Trade Show InsightsNews, tips & tools to expand your knowledge of exhibiting

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Confucious may not have had trade show experience, but what if he did? Perhaps he would have drafted tips for the New Year like these:

1. “He who fails to set goals will have no success to measure.”
2. “The exhibitor who stands and smiles attracts more traffic than one who sits and waits for someone to stop.”
3. “Exhibiting without pre-show promotions is like throwing a party without sending invitations.”
4. “He who leaves the booth early misses golden opportunities.”
5. “Self-serve giveaways produce no qualified leads.”
6. “A booth without a clear message draws no visitors.”

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Speaking of goals, this post is the first in my 31-day Ultimate Blog Challenge. Watch for many more written, audio … and even some video posts coming during the month of January. – Marlys)

This time of year — whether you admit it or not — you’ve likely been reflecting back on 2011 and looking ahead to 2012.

Note I didn’t use the “R” word … after all, statistics show that the vast majority of New Year’s resolutions are broken within days. Instead, here’s a system for establishing solid goals for your trade show program in the coming year.

Have you ever spent any time birdwatching? It’s fun to see how birds behave and interact with one another. In fact, there’s a lot we can learn by watching them, including some very valuable lessons for your upcoming trade shows!

1. Birds know how to find food.

In order to survive, birds must learn where the food is most likely to be found and then hang out there.
Exhibitor Lesson:
Go to the shows whose audience best matches your target demographic.

Duration: 9 min. 19 sec.
Size: 10.7 MB

Today’s episode is an excerpt from my guest appearance on Suzanne Falter-Barns’ Get Known Now teleseminar series. In this segment, we discuss the importance of exhibiting and having realistic expectations and goals.

If you’d like to have a copy of the entire interview on mistakes exhibitors make, just send an e-mail with the subject line “Mistakes interview.” Other topics covered include: generating traffic, attracting visitors, working with leads, and more.

This episode of Trade Show Insights is protected by copyright. You may share this recording with colleagues, as long as it is copied in its entirety and is not used for commercial purposes.

Duration: 9 min. 4 sec.
Size: 4.2 MB

They say without a timeline and a plan of action, goals are merely wishes. So for this first episode of the new year, it’s only appropriate that we start out talking about setting goals — how to make them achievable and measurable. We’ll also talk about how to know which shows to put into your overall exhibit plan.

Industry News:
IAEM changes its name to IAEE
More shows are using podcasts to market to attendees — Check out the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) podcast
Retail Trends for 2007 — How can you incorporate these into your next exhibit?