Notice I did not say TRICK to building your social network size…  I don’t believe in tricks, not when it comes to building networks of people.  The short and skinny of building a large social network is to get involved with new people, be interesting and non obtrusive.

Success in social networking can happen two ways.

1. Be famous
2. Be outgoing

Being famous gives you an automatic advantage when it comes to growing your social network.  Since most of us don’t have the fame advantage, we have to resort to number two, be outgoing.

Think of social networking as meeting as many new people as possible.  Without fame, the only way you can meet new people is to “follow” them and look for constructive (and/or creative) ways to engage them in conversation.

The entire process is that simple.  But let’s break each step down and analyze.

When you follow other people, your main screen will show their posts.  My suggestion is to create a “circle” just for the strangers you follow.  In my list of circles, I have a grout called “Netmet”.  Every person I don’t know whom I follow becomes a member of the Netmet circle.  This way I can isolate these people for topic surfing.

I also create additional circles to accommodate my business and personal networks.  With Google+, we can isolate posts by circles.   Sometimes I just want to communicate with friends and family members.

Follow People You Admire First

There are lots of different opinions on who you should have in your network.  Some suggest you be cautious and check out every person you follow to make sure they are the “right” people you want to be associated with.  I don’t subscribe to this strategy.  My feeling is I want to add as many people to my communication channel as possible.  I don’t believe sins of others roll down to me: so I follow just about anyone.  My only rules are as follows.  I will not follow:

• People who don’t have English profile text
• People who are overtly sexual or political (*)
• People without real sounding names (**)

(*) – One comment does not eliminate someone automatically.  It is easy to remove people later, but sometimes people just rant online and thus they should not be judged as of no value.

(**) – I make exceptions for known businesses or not-for-profit groups.

Follow People Who Follow Those You Admire

For example, I am a software engineer geek and I admire software developers at Google, Yahoo and Microsoft.  I find the profiles of those software engineers and then I follow everyone who is also following those software engineers.

For some businesses, it may be more advantageous to be strategic in your follows.  For example, let’s say your business offering is excellent for people who love dogs.  Following dog lovers can allow you to insert yourself in those social channels that are attractive to prime business prospects.  That said, you’ll need to be careful not to jump in and try to sell– that is called SPAM.  I’ll write more on how to use your personality to attract people to your service offering.

Add To The Discussion – Don’t Sell

This should be obvious, but sometimes we make mistakes and assume everyone is interested in what we do.  The reality of social network marketing is those you are following have no interest in what you do, only what you contribute to their discussions.  If your contributions are interesting, then they will follow you and, thus, take an interest in you as a person.

Key to social network marketing:  It doesn’t count until they follow you and take action.

Now it gets interesting…  Mostly because I put the stuff you should do first last.  BEFORE you start bringing people to your profile, you need to create your interest chain.  Your interest chain is a reflection of you as a person.  It includes:

1. Previous Posts
2. Google Profile
3. +1′s
4. Buzz Posts (if you have)
5. Photos

If you are new to Google+, then you are not likely to have many posts, but before you can build a large following, you will need to post constructive, interesting, funny or friendly messages.

Your Google Profile is your personal biography (for lack of a better description).  Don’t make long-winded sales presentations.  Be yourself and communicate the facts.

+1′s are those posts you add to your G+ account as articles of interest.  While it is OK to +1 your website pages and blog articles, your +1′s should be reflective of those topics of personal interest.  How do you add +1′s?  You find the Google +1 icon on your favorite websites.  Click it and a link to that website page / post is added to your Google+ account.

Buzz Posts – Buzz is Google version of Twitter.  If you don’t have Google Buzz, don’t worry.  In the long run, Google+ should completely replace Google Buzz.

Photos – A picture is worth a 1,000 words.  The photos you have in your profile can reveal volumes about you as a person.

Final Words of Advice

Social networking takes time, so do things you enjoy and seek personal knowledge to enhance your life.  If you only focus on business, then you are very likely to get discouraged and quit long before you gain any business.

