In an election year, politicians are hard to avoid.                   TV, radio, direct mail, and even our telephones are all being used to tell a story.  Since we cannot avoid politicians, what can we learn from them that we can apply to our trade show efforts?  After all, these are some of the best marketers in the world.

1. Backgrounds are important:  Politicians go to great effort and expense to create as good an environment as possible for you to hear their story.  Your trade show display is no different.  It should carry the look and feel consistent with your brand image and message.  It should create an environment that allows your story to be told.
2. We make a living by the words we choose:  As a marketing sales person, I live by that mantra.  And so should you.  The words we choose to tell our story must be impactful and strike a cord with our audience; otherwise they will be short lived.  We have a limited time to get our message across and make it resonate enough to be remembered and hopefully acted upon.
3. Image is a big part of the story:  Politicians know that their image impacts their message.  Your image – how your dress and conduct yourself – must be consistent with your brand and message.  If it varies, it hurts your ability to build trust.
4. The venue must tie into our goals:  A politician gives great thought and planning into venue selection for telling their stories.  Too often we exhibit at certain trade shows simply because _____…fill in the blank.  Qualify each trade show venue based on your trade show goals.  Ask your prospects and clients what shows they attend and why.  And ask them what shows they do not attend and why.  What better person to tell you where to be than your prospect and client?
5. Sound bites work:  Don’t write a paragraph or even a sentence when a bullet point will do the job.  You have seconds to grab your prospect’s attention in your trade show exhibit and create a desire in them to know more.  Hit the high point and speak their language.
6. The last hand you shake is just important as the first hand you shake:  Politicians are tirelessly meeting as many people as possible and imparting their image and message.  The last person you meet at the end of the trade show deserves the same level of energy, interest, and desire as the first person you met on day one.  If they are still seeking solutions at the end of a show, the opportunity is real and could be urgent.  Don’t blow what could be the opportunity of the show just to get a jump on tear down or beat traffic.
7. Keep telling your story:  Politicians know that they must ever be ready to tell their story again.  And again.  And again.  Repetition is important.  Consistency builds trust.  Don’t give up after one show.  Major prospects need to see staying power and consistency in your brand and message.

I hope the next time you are interrupted by one of the many political messages sure to make their way into your day, that you will take pause and find what you can learn to increase the effectiveness of your message — without throwing the mud of course…

Take another note on best practices from the What’s Working In Exhibiting white paper.  This 32-page guide has almost 100 tips for the most effective strategies and tactics exhibitors are using today to boost their results and stretch their budgets.  Click here to request your free copy. 

If you’re a trade show manager, chances are you operate well under stress and have an active, non-stop lifestyle.  Be forewarned, though, burnout can sneak up on you without warning.  Consider these tips to stay productive, healthy and happy even though you spent more time traveling with a trade show display last week than with your family.

Tip #1: Learn to Say “No” to Counterproductive Trade Show Task Requests

True, you have to pick your battles. But just because someone asks you to do something, doesn’t mean you should.  Many of us operate under the mantra “If it isn’t painful, it can’t be good for me.”  That mantra is a recipe for trade show burnout. Before swinging into motion, ask yourself if the task is really necessary — and whether there’s an easier means to achieve the same end. Perhaps you can offer a counter-proposal that is less taxing on you, while completely acceptable to your boss, customer or colleague.

Earlier, I wrote a post on how to better manage your emails, but I’ve realized that for many trade show managers, trade show booth staffers or marketing people that are involved in the exhibiting world, we are often on the road and rarely just sitting at our desk.  I thought I’d take a look at how to best manage the emails you get when on the road, at a trade show or just traveling, period.

I have found that the same principals will apply to managing emails on the road as they do on a normal basis but you will most likely have less time and options to access emails or communicate in general.  Here is what I have found works quite well traveling:

On your ‘Out of Office Reply’ tell mailers that you will be checking emails only at certain times of the day.

Here is an example:

“I will be out of the office with limited access to phone and emails from Tuesday the 4^th returning Monday the 10th.  I will be dedicating my full attention to “Show ABC” and will be only be able to check emails at 8:00-8:30am CST and 4:00-4:30pm CST during the weekday.  For any emergencies please contact me on my cell phone at 555-555-5555, if I don’t answer please leave a voicemail and I will return your call as soon as possible.”

