How to get more from your next trade show.

Going to your next trade show could be the difference between keeping or losing your job.  In todays hyper competitive business environment the knowledge learned and contacts gained could easily be the difference between being a mediocre and outstanding employee.  Medicore employees eventually fall by the wayside.  The following tips enable you to get the most from each show.

1.) Get a pre-show schedule of events, seminars and exhibitors and use this to map out your day to day activities.  Align these activities so that you get the most out of each day and possibly night.

2.) Call or email event organizers, speakers and exhibitors and let them know you’ll be there.  Ask the event organizers who else will be there, especially if you want face time with a targeted prospect or associate.  See if the event organizer can seat you next to that contact on purpose.  Submit questions to speakes in advance so that the presentation is custom tailed to the questions you have.  Arrange meetings with exhibitors so they can prepare solutions in advance, this way the sales cycle doesn’t start at the show.

3.) Comfortable shoes, comfortable shoes, comfortable shoes…enough said. 

4.) Bring along a standard assortment of business supplies just in case they aren’t provided in the seminars.  Some attendees have even gone as far as to tape and or video record a session, although this may be prohibited.

5.) Extra business cards.  You never know how many you may give out and the last thing you want to have happen is run out.

6.) Follow up.  Don’t just email contacts when you get back from the show.  Go ahead and draft a formal letter referencing your conversation at the show and mail it.  Keep the letter genuine and sincere on how excited you were to make their aquaintance.  It seems a little “old fashioned”, however, it’s a very effective way to make this person a contact for life.

Trade Show Booths Product Highlight
Portable trade show displays are becoming more and more advanced and with these advacements come new display types emerge from the crowd.  Smash Hit Displays is pleased to annouce that the arrival of Echo by Abex.  The modular systems use stunning trade show graphics and when combined with other displays like banner stands and custom trade show carpet you can create a truly one-off display system.

Brand Identity and Trade Show Displays

I read a great post by Jill Cole on her Vario Creative Blog about Brand Identity and Quality Counts.  I really like the fact that all elements of the mini-display incorporated colors, logos and imagery found on existing marketing channels.  Thanks for sharing your insight Jill!

Trade Show FlooringProduct Highlight
Do your feet hurt at trade shows?  Maybe you need carpet padding for trade shows.  Available in Rebond and Polyurethane they are sure to comfort your feet all day!

Building the brand

Lauren Wilbert of the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal has a great article about companies who have been successful building their brands through trade shows and other avenues.

Building the brand

Companies promote themselves via corporate events, trade shows, Web 

There’s no doubt that marketing, public relations and advertising can make a difference in a company’s success. But the strategies behind a communication method or campaign varies widely depending on the company. For our Fast 50 Diary companies, chosen from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal’s list of fastest-growing private companies, none of them go with traditional ideas of advertising, such as television or radio spots. Instead, the mix of publicity comes in the form of detailed Web sites for Ergotron Inc.’s resellers and partners, to podcasts from Salo’s two CEOs. The common thread for all these companies: Be patient with results from marketing and be open to trying new things.  TAJ Technologies Inc. As a computer consulting firm, TAJ Technologies Inc. is pretty clear on its target market. The company, based in

Mendota
Heights, spends its advertising bucks on ads in annual publications and for corporate events. “We don’t go for mainstream advertising in newspapers,” said CEO KC Sukumar. But there are exceptions. The company plans to make use of its 20-year anniversary this year to promote itself as a durable, dependable company, Sukumar said. “We survived through the year 2000 and the dot-com bust, and now we’re on a high-growth period,” he said. “We have to weigh the cost [of publicizing the anniversary], but 20 years is something to celebrate.” With two decades of experience, Sukumar knows that results from advertising and marketing take time to show up. Also, don’t discount one of the best marketing tools of any business — old-fashioned cold calling to potential clients and for referrals from current customers. “You always have to stay out front,” he said.  Ergotron Inc. Ergotron Inc., which makes adjustable mounts for computers, relies on robust channel marketing to resellers and computer manufacturers to drive its business.The Eagan-based company does little direct selling to consumers, so it decided to invest in a Web site for those actually selling its products rather than spend money on glossy print and TV ads. Ergotron launched the site (partner.ergotron.com) three years ago after changing its business model to sell through resellers rather than directly to large corporate accounts. “We understood we needed to give our selling tools [to them],” said Jane Payfer, vice president of marketing. The site includes a “quick find” feature for people who want to find a mount for equipment, and also a “partner training” section, which the company rolled out in January. “They see that our Web site is easy to use, and they buy our products and find that those are easy to use, too,” Payfer said. That has made resellers’ experience with the site enjoyable, which makes them more likely to recommend and continue to use Ergotron’s products, she added. Ergotron, which does all of its Web design, marketing and print work in-house, now has the challenge of translating the Web training feature for its overseas offices in Europe and
Asia.

