Devoted to small businesses and those who run them

One trade show where my business exhibited was in conjunction with a conference. This was a professional group and a one day conference.

The tradition with small conferences with trade shows is that participants have a window of time during lunch breaks to access the trade displays.

There are usually some early birds looking at exhibits before the seminar or conference starts. Another opportunity are scheduled coffee breaks. On rare occasions the option of visiting trade displays is built into the program for participants or offered as an elective.

Because these windows of opportunity are so brief, and there is a significant cost to being involved in a trade show, exhibitors count on the lunch breaks for access to participants and vice versa.

Horror Scenario:
Imagine the uproar from exhibitors at one trade display I attended where the lunch was a sit down lunch in a different building.  Result - no access at all at lunch time and $1000 exhibitor space investment down the drain.

Advice:
Ask the questions and set objectives before signing up for trade shows, especially those run in conjunction with conferences. These will have less access to participants by their very nature.

Lesson Learned The Hard Way:
Don't make assumptions. 

One of the lessons I learned the hard way was in dealing with smaller trade show operators, and may not apply to the large professionally run trade shows.

The scenario was a trade show related to an education conference. I was told that there would be a certain number of attendees in my target market. 

In fact, there were only half that number of participants on the actual day. In retrospect I had not asked if these were firm numbers of people who had actually booked. 

This greatly impacted on the outcome for my business. The costs of staffing, sourcing product and organization were still the same. 

What I hadn't taken into account was that the organizers were very enthusiastic professional educators but had no business background.

In this setting, a trade show is awarded to a certain location and a local committee volunteers to co-ordinate this. So it may be the first time they have dealt with trade show exhibitors.

They just want to cover their costs, and don't always think through that there needs to be an ROI for exhibitors. Many non business oriented trade show organizers don't understand that just "exposure" is not enough for a trade show exhibitor.

Make sure you find out exactly how many attendees and ask other relevant questions, so that you know if the investment to exhibit at the trade show is worth it. 

A trade show is a great way to get your product or service into the marketplace.

However, make sure you know exactly what you are getting before you agree to book or pay for a trade display space or stall.

There are the major trade shows and there are also more specialized trade shows related to conferences.

• How many people will be attending?
• Are they your target market?
• Where will your display space be located?

If it is a trade show in conjunction with a conference be aware you don't have access to participants the whole time.

You need to find out 

• When will participants have access to exhibitors?
• How long are the lunch breaks?
• Where will lunch be held?
• Is there time built into the program for participants to view the trade show displays?
• What is the focus of trade show seminars?
• What is the cost?
• What are the options?
  

• Any other questions you recommend asking before signing up for a trade show display space?

Knowing what you are signing up for when displaying at a trade show may seem  pretty obvious.

However, I have found that what you are told and what actually happens can be two very different things especially with smaller trade shows.

The huge shows run by specialist companies such as Reed Exhibitions have things down pat. That is their core business and everything is systematized.

Smaller trade shows run by industry or professional associations are mostly run by well meaning professionals who don't have a business background.

They see things from their point of view and often don't understand the small business owner's needs and perspective.

If you are asked to pay a certain price you need to know what you are getting in return. This is a business investment.  And it's not always about price. It's about the value of your investment - the ROI.

In the next post, we'll look at what questions to ask to find out exactly what you are signing up for and what they are offering you. 

In my experience trade show display pricing can often be negotiable, especially for smaller specialist trade shows.

Of course, you can try to negotiate anytime for any reason, but these may be a few useful starting points.

Basis of Negotiation - Starting Points

1. They may specifically want your business to display as you may have a unique newsworthy product or service.

2.  They may want to have a representation of all aspects of an industry.

3. Organizers may want a cross section of products across the whole trade show for balance and to provide variety for trade show visitors.

4.  You have supported them for a number of years

5. They have spaces avaiable which they can't sell

6. They want you to take a larger space

7. You provide an additional service e.g. run a seminar at the trade show, provide prizes in kind or provide equipment etc.

8. You also sponsor another aspect of the trade show e.g. the sponsors lounge or trade show dinner. 

Negotiation could involved discounted pricing, additional space or services or payment in kind. 

• What are your experiences or tips for negotiating trade display spaces?
  

Displaying your products at specialist trade shows can be great for building your business brand, networking and extending your business reach.

There are a few tricks to getting a good stall location.

1. Find out exactly where your stall will be.
I know one trade show goer who always booked the one nearest the ladies' toilets.