Getting found on Google, Yahoo and Bing in today’s search market is more a product of human-craft than techno-craft.  The more you craft your language for visitor consumption the better.  Trying to use complicated formulas, expensive SEO subscriptions, or elaborate link building tools has lost favor of the small business operator and the search engines alike.

Pull out a blank sheet of paper and write a detailed answer to this question:  Who is your ideal customer?

The most common answer I receive when consulting my clients is “concerned people seeking to get more for their investment.“  My favorite answer is “everyone.”

Neither answer is sufficient to create visitor optimized content that will rank.  Why?  Because there are only ten first page organic spots available and over 27 million businesses competing for internet visibility in America (2007 US Census).

Getting found means narrowing your topic focus to a small sub-segment of your client base.  In days past, creating a business website was an expensive and complicated process; but today small businesses can build free websites that are business professional and search engine effective with no limits on size.  Without the size limits of the past, a small business owner can divide and capture more traffic and increase visitor to client conversions in the process.

Improve Your Search Rankings By Doing The Math

I may have just lost half my audience by suggesting a math equation, but bear with me for a moment–this math is easy.  I’ll use the Portland Metro area for this example.  Wikipedia said there are 2.2 million people living in the metro area.  The US Census said population is divided roughly in half men to women.  Last number, the US Census said roughly 17% of the population is under the age of 18.

If your target market is adult women in the Portland Metro then we can assume there is approximately 924 thousand potential customers.

Most small businesses are only capable of serving a few hundred customers per year (for our example let’s go big and say our business can serve 1,000 clients per year).  1000 divided by 924,000 = .001.  That means our example business only needs 1/10th of 1% of the potential market to be successful.

Be Specific and Succeed in Organic Search Results

What type of adult women?  Married women over 40 who like to garden is a much easier market to identify.  Now we can create a highly targeted web page or business blog article content that uses language that resonates with the intended audience.  We can also use keywords that are specific to that particular hobby or identify with problems that specific type of woman is likely to struggle with.

Moral of the lesson: education based business marketing works only if you understand the specifics of your intended audience.

Take small, consistent steps towards a specific goal. The key to successful social network marketing is creating simple, easy to repeat steps that lead towards a specific end.

Before diving into social networking, first jot down some obtainable goals on a blank sheet of paper.  As with ALL business marketing campaigns, you can not achieve success unless you know what success looks like.

Don’t fall into the small business trap of measuring success only by sales.  Sales are important, but thye are the result of extensive effort.  Social networking is assumed to be fast and easy; truth is social networking is neither fast nor easy.

Success should be specific and measurable.  Here are some social networking measurements you could use to determine if your effort is working.

• Increased number of people following you and your posts.  It is easy to follow others and there will be a certain percentage of those you follow who follow you in return, but the people who follow you first (without you following them) can be a measure of your increased marketing exposure.
• Increased number of constructive comments added to your posts.  Anyone can add mindless dribble to a social posting, but when the comments are thought out and constructive it could show that you are reaching more influential or thoughtful people.
• Increased number of links to your business website.  More quality traffic to your website increases your overall website ranking, which will lead to more search engine visibility and more sales.

When creating your success map, be creative and think through the process by which you can measure activity.  Once you have the plan, then you can create the repeatable sequence of steps required to execute the plan.

Ed Bejarana
Zenith Exhibits, Inc.
(503) 328-9525

1. Understand the X Factor!

Xpressions skins are tension fabric. When designing an Xpressions 1×1 skin, draw an imaginary X from corner to corner. Starting at the center you have zero distortion but as you move further toward the corners where the skin attaches to the hub, you will experience greater image distortion. Utilize this effect within your design and take full advantage of the unique design tool!

2. Contrast is for your display / Copy is for your brochure

Leave your copy to your brochure or iPad apps… Layer con-trasting skins with none to five words maximum and your display will surely turn some heads. Remember, your booth space is not a library. Catch the attention of the exhibit visitors so that properly trained sales staff can engage the audience face-to-face.

3. Work the entire display – not just the individual skins

This is the most common mistake we see designers make on Xpressions:  designing nine or ten individual skins as independent layouts. The most successful layouts are ones that utilize the two planes of the frame and visualize the many skins as if they are one. These style displays explore the dimensionality of the Xpressions system. All the skins work together to create a single back wall in contrast to a bunch of separate layouts that are more akin to the old Velcro graphic on fabric pop-ups.

