I have been talking a lot about trade shows lately but the truth is because I have actually been to a few of them recently. Since I work as Lenore’s assistant I am able to go to so many more events and I love that. I love am now able to do that and it has been so much fun. I am learning a lot as well. I recently read an article about trade show success and was very interested in what I learned.
One of the things it said was to design your booth. Lenore is having an author banner designed for herself and it is pretty much just her branding. Actually I have seen some pretty awesome personalized trade show booths and I am certain that hers will be just as great. I will tell you that those vertical banners that you see with authors names take a bit of work. I did some research thinking I could do that for her but if you don’t know what you are doing it won’t come out right. Luckily the girl that did her branding can easily handle that and I am sure it will look amazing.
Another tip was to assemble a strong sales team. Now i can honestly say that at the book shows this is not really needed. Readers know what they want, many pre-order and they come ready to rock. I can’t wait until Lenore is ready to do a show herself. We spent some time this year attending the shows in an effort to see what they were all about and gather information.
Finally I learned that to set clear goals because trade shows can be fast paced and you only have a limited amount of time to set yourself apart. Luckily for me this is not really my job when I finally attend. My job will be to help out and handle anything that comes up. I can’t imagine how businesses do this because this things can get crazy. I really as a child attending a few with my father and grandfather and how much fun I had getting all those bags from people. Now I know what all goes into it.
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Thanks for the behind-the-scenes look into what it takes to have a successful trade show booth. It’s pretty interesting. It’s easy to take it all for granted as an attendee, but I’ll never do that again, now that I have a better understanding.
Thanks for giving us an insider’s perspective on what it’s like at trade shows. It isn’t something I would normally think of.
thanks for the tips! they are very helpful.
These kinds of shows sound like a lot of fun. It is interesting to hear about them from someone who actually sets up a booth.
Great tips, I have been to a tradeshow one time. I know the man who invented the dry erase board and that is how he got his start was trade shows.
As someone who has attended a trade show, I agree completely with the need to have some kind of design at your booth. The ones with nothing tended to get walked right past. You want to try to stand out and draw people in. While a whole sales team might seem like a bit much, eventually people are going to need to use the facilities and/or eat a meal and leaving someone to man the booth so you don’t miss out on prospective buyer is a must. My only addition is to practice your pitch and if you are selling a product know that product inside and out and be ready to answer questions about it. I was floored when some people that were hired to work a booth didn’t know how to work the product. It made my time with them short.
I’ve only had the opportunity to be on the other side at a trade show geared more toward the training/human resource area. I hadn’t really considered what it takes to be on the other side of the table.