Business Owners: Branding and Your Trade Show Image

February 20-26 is Build a Better Trade Show Image Week. This is a week for small business owners and corporate marketing professionals to get ready for business expos and tradeshows. Trade shows and business expos are a great way to get your business seen. However, if you do no prepare you run the risk of compromising your brand.

1. Review Marketing Materials - now is the time to dust off your marketing materials. Throw away any damaged items. This includes anything bent, wrinkled or faded. Review the content on your business card and brochure. Is it still accurate? Ensure you have your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn information on your marketing materials. There are various websites that allow you to download icons that are niche specific. You will want to ensure that your marketing materials reinforce your brand. Use the colors from your website and blog for your marketing materials. You will also want to use your professional headshot and/or logo in your materials to continue branding your business. It is a good idea to contact the trade show director and ask how many people are expected to attend so that you do not run out of marketing materials.

2. Plan Your Display - your display can make or break your business. If your display looks tired or outdated attendees will assume your business skills are outdated. Small business owners must have a budget for display items. This includes a table cloth, banner, flat screen monitor or digital picture frame, white board, raffle box or basket and give away items. Your display makes your first impression. This will attract or detract prospective clients and customers from visiting your booth. I recommend placing your display table to the back of your booth area so that people must enter your space to see and learn more about your business. Ask yourself, "Can my display sell my business if I am not in attendance?"

3. Rehearse - Many business owners do not like to be the focus of attention. However, a trade show is not the place to sit behind the table and play with your cell phone. If you are an introvert you will want to practice what you will say to people as they walk past your booth. If you do not know what to do with your hands I suggest you hold a brochure or have lollipops to hand to young children. It is best to make eye contact with the parent first and ask if it is ok to offer the lollipop to the child. This opens up the avenue for you to engage the parent in conversation. I have seen this used and it works. It takes the focus off of you, the business owner, and places the focus on the parent and child. Be prepared to answer questions. Look through your email account to see what questions you are most commonly asked. You may wish to prepare a frequently asked question sheet with your contact information on the bottom to hand to people when they begin asking questions.

When you properly prepare for a trade show or business expo your booth will sell your business. I encourage you to take a few minutes this week to review your marketing materials, plan your display and rehearse what you will say as people approach your booth. These tips will ensure that you have a high return on your investment.

Dream Catcher, Business & Life Coaching is a Veteran Owned Business. Coach Jaynine is a retired United States Marine and former psychotherapist who works with Veterans and those on Active Duty. Jaynine will show you how to increase your visibility while developing your expertise. Whether you are a Veteran Business Owner or still on Active Duty, Coach Jaynine is the coach for you. She will teach you the systems and strategies needed to grow your business, have a successful military career, or transition into civilian life.

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Trade Show Facts - Giving Useful Promotional Gifts Will Promote Your Business For Longer

Business owners are always looking for better ways to promote their companies. Trade shows are the perfect venue. After all, there is a captive audience looking to make industry connections and spend money on products and services. Of course, exhibitors have to compete for the audience's attention.

Some exhibitors advocate giving away lighthearted and "gimmicky" items. Their rationale is that everyone else is giving away the same old pens, boring office supplies and unimaginative mouse pads. They feel that wilder is better when it comes to getting customer's attention at trade shows.

Off-the-wall promotional items will certainly catch a customer's eye. They may even be popular with customers who want to take the items home simply for the novelty factor. But after the show, how much interest is there in a product that really serves no purpose?

The fact is, when promotional products solve a problem or serve a function, people keep them. These items are taken to work, placed on desktops or placed carefully within reach in a top desk drawer. These are the things that don't get thrown away or forgotten.

One of the things you will notice at any trade show is the number of visitors carrying logo-imprinted bags. This is because people get tired of walking around with their arms full. Observant exhibitors know this and provide promotional bags to solve this problem for them.

How likely is it that the customer will keep these bags around? They will if they are useful or unique in some way. Oversized bags and comfortable handles are practical and useful. People tote these bags everywhere from school to shopping, displaying a logo for years. Bags might not be trendsetting or humorous, but they certainly are effective.

Throughout the workday we all have to do mundane tasks like opening mail, drawing straight lines, taking measurements and sharpening pencils. We reach for letter openers and rulers several times per day to do these jobs for us. No one wants to throw away a handy gadget or tool from a trade show, especially one that works well.

Providing practical items that solve problems is a sound strategy. Recipients keep these things on their desks for years.

There is a reason why pens, coffee mugs and mouse pads are among the most popular promotional gifts: People love useful items. Pens, mugs and mouse pads are probably the most-used desktop items in any office. It makes sense to put your name on items like these. These high-demand promotional gifts are the least likely to be discarded or forgotten about. Popular styles and colors may change, but useful gifts will always provide lasting value. An item with a short shelf life doesn't provide much value at all.