4. Lighting

Design your display to catch light and or incorporate lights as the only color on all white skins. Lights also make any printed Xpressions graphics appear brighter and more saturated.  Don’t rely on the lights of your environment – add them in your design process when you can.

5. Incorporate Graphic Change-Out

For multiple days of an exhibit, it’s a hot trend to create alternate skins and change them out each day of the show!  Catch the eye of someone that you missed yesterday, add a new message each day of the show, create A and B marketing messages and review then implement new messages based on the results at your next show. New skins are easy for you or your client to change and add possibilities not easily available on other systems.

6. Communication

Always indicate your intention when working with any tension fabric graphic product. Xpressions is no different. If no distortion is the required effect on the final product, please let us know this ahead of time. Your Xpressions PreFlight experts are trained to help suggest alternatives within your layout that will minimize expectations.

7. Use the Tools At Hand

Always consult Visproducts for Xpressions templates. VisProducts.com has Xpressions graphic templates for your use… details like “All Xpressions products require 1.5” of bleed overall and more to make designing for Xpressions a Snap!”

8. Think 3-D with the fabric

When else can you take a flat image and twist it or thread it to the display? Probably never – so, let your imagination wander and twist and thread those skins from the front to the back or back to the front all over the Xpressions frame. Plan to design your skins so the tension fabric will pull the image, and visualize the final product in its full distorted, twisted, threaded, exciting glory! Remember to proof your display as a 3D render as a whole. A flat image will not effectively communicate your design to the client; always opt for a render of your display.

9. Design in modules

Combine frames to create exciting environments: two 1×3′s, one 2×3 and a 4×3, create 20′ inline spaces with three 2×3′s and a 1×3…. it’s easy for your client to set up. They look so good standing together and multiple units create a value of flexibility that is hard to duplicate with other systems.

10. Break all the rules!

Remember to forget everything you’ve been told and create something that will surprise and delight the viewer!

It is on everyone’s lips. It is included in everyone’s seminar and educational track; it is in every RFP; it is asked for by management, board members and by shareholders. It’s ROI.

If Return On Investment is the hottest topic since the Internet, why does a survey recently conducted by Showtime Enterprises, Inc. of marketing leaders across several industries find that although 80% were accountable for million dollar programs, the majority of them had no formal system for measuring the return on their most significant marketing investments?

The answer is so simple it is frightening: Budget!

In the three-dimensional marketing industry we create budgets for trade show booth space and budgets for the exhibit structure, for the pre -show communications piece, the on-site promotions, the venue, the travel and entertainment, and so on. When was the last time we saw a budget allocation for ROI?

News flash… the measurement of ROI costs money. The systems, metrics and analysis all costs money. It is too late in the game to think about “what is my ROI going to be” once the budgets and tactical plans are completed and approved.

Since ROI is different for many organizations and many different industries, let’s start by defining ROI, and then review the key steps to measuring and realizing it. ROI can mean several things: Return on Investment, Return on Information or even Recall of Initiative.

Return on Investment

The easiest way to show return on investment would be to track all contacts from a given event, through the sales process, to actual conversion. Reality dictates, however, that this isn’t always an easy task as there are many influences touching the prospect along the path to conversion. Some examples of key touch points, depending on the product, include retail experiences, web, direct mail, or a direct sales force – not to mention in some cases simple word of mouth around the water cooler.

Secondly, the sales cycle of some products or services often takes months or even years to complete. We may be showing return years later for investments made in the past — or worse, after we have been downsized out of budget or even a job.

Return on Information

Since trade shows and events are the only form of marketing communications that facilitates a face-to-face, free exchange of information to flow from company to customer and more importantly from customer to company, the information collected there is critical in developing a relationship sales approach. How we use this learned information as an organization will provide the return.

For example: The marketing group creates materials and sales presentations that are designed to convince a group of doctors of the efficacy of particular drug. We then uncover at the tradeshow that most doctors visiting the exhibit understand the drug’s efficacy but have concerns about its safety profile. With that key information, we can adjust our marketing and sales initiatives in real- time to deliver a more effective message, one the doctors need to hear in order to recommend or prescribe the drug.