  Venture Bank  It’s difficult to measure which marketing and advertising efforts really work, said Venture Bank CEO Michael Zenk, but such practices do serve a purpose in the big picture of running a business. “I don’t hear from customers that, ‘Oh, I saw your ad,’ but at the same time, it’s just another piece of the overall strategy,” Zenk said. If nothing else, it keeps the bank’s name out there, said Christine Young, commercial loan officer at the
Golden Valley headquarters branch. Young also is on the bank’s marketing committee, which includes several of the bank’s executives. The committee meets on a regular basis to plan how to spend the company’s advertising dollars. So far, a third of the money goes to print advertising in business publications, with the rest going toward event sponsorships, business development and general public-relations work. Sponsorships are a prime opportunity for Venture to tell its story to a captive audience. “[That] is what’s going to bring in the business,” Zenk said. The company also spends time on local marketing to chambers of commerce, community organizations and office complexes, for instance. The company has done all of its marketing work in-house until this year. It hired a customer to help with public relations as it builds its third location.    White House Custom Colour  CEO Michael Hanline said advertising and marketing has cost White House Custom Colour (WHCC) “a small fortune,” but in the end, the company sees it as a bargain. WHCC, a South St. Paul-based digital photography printing and processing company, began print media ads in 2002, keeping the designs simple and clean, Hanline said. But its logo brings the most bang for its advertising buck. The company has invested in keeping its logo front and center in the market, so much that the industry knows exactly what WHCC does as soon as they see the icon, Hanline said. WHCC also spends money on trade-show bags featuring the logo. “Everyone is a small billboard traveling around these shows,” he said. The company has done everything in-house, but just hired an outside firm to help further develop and refine WHCC’s marketing programs now that its services and brands are expanding.
Salo
Salo co-CEOs Amy Langer and John Folkestad know where their strengths are, and they’re not in creative marketing design, they said. That’s why the young company, an executive temp firm, hired public-relations and marketing professionals early on. Awards are an important marketing tool for the Minneapolis-based company, and its PR representative helps the executives decide which contests to enter. Salo doesn’t spend much on advertising since it gains business by word of mouth. Langer and Folkestad also spend a vast majority of their time meeting with clients and potential consultants to add to their roster. So far, that’s the company’s best selling engine, and one reason the pair have decided to embark on a high-tech marketing tool. They soon will launch quarterly podcasts to focus on driving Salo’s message to employees.

Trade Show Booth Product Highlight
Trade show carpet is most often rented because it isn’t that portable.  We fixed that problem by creating a portable carpetthat comes in three separate strips, Velcro’s together and packs in a rolling case!  Never again do you have to pay $300.00 for an old piece of stained rental carpet!

What Not To Do at Trade Shows….Revisited

I’ll keep today’s post simple by letting you read a post on the following blog…

 Exhibiting in a bead show…

Come on…drinking beer in your booth space, who would ever think this to be acceptable or even allowed.

Trade Show Display Product Highlight
Hardwood flooring for trade shows is beautiful, but heavy!  Keep this in mind if deciding to use this type of flooring as it muct be shipped via a common carrier / freight company.  A wide varirty of colors and woods are available and all have wire management channels so power and computer cords can be placed under the floor.

First Come, First Served – Tips on Getting Prime Space for Your Trade Show Display

Whether you have a pop up display, banner stand or custom trade show display you want it to be seen.  One of the most effective ways to be seen is making sure your booth is in a prime location.  Here are some tips on making sure you pick the right space!

1.) Sign up for your booth space at this years event.  Don’t wait until next year so while your at the show this year go ahead and reserve space for next year.  This gives you first choice for your booth space.
2.) Analyze the floor plan.  Look at the floor layout for next years show and identify entrances and exits.  Most people tend to walk into a exhibit hall walk to the right, however, there may be other displays setup that cause traffic to walk to the left.  Make sure you identify these on the floor plan.  Front right gives you the highest number of fresh attendees who are alert to understanding your companies benefits.
3.) No floor plan available?  Make sure the association or production company is keeping tabs on a pecking order of who signed up and paid first, second, third, etc.
4.) Stay consistent with your booth location, unless it can be improved.  Attendees may become familiar with your location, so don’t move unless your space can be improved.
5.) Never move your booth space after show brochures have been printed.  Attendees use the show guide to find your booth space so don’t move once its been printed.

Trade Show Booth Product Highlight
Smash Hit Displays is proud to introduce all full line of trade show flooring, from interlocking carpet tiles to custom printed logo carpets we can really make your display A Smash Hit!