Web of Success: 15 Years of KidPub.com

KidPub was on the road with a booth at the NJ State Homeschooling Convention a few weekends ago.  Some people hate trade shows, but I’ve always found them a great way to get feedback from your audience. Back in the day I did many shows as Editor of 73 Magazine, then later on with CUSeeMe Networks, and now with my own publishing company.

Here are a few notes for those who are thinking about doing their first show and might be wondering how to maximize their time.

1. Keep the message simple. Are you introducing a new product? Trying to sell an existing one? Both? Don’t confuse the audience…you have about 15 seconds to capture their attention, and if there’s too much information at your booth, they’ll just walk away. Pick the message that you want to drive home, and build your booth around it.

I violated this rule at the NJ show, and it haunted me for two days. We have two lines of business…books and a membership-driven web site. On the first day I tried to talk about both and ended up confusing people. On the second day I let the visitors drive which they wanted to talk about, which worked better, but I could have avoided the issue entirely by just doing one or the other.

2. People will take just about anything that you hand to them.  If you wait for visitors to come to your booth, you’ll miss about 75% of the attendees. It isn’t rude to walk up to a complete stranger and hand them a brochure at a show…they are there to collect information. Standing around behind your table is much too passive, you must get in front of your booth, hand out information, and literally lead people back to your table.

3. ASK FOR THE SALE. Even professional sales people forget this simple advice. You aren’t going to make a sale unless you ask for it. Create urgency by offering a ’show special’ price, and ask visitors point-blank if they want to purchase RIGHT NOW. Again, it isn’t rude…visitors don’t have a lot of time to spend while you go through a long-winded sales pitch. Show them what you’ve got, tell them the price, and ask for the sale. If they decline, hand them a coupon for the special price that they can redeem later.

4. Save money on booth decorations. Here in Boston, you can spend a couple of hundred dollars on a single 6′ x 2.5′ vinyl banner for the back of your booth. Or, you can go to Vista Print and get the same thing for $25. No one is going to remember what your booth looked like when they leave the show…make it look nice, but don’t spend a fortune on decoration just because you like it.

5. Use the 15-foot rule for signage. For some strange reason, even though people go to trade show vendor areas to look at the booths, they will do everything they can to avoid actually visiting your booth. They’ll avoid eye contact with you, walk out of their way to keep outside your zone…it’s really silly but I see it all the time. Because of this, any important message that you want to be seen should be readable from about 15 feet away. The message should be nonthreatening and make the viewer want to come over to see what you are doing.

6. Wear comfortable shoes. Take some time during your pre-show planning to consider what you’ll need to stay comfortable during the show. If you’re a small business it might just be you manning the booth, so take water, simple snacks, paper towels, and maybe a special treat or two, plus comfy shoes. You’re going to be standing for eight or more hours a day for a couple of days.

7. Take plenty of notes. You’ll have lots of great insights and ideas during the show. You’ll completely forget them if you don’t write them down. Just keep a little notebook under the table and jot them down as they come to you…you can process them once you’re home.

8. LISTEN. This is your chance to do invaluable market research. It’s tempting to want to explain everything about you, your company, your product, the weather, and so on, to every visitor that walks into earshot, but avoid the temptation and just listen. You’ll find out whether people understand what you do, or are confused by your messaging, by listening to their questions. You might even start a conversation with, “What do you think we do here?”

I think that this is one of the biggest reasons to do a show…it gets your company in front of thousands of potential customers in a short period of time, and it allows you to observe how they react to your product.

9. Talk to other vendors. You’ll get to know your immediate neighbors pretty well, but make a specific effort to talk to other vendors at the show, even your competitors. Find out what shows they go to, how they are doing at this show, look for opportunities for cooperative marketing, and get your name out there. Be sure to bring a long a stack of your business cards to hand out to these folks. Follow up with the vendors that interested you after the show, even if it’s just a ‘Nice meeting you’ note.

10. Have fun. Shows can be a lot of fun. Take the time to wander a bit and take it all in.

Good luck at the show, especially if it is your first. You’ll have a great time, meet a lot of nice people who are genuinely interested in what you do, and gain valuable insights into your business!

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