7 Steps to a Profitable Tradeshow

1. Establish Your Goal

Your goal needs to be based on whom it is you're targeting and what you want to get across to them. Be clear on what you want to accomplish: are you looking for visibility, brand awareness, lead generation, new product launching or product sales?

2. Select the Right Event

You want to make sure the people who fit the profile of your customer so your effort is worthwhile. Before making a decision, find out what the particular tradeshow's objectives are, the audience, the hours, and all of the activities planned by the show's organizers.

3. Select Your Exhibit Space

When selecting your space on the exhibit floor important considerations are size, location, what kind of exhibits/exhibitors will be around you, traffic patterns around the space, your special requirements (electrical installation, lighting, height, and temperature are a few).

4. Make it Easy for Your Visitors to Identify Your Products & Services

Your prospect will give your space about 10 seconds before deciding whether to stop or go on. How do you make them stop? Having the biggest booth and an expensive display doesn't guarantee success. Make relevant information about your products and services available, provide samples and giveaways, and consider video presentations on a laptop computer.

5. Have Qualified Staffers

Your staffers should be able to engage your visitors. Have specific instructions for staffers including what time they should arrive and leave, break times, information they need to gather from visitors, areas they should focus on when speaking to visitors and more. Staffers should be professional in appearance and easily identifiable by a uniform and nametag. You need at least 2 people at all times and more during peak times. Plan for several staffers to work a multi-day event so that your team can get proper rest.

6. Select the Right Marketing Materials and Promotional Items

The purpose of a promotional item is to keep your name in front of your prospect after the show; therefore it must connect the dots between your goal, your product or service, and your target audience. The idea is to give out an item that is useful, one that the recipient is not likely to buy for him/herself, and is not likely to break or fall apart. Also, consider having a better gift item for prospects with a higher profile.

7. Have a Follow-Up Strategy

This is where most businesses fail. Not having a follow-up strategy in place before the show will cause you to lose valuable leads and possibly tarnish your reputation. You're going to meet a lot of leads and many will have specific requests and questions. When you go back to your office the day after the show, you need to begin your post-show work. Have a pre-established and simple method in place to make contact with all leads in a timely manner. This sets you apart from others who were at the show and it ultimately leads to higher conversions and sales.

Give the Brain Time to Reload

A recent Harris Interactive poll found that one-third of workers ages 25 to 39 feel burned out by their jobs. Additionally, primary care physicians report that between 70 and 90 percent of their patients are seen because of underlying emotional stress.

One of the keys to reducing your workday stress and increasing your productivity is multi-tasking. Learning how to multi-task efficiently can help you enjoy your work once again.

Increase Personal Energy

Shift multi-tasking to single tasking throughout the day to allow your mind to re-boot. The human brain uses more energy than any other part of the body. As such, it needs constant replenishment.

Rest is one of the key components to increasing personal energy and productivity. Every two to three hours, stop multi-tasking and allow yourself to do just one thing for 15 to 20 minutes. At the end of this rest period, you'll feel refreshed, alert, and ready to tackle more tasks -- and you'll do so with fewer mistakes than if you plowed through your tasks without this re-boot period.

Source: Dr. Ron Knaus is a psychiatrist, and sports medicine physician who works helping clients reach peak performance levels. His clients include celebrities, professional athletes, and business executives. He has received board certifications from the American Osteopathic Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and the American Osteopathic Academy of Sports Medicine.

Take Advantage of the Downturn

One of the tenets of good business practice is that companies should not stop marketing during a recession or economic downturn says Wes Ball, President of Lititz, Pennsylvania-based strategic growth consulting firm The Ball Group and author of The Alpha Factor. This is exactly the time a company should crank up the marketing volume. Most competitors are pulling back in fear, which leaves the road open to whoever wants to accelerate, he says.

SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business," a non-profit association for entrepreneurs and small businesses, advises small businesses to continue marketing during a slowing economy. "This is the time you need marketing the most," says Ken Yancey, SCORE CEO. "It reassures your customers that you are still there to serve them and it can help you reach new markets to sustain your business."

Now is the time for a company to invest in itself, particularly if the competition decides it's going to pull back. It positions the company to take more market share for the future, says Sherri Lennarson, Senior Vice President of Business Development for Iowa City, Iowa-based distributor Bankers Advertising, Inc. "It's not prudent business decision to determine that you're not going to have a marketing plan or advertising strategy." Now is a time to tell your customers that you appreciate your business, now more than ever people need to be recognized.