Recall of Initiative

Brand recall is becoming an increasingly desired result as trade shows and events become a bigger part of overall marketing awareness campaigns and branding efforts of companies. When considering brand awareness measurement, a marketer needs to break through the clutter and touch the trade show attendee in a unique way.

Products are tangible. Services may seem intangible. However, experiences are memorable. It is these brand experiences that can move an attendee from a position of brand awareness to a position of brand enthusiasm. In the case of a leading footwear manufacturer for the golf industry, the company’s goal was to have the audience actually experience the all- weather performance of their product line by eliciting multiple senses in the experience. This was intended to emotionally engage the attendee. The emotion in this instance is that the product line will enhance playing performance. It’s the emotional concept that regardless of the weather or seasonal conditions, the player can still enjoy the game.

Four Steps to Planning ROI

Regardless of how you define ROI, there are basic steps to follow when developing a comprehensive ROI plan:

1. Clearly state you goals and objectives for participating in the trade show or event. No “pie in the sky” dreams are allowed here — only truly measurable and obtainable goals. Rather than declaring a generic desire to create awareness, it is better to set a goal of moving the level of awareness by 20% in a definable crowd. Similarly, it’s not enough to just want more sales. The goal needs to be defined in realistic terms including not only how much, but from whom. That will make the difference between under-performing and making your numbers.
2. Now that you know what you are going to measure, you need to create a set of tactics that can measure for the affect or desired result. Typical examples of such tactics include tracking surveys and data capture.
3. Create a tactical plan in support of the goals and objectives you stated from the outset, and be sure to include the ROI tactics.
4. Develop a budget for the execution of the planned tactics. There is no magic number or guidepost for this. It can range from a couple of thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands. The amount depends on what you are measuring and how you go about it. But the tactics should drive spending not the other way around.

   Your spending guideline should be based on what kind return you’re looking for. If you want to measure Return On Investment, for example, then you need to consider the cost to you and how much you need to recoup to break even. Ask yourself if your goals are attainable given the budget you have to work in. Don’t set sales goals attainable with a $5 million budget when you’re only spending $200,000.

Whether you work from an annual or event specific budget, you must include the line item to support a well-planned ROI plan. Remember, measuring ROI does not ensure the success of a marketing program. Remember, ROI does not ensure the success of a marketing program, only the confirmation that one exists.

Before you begin to think about exhibiting at an event, there is something you have to establish – Know Your Objective. Sounds a little bit elementary, doesn’t it…maybe too simple. But you’d be surprised. Most people say, “I know what the objective of my exhibiting at an event is – to make money. To make sales. To generate business. What else is there?” Well, there are lots of other things. Specifically, you need to decide if you want your exhibit to generate leads, generate sales, move somebody to the next step in the buying process or a combination of these things.

Many marketers assume that everyone who visits their exhibit will be ready to buy and waltz right in and plunk down cash or PO. But it depends on what you’re selling and to whom you’re selling. To illustrate this, here is an example of an Internet integration software-tool and services company that helped organizations weave together their computer systems using a combination of Internet services, some middleware tools (software) and the legacy systems (what the customer had been using to serve their data processing needs). They spent almost $22,000 on exhibiting and another $9,000 in travel and manpower (a huge amount for a startup) at an event that was a pretty typical e-business or integration event. Attendance was not heavy, but the people who were at the show were very qualified.

His booth signage, literature and even his conversations with prospects focused on things like “we can do this, this, and this. We are the only company that can do that. We don’t have any real competitors. We have over a million lines of proprietary code. We’re committed to the channel and directly supporting our clients. Our VCs have funded such and such companies.” Blah, blah, blah.