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Trade Show Technology That Will Draw in a Crowd

Today, more people are doing business and setting up meetings directly from their phones, so it is no surprise to me that the convenience of this technology is now being used in trade shows to reach out to a larger audience. What could you be doing to draw in a larger crowd and be remembered long after the event is over? The answer is right under your nose. Here are several products that can be used to your advantage at the next event.

iPads
These sleek, lightweight versions of the traditional laptop have been creating quite a buzz from the moment they came on the market. iPads are carried around the convention floor by both exhibitors and attendees to make it easier to load all literature, presentations, and videos instead of carrying stacks of brochures and pamphlets. Qualifying leads is also much simpler because you can input the attendee's information into a form, as well as a few qualifying questions and can send the form directly to the marketing or sales department.

Mobile Apps
There seems to be an endless array of apps you can add to your smart phone, and now there are apps to enhance the success of your trade show displays. Before the event, post when and where your trade show booth will be on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. During the event, let your fans and followers know what's going on at the convention. Use hash tags with the name of the event and keywords to make it easier for tweeters with similar interests to find your posts. Start up conversations with other exhibitors and attendees to increase their chances of stopping by your display system.

Not only are these social media apps a must, but there are some designed specifically for the trade show industry. Here are just a few of those mobile apps:

• Pathable - This mobile app brings sponsors, attendees, and exhibitors together in the palm of your hand. Attendees are able to see what exhibitors are going to be at the event and everyone gets the opportunity to participate in discussions to enhance your trade show experience.

• ChirpE by a2z Mobile - Three different applications are available to enhance your convention experience: ChirpE Mobile, ChirpE Facebook, and ChirpEvite. ChirpE Mobile allows you to check out the trade show floor plan, find out what exhibitors and products will be at the event, and view conference sessions. ChirpE Facebook lets you share exhibitor profiles and reach out to a much larger target market. ChirpEvite is a great way to send out an invitation to those colleagues or customers who aren't members of the existing social networking sites.

• Square - This app is intended for the iPhone and allows you to take credit card payments at the convention and sends the customers a geo-tagged receipt.

Kiosks or Monitors
Inform your trade show exhibit visitors of what your business does by displaying a presentation or video on a monitor attached to your display booth. It will draw in attendees as they are walking by your convention exhibit. Another excellent way to use these trade show accessories is by allowing booth visitors to check their email or browse your website. If you have enough space in your display system, have several kiosks available to use at their convenience. As attendees begin to enter the trade show exhibit, engage them as soon as they enter your display system to let them know you are available for any questions they may have. If you notice someone is using the kiosk to check out your website, approach them and ask if there's something you can help them with. This will definitely draw in a crowd.

Technology is more developed today than it was yesterday, so there will definitely be more products and apps available to make it that much easier to do business outside of the office. A stunning trade show booth will definitely get noticed, but with the use of these tools, you can now engage your target audience both at and outside of the convention.

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Direct Selling - How to Sell Wholesale Products Painlessly on the Internet

When we think of direct selling, a lot of us come up with mental images of that lady who goes door-to-door peddling Avon, Amway or Mary Kay products. Tupperware parties may also come to mind. This kind of direct selling does not appeal to everyone simply because it takes a lot of time and effort to do. Also, some people are too shy to do such a business that requires interpersonal skills and a lot of face time with customers. There are some people who just do not like the label that comes with being a door-to-door salesperson.

However, it cannot be denied that direct selling is a good way to earn a decent income. Thanks to the Internet, it can now be a viable home-based business that you can do to make money online. All you have to do is to find products to sell and get an e-commerce mini-website set up.

Finding Products to Sell

Finding products to direct sell on the Internet is not at all difficult to do. You can either sell your own products or become a distributor for someone else. If you have a hobby, like making jewelry or soap, you can make a home-based business out of this hobby and sell it online. If you do not have your own products, then you can sell someone else's. You do not even have to maintain your own stock or handle inventory and shipping if you find that too much of a hassle. You can just go into drop shipping.

In drop shipping, you enter a partnership with a manufacturer to sell their products at the price you set. When someone places an order with you, you direct the order to the manufacturer and pay them their wholesale price for the product. The manufacturer processes and ships the order to the buyer while you get to keep the difference between the wholesale price and your retail price as profit.

Setting Up Your E-Commerce Site

Naturally, when you want to make money online with direct selling, you need to have a website where you can host an online catalogue, take orders and provide more information about your products. This can be as simple as setting up your own page on eBay.

But if you want to set up your own website, you can certainly do so. Just make sure that the domain you use is descriptive of your business and the design of your website is not just attractive but also easy to use. More importantly, it should be secure enough to handle sensitive information such as customer emails and credit card numbers.

Direct selling on the Internet is easy, and it does not take as much work as peddling your products door-to-door. Just find products to sell and set up a website, either your own or on eBay and you will have a good home-based business that will help you make money online.

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