Trade Show Success Secrets on a Shoestring

By Karen Susman

Exhibiting at a trade show can put you in front of your market, snare leads, and give you significant visibility. Exhibiting at a trade show can also cost you thousands of dollars in booth space rental, display, shipping, and manpower costs.

If you have identified a trade show that has potential big time pay off for you, here are several ways to slash costs to a skinny shoestring.

First, determine if you need to participate in the national or international trade show. For instance, one of the largest trade shows in the world is the National Restaurant Association show in Chicago. There are also much smaller state restaurant association shows. If your market is local, the local expo would be more or as beneficial to you. Booth rental is usually cheaper for smaller trade shows. You won’t have the high shipping and drayage costs. You will stand out more because there will be fewer exhibitors. You can get better booth placement. It will be cheaper to bring staff to help you at a local show. If you don’t have staff, you can entice your neighbour or Uncle Harry to help you. (Promise them all the candy they can eat and all the free pens and key chains they can carry.) It will be less expensive and time consuming to follow up on the leads you gather.

Secondly, barter. Offer to speak at a conference in trade for a booth at the trade show. This can save you from $500 to $10,000. Speaking will enhance attendance at your booth. Build your speech audience by letting every booth visitor know when and where you are presenting during the conference. Your name and contact information will appear several times in the program and on the convention/show Web site.

Third, save money by renting a display. If you don’t think you’ll be exhibiting often, don’t sink $2,000 to $100,000 in a permanent display. Rental fees can often go toward the purchase of a permanent display. You can buy a $10 to $100 table display at most office supply stores.

Save even more money by getting creative. Take a colour photo of your business, service, or product. A full service photocopy centre can turn your photo into 18” x 24” laminated poster complete with grommets for less than $50. Hang this in your booth instead of an elaborate panel display.

If there is a show theme, such as sports, go to a party or craft shop and see what items you can buy to decorate your booth. Drape a plastic sports party tablecloth over the boring white cloth that’s usually provided. Hang sports paper plates and party decorations from your booth. Purchase a sports centrepiece to brighten up your display table. Purchase bulk candy that fits the theme. Keep it mounded high on your table. If you can’t afford personalized items such as key rings, pens, or note pads (which are really quite inexpensive), look at the catalogs or Web sites of US Toys or Oriental Trading Company for an item that fits the theme. At a recent sports themed trade show, Susan Ross used several of these ideas. She purchased five hundred sports whistles at 27¢ each. She preferred personalized whistles at $1.00 each, but she hadn't planned enough lead-time. She was competing with an imposing Microsoft booth that played a loud continuous loop recording of a space odyssey voice. You could hear this voice all over the exposition hall. Susan and the trade show attendees quickly discovered that you couldn’t wear that voice around your neck like you could the whistles. You couldn’t make the voice speak but you could blow the whistles. You didn’t want to take home that eerie voice, but you wanted to take a whistle for each child. And, you didn’t want just any whistle, you wanted to stand at Susan’s booth and choose a baseball, basketball, soccer, or football whistle. Pretty soon, the whistle blowers were drowning out the techno voice. Susan stapled her card to each whistle neck string to extend her visibility and name recognition.

Don’t have costly materials stacked on your table. Most show attendees take every item displayed and then toss your four-colour, die-cut, 90 lb. weight custom stock brochure right into the trash. Have a nicely produced clean, one-sheet, plus your business card and a sign up form for more information available.

Shleppage Instead of Drayage

Save money by shipping your display items to your hotel instead of to the drayage company. Bring, beg, or borrow a dolly or luggage wheelie to cart your display to the expo. Tip a bellman to escort you and your boxes to the exhibit hall. Ship leftover booth items home yourself. Susan found the drayage company wanted to charge her the shipping costs plus 20% plus $32 a box. Many convention centres and most hotels can ship boxes for you.

Go 4F to save money and maximize your trade show return.

1. Food. Instead of gooey candy, Susan found that individually wrapped lifesavers were a cheap, big hit. She piled them on the left end of her table since most people peruse a booth from left to right.
   
   
2. Fun. Even if you have a serious product, bring in fun with your decorations, food, materials, and toys. Adults love toys. Offer a door prize of fun items. This doesn’t have to be expensive. Also, be fun. Smile, laugh, greet people, and train your staff to get off their butts and approach attendees.
   
   
3. Friendly. Stand in front of your booth and bring people to your booth. Don’t ever sit behind your booth table reading, eating, or just tending. Approach people as if they were guests in your home.
   
   
4. Follow-up. Have a means to gather cards such as a drawing. Mark cards of people who have expressed interest in your product or service. Follow up with them first.
   

Susan found that by using these tips, and in spite of a booth tucked in a corner, she had a steady stream of potential customers visiting her, getting to know her, and bringing others to her booth. Now, she is busy following up on leads. Susan started with a shoestring budget that helped her get her foot in lots of doors.

Karen Susman is a Speaker, Trainer, Coach, and Author of 102 Top Dog Networking Secrets. Karen works with organizations that want to maximize performance. Programs include Humour at Work; Balance In Life; Networking Skills; Presentation Skills; and Building Community Involvement. Order new guidebooks on humour, networking, time management, and community involvement by calling 1-888-678-8818 or e-mail Karen@KarenSusman.com.. www.KarenSusman.com.

Published in Networking Today, July, 2003.