The indisputable lack of results proved that his exhibit strategy and tactics were horrible. Like many business owners, he concluded that exhibiting at an event does not and would not work for a company like his. But remember, there are 2 parts to every trade show exhibit. There’s the event itself and there’s what you actually say at the event and included in that is how you say it. In this case, it wasn’t the event that was bad…it was his strategy and messaging. He had assumed that the next step in the buying process for the people who attended this event was for the prospect to request or at least accept a meeting. The combination of seeing their technology at the event and then participating in a capabilities meeting would lead to an RFP. Sounds reasonable, right? What would you expect people to do after they saw a great new integration tool? Immediately request that the firm come on in and take a look at how they could help solve the companies IT problems. Of course not.

The problem was, they were missing a step. Instead of assuming that everyone at the show was just waiting to hear about his solution so they could finally find a place to empty their IT budget, he should have assumed that nobody had ever heard of his company, didn’t understand what they did and were skeptical that they would even be in business in a few years. What they really needed a very low-risk way to find out more about it before they would ever invest the time to have him come in and have a serious discussion or check it out further.

At a later trade event, the company changed their strategy. They focused on getting a speaking slot at the conference, investing in advance marketing to the events attendee list as well as targeted local mailings. They took the least expensive booth available but augmented that with a free workshop that focused on helping people identify integration opportunities, solutions, pitfalls and procedures. They made a whitepaper out of the workshop workbook and offered that free in all of their marketing, as a follow-up for the people who signed up at their booth and even convinced show management to offer it on their web site.

The results? First of all, they gained immediate credibility (and promoted it) because they were speaking at the event. They were able to separate their firm from all of the rest of the companies because they were offering the training on how to solve integration problems. They used the advance promotion, the speaking engagement and the workshop all to promote their booth as well as the free whitepaper. Even with a smaller booth, walk-in traffic more than tripled, but as significantly, they took 178 additional requests for the whitepaper from people who didn’t attend the event. Once they get someone on the list, then they had the ability to market to them as many times as they wanted. (In my next article, I’ll show you how to institute a system for following up on your leads—one that isn’t dependent on someone having the time to do it or having to remember.)

The point is this: sometimes it’s appropriate to try to generate hard sales contacts or even sales from your exhibit. In a lot of cases though, it’s smarter to try to generate leads off of an exhibit. You just need to make sure that you know exactly what you’re trying to accomplish before you start and then have a plan in place to achieve it. The company with the integration solution thought that people would come into the booth simply because they were there (plus had a great solution) and that they would want to take the next step when they heard about the solution they offered. They were wrong. There was actually an in-between step or two for many prospects…getting some further documentation, doing a bit of due-diligence–before they would even be put on the list to consider.

So think about your exhibits. What are you trying to accomplish? Do you need to add another step or do you need a whole new strategy? How can you get more people to raise their hand and at least say they’re interested in what you are offering? Can you offer something to lower the risk or to give information? Take a page from kids (and some of the nation’s top CEOs) keep asking yourself or your team “what,” “why” and “how”—till you can’t anymore. It’s a sure way to insure a winning event plan.

How to make sure your shipping company doesn’t take you for a ride.

The idea of guaranteed shipping is an industry myth. Regardless of how diligent a carrier is, freight gets lost, mislaid, damaged, and stolen. Shipment tracking has improved with GPS technology, but not to the point where it’s 100 percent reliable.

The best you can do is to find a trade show shipping company you can trust, and then stick with it. Become a smart customer, know what questions to ask, then ask them every time.

Label Everything
I still remember getting to a show in Boston and finding roughly half of the items I had meticulously stacked on a pallet missing.

What happened? The carrier ran out of room on the trailer, and in order to fit everything on the truck, the driver broke down a couple of my pallets and tucked all of my boxes on top of the large crates in the shipment. Since I hadn’t labeled every single box on my pallet, all my little boxes got mixed up with another shipment.

Because I hadn’t marked my pallets, “Do not break down,” or “Do not depalletize,” the carrier told me I didn’t have a leg to stand on. I now label and number every box on every pallet, just to be safe, and I label the pallet itself with “Do Not Depalletize!”

You Don’t Always Get What You Pay For
Just because you make a request or get a quote for certain services, that doesn’t guarantee you’ll get them. The following three examples show how vigilant you have to be.