He figured there would be regular traffic past his stall and he was right. Even if there was a queue they were in sight of his stall. 

Another good spot is near a food outlet or right near the entrance. 

2. Book early so you have some location options. The best usually goes first and often doesn't cost any more.

3. Do you need a location with power?

4. What size stall do you need? This sometimes affects location as a certain size may be grouped together. 

5. Do you want the same spot you had last year? Sometimes vendors choose the same spot, so that regular trade show goers know where to find them in the maze.

6. Check out the perfect location for next year's trade show and mark it in the trade show handbook.

7. What is your personal preference? 

• Any other tips for finding and securing a good trade show stall location?
  

Sponsoring a community event can be a great way to boost your business brand locally.

Whether you do this to support the community or as a strategic marketing approach (or both) here are some basic tips.

1. Before you agree, make sure the community organization or event is a natural fit with your business brand or your business clientele.

Example: An accountant might sponsor a prestigious golf tournament even though golf isn't his business. The client group he is targeting may be the same ones likely to be involved in the golf tournament or its organization.

2. Determine exactly what is expected of you in terms of goods, services or financial contributions.

3. Do you need to make a speech on the day? How many people will be in attendance? 

4. Determine exactly what you get in return.

5. Discuss and finalize key dates, timelines and details.

6. Find out who the other sponsors are so there are no conflicts of interest e.g. your competitor being the other key sponsor. 

7. Check with the organizer before the day to see if they need anything more from you. Things can fall apart if not well organized and you don't want your name associated with a debacle.

8. If you are very busy, appoint a key contact person from your office to be the liaison between the organizers and you, so you're in the loop without having to attend to the details.

9. Don't be afraid to negotiate e.g. costs. 

10. Anything else?

• Do you have other tips for small businesses wanting to sponsor community organizations or events? 

A local supermarket sponsors the town soccer team. A real estate agent sponsors the local youth orchestra concert. 

We see small business pitching in to support community events and organizations all the time. Some are a natural fit such as a cooking school sponsoring a young chef's class or a bookstore providing prizes for the school writing competition.

Others come about because the business owner is a parent at the school or is approached.

I know a lot of small business owners who aren't interested in sponsoring community events, but I think they are missing out
Sponsoring a community event can be mutually beneficial.

What's in it for the small business owner?

• Good PR in the local community
• Opportunities for free media coverage
• Support a good cause
• Raise personal profile in the community
• Build trust & loyalty with community members
• Interact with clients outside the business setting
  
• Networking opportunities
• Build business brand awareness
• Anything else?

• What are your experiences with sponsoring community events?
  
  
• Any tips or cautions?

The Olympic Torch Relay fiasco has led to a lot of discussion about business brands and protecting them. Yesterday I looked at branding from the sponsors' point of view. 

Let's take a look at the Olympics brand itself...a huge multi million dollar brand with a long history.

Part of its value proposition to the billions of  viewers and participants is that it is an event representing harmony and global unity.  

Apart from the feel good elements, the Olympics is big business... very big business.  Were sound decisions made about holding the relay given the political climate?

Glenda Korporaal in the Australian in an article I referred to yesterday says

...the real marketing lesson to be learned from the 2008 torch relay fiasco is that owners of a brand need to make the decisions to protect that brand and should not be dominated by either the wishes of the sponsors or the prospect of even higher sponsorship revenues.

The IOC is already considering abandoning the Olympics Torch Relay for the 2012 London Olympics. 

• Is this a marketing lesson learned too late or will all be forgotten if the Olympics themselves go smoothly?
  
  
• Has the Olympics brand been permanently damaged?

Sponsors of Olympic and pre Olympic events pay millions of dollars to get their names and brands before the public eye.

The Olympics are an international event - the world's premier international sporting event and up until now pretty much a sure bet for sponsors.

Imagine then that you paid those millions only to have things go horribly wrong.

Coca Cola is one of the major sponsors of the Torch Relay.

Glenda Korporaal in The Australian newspaper reports

The three sponsors of the torch relay have already decided not to use cars advertising their brands when the torch relays goes to the Japanese ski town of Nagano.

Coca Cola's annual general meeting in the US... was  confronted by anti Chinese demonstrators.

Coca Cola is feeling the brunt of bad publicity associated with the Olympic torch relay. They can't capitalize on their sponsorship as it has all gone pear shaped. They are in damage control mode.

This is a risk any sponsor takes when sponsoring an athlete, celebrity or event. It goes to show the importance of your business brand and of protecting its reputation.