Bruce Felber, Creative Director at Twinsburg, an Ohio-based advertising, public relations and marketing firm states, "We believe the promotional products industry, regardless of the economy, is better positioned than the general media right now. Traditional media are struggling. However I think direct mail is going to see an increase, and using both promotional products ties the best of both worlds together.

"I think it's easier for people to commit to something they can tangibly feel and touch as opposed to something they can't," Felber continues. "You can imprint a message, logo, positioning statement or call-to-action on something useful--a promotional product. The more useful the item, the better the longevity and the longer the sales message or campaign stays out there."

Perhaps the most significant strategy during an economic downturn is also the simplest: Stay positive. "Don't buy into what you hear," Lennarson says. "There are all kinds of circumstances that we can't control, but we can control our attitudes. Don't give up, keep working. Know your value and articulate it. Believe in what you're doing."

Article excerpts courtesy of Brittany Glenn, Promotional Consultant

Use Humor as a Winning Business Tool

If you're not laughing your way through your workday, you aren't alone. Laughing in the office has evaporated faster than Liquid Paper on a typo.

Humor, fun and laughter belong in Corporate America. In fact, your sense of humor can be used as a serious business tool to advance your career. It can be used effectively to put clients at ease, close a sale and write memos that people actually read.

Laughter is also a great de-stressor. Studies have shown when people are having fun at work, they enjoy their jobs more, stay at them longer, and do a better job. This lowers the attrition rate for a company and improves the bottom line.

Let's face it, we all want to work with, work for and even date people who can make us laugh. So why do we abandon our sense of humor as soon as we back the car out of the garage?

Consider the following five tips to maintain a lighthearted attitude, build your network, and achieve your professional goals:

Joke About Yourself
Take your work and responsibilities seriously, but not yourself. People like people who are willing to poke fun at themselves. A little self-deprecating humor can go a long way, so admit and joke about your defects rather than trying to cover them up.

Use Humor In The Stressful Situations
When Bob, a sales person presented his report to a prospective client, the client said, "After seeing this report, I can tell that you are a complete idiot." Bob kept his humor and rather than getting defensive he said, "You're so smart! You figured out I was an idiot in five minutes. It usually takes people three months to figure that out about me!" Bob kept his humor, and kept his client.

Structure Fun
At least once a day, lighten up the by doing something unexpected. Humor and joking aren't reserved for the brazen. Southwest Airlines proves a little risk is worth the pay off. And guess what? Southwest has the most productive workforce, lowest attrition and absenteeism rate in the industry, not to mention a reputation for highly creative and innovative management.

Diffuse Conflict With Humor
Being defensive creates tension, lowers your status and it leads to bad business decisions. Putting a positive spin on negative comments is a comedy technique that works well. Negative and toxic people are all around us. Sometimes they are our bosses and sometimes they're working in the next cubicle. Whatever the situation, don't leave your humor in the hallway. Sometimes in tense negotiations, a strategically placed joke, a can shift power to your side.

Keep Yourself In The Comedy Zone
Don't wait for life to get better to get a sense of humor. It's not what happens that determines your happiness; it's how you chose to look at it. When things happen remember: You have a choice -- so don't get mad, get funny.

Source: Judy Carter is a motivational humorist and author of The Comedy Bible and The Anti-Self Help Bible: Finding Happiness when you're Fat, Broke and Surrounded by Idiots. She has appeared on Oprah, Good Morning America and CNN.

Customer Story - Rasmussen College

Building brand, awareness, referrals, and reputation - locally ... and globally

In 1996, Image Builders began working with Rasmussen College - providing items for their students. In the beginning it was primarily t-shirts, pens, pencils, and car window clings.

Over the years Image Builders continued to provide affordable promotional solutions to the college including coffee mugs, expo booths, banners, tumblers and more.

With multiple locations and a significant student population, Rasmussen College wanted to make its products available online. Image Builders was able to make recommendations on an initial set of inventory (items that would sell!) and they provided a seamless web store option that enables customers to view items, select sizes and colors, and ulimately complete their entire transaction online. Order processing, fulfillment, customer service, shipping, and inventory tracking are handled in-house at Image Builders.

Rasmussen College opened their store, RasMall, in 2006 today it serves students across the country. Visit http://www.rasmall.com/ to see what they have to offer at the present time.