Flying Trucks. If the carrier can move your freight on what it calls an “expedited truck” and get it to your destination in the timeframe you specified, it may never see the tarmac nor hear the roar of jet engines. But don’t expect any great cost savings. You may still be charged as if it had been on the big silver bird in the sky.

Exclusive Use. You requested a quote on the use of a whole trailer for your exhibit. Carriers call this “exclusive use” or TL, which stands for “truck load.”  Some unscrupulous carriers will sell you exclusive use, but they figure they can cram another exhibitor’s freight onto your trailer and make a little extra profit, and maybe you’ll never find out. Find yourself another carrier and ask more questions next time.

Musical Trucks. Just because a carrier doesn’t have a truck available in your area when you need it doesn’t mean it’s going to turn away your business. They’ll subcontract your load to another carrier who may or may not be as reliable, have equipment that’s in good shape, or have drivers trained in moving exhibit properties.

Dim. Wt. Is Not an Insult
It’s important to understand the way each type of carrier (air freight, van line, or common carrier) charges you for your shipment, so you can make sure the charges are correct.

In addition, your shipment may also be subject to separate charges called “accessorial charges,” which may include any of the following:

• Specials (specific pick-up times) on pick-up and delivery
• Waiting time
• Special equipment, such as lift-gate trucks and pallet jacks
• Inside pickup (if driver doesn’t pick up at a loading dock)
• Residential pickup
• Remote pickup or delivery
• A second driver
• Storage

Ask your carrier what formula it uses to calculate your chargeable weight and for what additional services you will be charged.

Surprise! The Hidden Fees
To keep surprises to a minimum, always ask for a detailed breakdown of potential fees you may incur when you get your budgetary quote.

Here are some common hidden fees:

• Labor
• Moving pads and tape to blanket-wrap your exhibit
• Aborted pick-ups if the freight wasn’t ready when the truck arrived
• An extra pick-up at your company warehouse after the original loading at your exhibit house
• Waiting time at the advance warehouse or marshaling yard
• Insurance and fuel surcharges

Even if you ask about hidden costs up front, your final bill may not match the quote you received. Ask your exhibit house to copy you on any orders it places on your behalf. And never be afraid to ask why your quote doesn’t match your bill.

In the end, your best safeguard against shipping disasters is to choose a carrier wisely, then ask a barrage of questions and review all paperwork closely every time to avoid surprises. If you have a bad experience with a carrier, vote with your feet and your wallet and find a company that can meet your service needs and expectations. You don’t want to “myth” the next show because of a carrier who dropped the ball — or your freight.

You can fly to the show early, stay up late and bite your nails. Or you can save your nerves, your nails (and some money) by following these tips for bringing your exhibit in on time and within budget.

1. Ship early, but don’t ship to the warehouse

With most shows, it costs significantly less in drayage to ship your freight directly to the show site vs. to the general contractor’s warehouse. How can you take advantage of those savings and still avoid the expense that goes along with show-site freight delivery (especially when shipping in bad-weather months)?

Try this trick: Ship early, and tell your carrier you want your freight held in the show city and delivered on the first direct-ship date. Many carriers (especially those that handle a lot of freight) will hold your truckload shipments for a minimal charge. You get the benefit of headache-free shipping and the savings of direct drayage rates.

2. Let your carpet travel on its own

Want to start installing your booth at the first possible hour without paying the higher costs of shipping your display to the warehouse? It’s easy. Ship your carpet and pad to the contractor’s warehouse, and ship your exhibit directly to the show site. Since warehouse freight typically is brought in first, your I&D company can lay your electrical, pad and carpet while your direct freight is being brought into the hall. The drayage rate savings from shipping your display direct will more than cover the extra freight charges you pay to ship the carpet and pad separately.

3. Send your exhibit’s lead carpenter to supervise setup

When your display house’s account executive offers to accompany your booth on the road, say, “Thanks, but no thanks.” Then instruct them to send your lead carpenter instead. For out-of-town installations, you’re better off having the carpenter supervise installation and breakdown. Who’s best to handle display-based problems? Clearly, the carpenter who prepped the display before it went on the road. Take advantage of that person’s knowledge and experience in getting your booth up right – and fast – and save those daily account executive charges.

