Getting the Most out of Your Tradeshow, Exhibits, Etc.

Have Something They Can take Home – Often times as you are talking there can be a lot of background noise and you can’t get your message across as much as you want. Therefore, have a folder or additional material they can take with them to read later.

Have Something Available to Collect their Information – It’s so important to try and get their information so you can contact them. Consider a bowl for business cards and have a contest (i.e., winner gets a free book), as well as a sign up sheet for their emails, etc.

Talk to the Other Exhibitors, but Don’t Push – You can do some excellent networking and in fact some of my best leads came from the other exhibitors, so get out there and chat. However, don’t push too much.

Think Visuals – The layout of your booth speaks volumes. I had a banner made from VistaPrints which rocked. (And it was free), I also had a stand-up board so I could present my books and write a message. My table was visually appealing. I tried to make sure that the table didn’t appear crowded, but that they could receive what I was trying to say.

Have your Soundbytes – So important. Describe what you are selling well and be ready for questions. By being prepared it can quickly get to the point of what you are offering while you still have their interest.

Don’t Oversell – You want to realize that most people are there to have a good time and hopefully find out about your products or services, however, they don’t want to sit through a 20 minute presentation. Save that for when you have more one-on-one time with them.

Have Fun – People take notice when you sit there and are bored, discouraged, etc., and honestly that alone can keep them away from your booth. Yes it can be hot and long hours, but do your best to enjoy it. It’s a break away from the office and truly can be a good time.

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Top 10 Publicity Ideas to Market Your Business This Holiday Season

1. One great way to boost sales and awareness of your company is to enlist the help of a publicity virtual assistant. These experts specialize in helping you to get more publicity. They can handle everything from writing and sending out press releases to creating entire media campaigns. Let them write better descriptions for your products, find the best keywords to drive traffic there, do research to find where best to locate your target audience, and then finally handle all your PR needs. Publicity virtual assistants take the time to learn their niche and to develop a relationship with their clients so that they can bring amazing results. See, your holiday sales can meet and exceed last year’s sales after all.

2. Do specialized holiday marketing. It’s not too late to take advantage of all that can be done this year to make more sales. Consider having a Black Friday sale or a Cyber Monday sale. Add a contest to your site. Send out postcards and gift certificates.

3. Article & Press Release Writing and Distribution – Article marketing works. It’s a great way to get more exposure for your business and when done right, can result in front page Google rankings, more clients, & lots of sales. Get active and write a press release about your business making a holiday or New Year connection. For example, share how you are giving back during the holidays, any promotions you have, etc.

4. Get speaking — Set up speaking engagements for the New Year. In January businesses go back to all work, no play after the holidays. It’s a perfect time to get out there and connect with businesses and line up speaking engagements. Also, consider a teleseminar series too.

5. Create a Holiday Blog Tour. If you have products or tips for the holidays, connect with other bloggers. Ask if you can provide some holiday tips. Bloggers are busy this time of year too so they will appreciate the added help. And the best news, you get more exposure.

6. Set up a Google Adword Campaigns – More people are online now because of the holidays. And a lot of those people will be checking out the search engines to find Christmas Gifts. It’s a great time to set up a Google Adword campaign and get that added exposure for your business.

7. Reconnect with ALL your clients and let them know how you appreciate them and perhaps how you can help them with other needs they may not even know you offer. Send a personalized holiday card or greeting. For local clients stop by their office and drop off presents, popcorn tins for the staff and/or their favorite coffee for their afternoon pick-me-up. For potential new clients, drop off a Holiday cup full of wrapped candy with your business card or perhaps get your business name printed on the candy bar.

8. Set up a marketing campaigns designed especially for and around your company or brand. Write down a marketing plan for the year that will focus on brand recognition. Most importantly, make sure your brand represents your company the way it should to your target audience.

9. Update your website. Take a look at your website and see if it is the best that it can be. Pay special attention to your homepage and keywords. Look to the overall appearance, the professionalism of your wording, the explanations explaining the benefits you provide, etc. In fact, everything in your site needs to convince a client to work with you. Now ask yourself, does it do that? Is this something I can be proud of? Too often we throw together a website, just to have it done. Remember this can often be a client’s first impression of you. Is it selling you well?

10. Don’t forget your social networking. Even ½ hour a day can make a considerable difference, Remember to build relationships and share more than sell.

The holidays are a great time to make money, even in this economy. If you’d like additional tips stop by SoYouWantToBeaWahm.com today. Also, share with us your tips for the holidays.

Jill Hart, Founder of Christian Work-at-Home Moms http://www.cwahm.com/ and Diana Ennen, President of Virtual Word Publishing, http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com/ have teamed up to write So You Want to Be a Work at Home Mom: A Christian’s Guide to Starting a Home-Based Business http://www.soyouwanttobeawahm.com/. Start or expand your business today with their help. Article is free to be reprinted as long as bio remains.

Hi Jill, I just found your website through my In Touch magazine. I am interested in a stay at home business but have no idea where to get started. It seems a little overwhelming. Can you help me get started?

I  (Jill) can vividly remember that ‘overwhelmed’ feeling when I was trying to figure out what type of business I wanted to start. I knew that I wanted to be my own boss, have lots of flexibility and be home with my kids at the same time…and that’s about all I knew.  Looking back, here’s what we’d suggest you do to get started:

Start with prayer – You may already be seeking God’s wisdom, but if not, we would encourage you to begin steadfastly seeking His wisdom on the matter.

Make a list (or two or three) – Lists can be helpful in a number of ways, especially our favorite – the pros and cons list.  Lists can help you organize your thoughts and think through the many business ideas available to you. We encourage you to make lists to sort through your interests, your skills, and to help you find your passion. These things will determine the business path that you should start down.  Be sure to include what experience you have too.  It’s a combination of skills, experience, passions, ideas that lead to the right business.

Research – We say this alot, but we can really never say it enough: When looking into home-based business opportunities research is KEY.  Spend a great deal of time researching the industry you want to go into.  What’s great is that so many before you who have written how they have succeeded and you are able to use this to start your business.  Look for books, blogs, teleseminars, teleclasses, ebooks, reports, etc.  Follow those in the industry you want to belong on Twitter and Facebook and other social networks.  Knowledge is power and in starting your business it can be priceless.

Starting your business can seem overwhelming, but it’s definitely worth it.

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What are your tips for starting a business and staying successful.  I’d love to hear them!  Post away.  Diana Ennen

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So work at home moms, what do you do?  Tell us.  Vent, share, etc.  I’ve discoverer over the years, it’s okay to say, Wow, this is hard. 

Thanks!  Diana Ennen/www.virtualwordpublishing.com