Let me give you a couple of examples. One vendor puts up a sign"Free Return Address Labels" in front of his booth, with acomputer and printer. Visitors can enter their information onthe computer for their labels, and they are printed right away.There is usually a line in front of this booth, waiting to gettheir labels. There is also a guest book, which includes theircontact information. This vendor has done two things. First hegot the opportunity to mingle with the people waiting in line tomake his pitch, and secondly got their contact information forfollow up.
Another vendor puts some chairs and a small coffee table in aconspicuous position. People walking about get tired - their feetstart to hurt, and they will gravitate to an unoccupied chair.Not only will they see promotional material on the coffee table,but it also gives you an opportunity to sit and talk with them.
One of the busiest booths I ever saw was at the "Artigras"Exhibit in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. An artist from Michiganhad her wares displayed in her booth, and was sitting out frontdoing free caricatures. She had the line of people waiting,weave in and about her display in the booth, and many peoplebought something while waiting.
Which brings us to the reason you are there. You are there topromote your business or sell your wares. In order to do this,you must attract people to your booth.
There are many "attention getting" devices that can be used, butmake sure the one you use allows you to interact with yourvisitors.
Bob publishes the free weekly "Your Business" NewsletterVisit his Web Site at http://adv-marketing.com/business tosubscribe. As a bonus, get 40,000 FREE E-Books fromLarry Dotson, when you visit http://www.ldpublishing.com
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