4. Make a map for the electricians

Don’t wait for the electricians to come to your space to start your electrical work. Ship your I&D company your electrical (and other utilities) plans, and have them send a carpenter to mark the floor and supervise electrical installation. By installing your utilities early, you will avoid paying for labor to wait around to get started or work overtime to finish. When you and your display arrive, your space will be ready for carpet and pad, and you’ll be off to a great start.

5. Inspect your booth at the close of the show

Rather than waiting for the display to return to your exhibit house to do a refurb inspection, take a walk-through at the close of the show with your lead carpenter. If you make a list of the needed repairs before your display goes back into the crates, you’ll save on inspection charges. Before your next show, you and your lead carpenter will know just what needs to be done.

Remember, the fundamentals still hold true: Planning and foresight will ease the confusion of trade shows and ensure that you come in on budget.

When putting together an exhibit demonstration, your goal is to deliver the best message in a concise, effective fashion. Here are some questions that will help you hone your demonstration message.

1. What do you want to say about the product?

Keep it to two or three key message points. Know who your target market is. What products do they need to have in place to use your product?

2. What are the benefits to the users?

Too often, exhibitors focus on features. Features aren’t necessarily important to the person buying your product. They want to know the benefits they will derive if they buy. Is it going to save them dollars or time? Is it going to help them work more efficiently? Demonstrate the benefits to support other messages you’re presenting at the show or your message instead of hoping/waiting somebody will ask. If you’ve demonstrated this product before, think about the two most often asked questions, and make them a regular part of your message.

4. How long is your demo?

Don’t exceed 10 minutes – particularly where there are long product purchase lead times. Don’t do a full-blown demonstration; save that for one-on-one sales visits. The goal is to provide enough benefit information to pique attendees’ interest so they want to see more after the show.

5. Are you connecting with the crowd?

As you present, maintain eye contact with the crowd. If using a computer, use a swing-out keyboard and stand to the side. Watch their nonverbal communication. Are they engaged or losing interest?

6. Are you making the most of your premiums?

Use a giveaway that has a link to the product or service. Make sure the company name and phone number is on it. Use the giveaway as a reward for taking the time to watch the demo.

So, you want to exhibit at a show? How do you decide which one? Well, start with your customers. They will tell you which shows they like to attend.  Trade publications publish industry calendars that list every show of importance and the factors to consider, such as number of attendees, dates, locations, etc. Your vendors are helpful with ideas also. Most industries have at least two major shows that everyone attends.

Questions to consider when searching for that perfect show are:

• How many people will attend, who are they and what do they buy?
• Does the show’s attendee base match my target market?
• How many of these attendees matter to me?
• How much will it cost to reach them?

Compare shows and make informed decisions based on these factors.

Space? How much should I have? That depends on a number of factors.

First, how many salespeople will be working the booth? Typically, each salesperson is given 25 to 50 square feet of space. Next, how much product will you be displaying? Will you need room for a conference area, demos, and storage? Finally, how many clients and prospective customers do you expect? The ultimate goal when choosing exhibit space is to have room for all visitors without too much additional space.

Example: If you expect 100 visitors per day at your booth, and the show runs for 5 hours each day, this calculates to 20 visitors per hour. Assuming each salesperson can serve 5 people each hour, you will need 4 salespeople in the booth at peak hours. This means you will need 100 to 200 square feet of space plus space for products, demos, conference and storage.

Remember, the goal is to accommodate all visitors without waiting and without over crowding, but too much space can make it look like nothing’s going on in there!

How do you choose your exhibit space at a show?

First determine what is available to your company. It is important to know that show management gives priority to repeat exhibitors and larger exhibitors, so a smaller, new company may have limited booth space choices.

Go over the floor plan carefully, keeping in mind the following desirable locations:

• Near the center of the hall
• Near industry leaders
• Near rest rooms and restaurants
• On aisles leading to meeting rooms

Areas to avoid include:

• Behind barriers such as walls and columns
• Areas with low light
• Dead-end aisles
• Near freight entrances and utility sources
• Extreme corners of the exhibit hall
• Aisles farthest from the center

Highlight your three most desirable spaces, check availability and book your space now!