This allows you to not have to constantly be checking your phone or trying to find a wifi signal to check your email.  It allows you to focus on the show or clients and lets people know how and when you can be contacted.  Once people know that, they WILL find another solution, wait for your reply or they will call.  As for those “emergencies” you would be surprised how they seem to resolve themselves if someone has to pick up the phone and call you, and if they do it’s usually something that can be resolved after a five-minute conversation.

This also means that you have to turn OFF the email alert feature on our phone and computer.  Remember, the idea is to allow you to focus on your clients and the show.  I suggest turning your email to sync only when you manually log into it on your phone; otherwise you just have a pocket sized distraction device.  Plus, if your phone is buzzing because you have a new email, it is very rude to check it when you are having a conversation with a client.  If the phone rings, generally, people will understand that you will have to at least check who is calling.

You may be wondering “How am I supposed to check and respond to all of my 30, 40, 50 or more emails I get a day in just 1-2 hours a day?”  To master this it will take time.  I now check my email roughly five times a day; I would only do it three times a day but with a lot of international clients I want to make sure I’m accommodating them as well.  I went from getting about 40-60 emails a day to roughly 25 a day.  I didn’t even tell people about this, I just started doing it.  Now, people seem to only email me when it is important and really concerns me.  My email is not a distraction, it is not a “To Do List” and I stopped getting all of those irrelevant emails.

Is your email account running your life?

No doubt email is just one of the many things a trade show marketer must juggle this day in age.  To find out how your peers manage their countless responsibilities, read  The Evolving Role of Exhibit Marketers white paper.  To receive your free copy of this 36-page guide, click here.

Ah, the good intentions of New Year Resolutions!  People resolve to start doing things that they know they should be doing, but don’t, either because they’re too difficult or dull.  Well, there are some essential trade show activities that fall into those categories!

Trade Show Marketer’s New Year Resolution #1: Follow Up On Your Leads

The first and foremost resolution you can make is to simply follow up on your leads.  Following up on leads is almost like flossing your teeth or doing maintenance on your house: you know you need to do it, but are still reluctant.  Following up on the leads gets overshadowed by all the other parts of your job that were neglected while you concentrated on organizing and going to the show.

Trade Show Marketer’s New Year Resolution #2: Measure Your Results

Measuring your trade show results is another worthwhile activity to choose as a New Year’s resolution.  Measuring your trade show results can be complicated when you have a long sales cycle, have multiple lead sources to allocate credit for any sales to, or you can’t easily get access to the data you need.  So it is both difficult and (compared to exhibit design and creating cool pre-show and at-show promotions) kind of dull.  Yet without demonstrable results, your entire trade show program is in jeopardy.

Trade Show Marketer’s New Year Resolution #3: Update Your Trade Show Exhibit Graphics

With so many logistics to take care of, it’s easy to put much of our trade show program on autopilot and avoid the grief of getting new exhibit graphics. Yet, over time your marketing messages changes.  Is the message on your trade show displays still relevant to the message that you’re using in your other marketing programs?  What message is currently on your website, direct mail, print ads, and your blog?  When all your messages reinforce each other, you are much more likely to be remembered. And when you exhibit at trade shows that serve different vertical market industries, do you take the time to adapt your graphics to better appeal to the different audiences?

How do you make resolutions stick?

These three are worthwhile trade show New Year’s resolutions.  Yet, like all resolutions, they are easy to start, yet much harder to maintain.  How do we maintain them?

“One challenge with New Year’s resolutions is that people often set unrealistic goals. They can quickly become frustrated and give up,” says Dr. Linda Nebeling, an expert in behavioral change and nutrition at NIH. “Any resolution to change needs to include small goals that are definable and accompanied by a solid plan on how you’ll get to that goal.”

Here are some ideas to make your resolutions stick:

Make it achievable

 This list has only 3 resolutions, not 30, so it’s more achievable.  You can even just pick one resolution from this list that matters most.  And achieve what you can within your control – for example, if you don’t manage the sales force and can’t get them to cooperate, you can follow up directly with the trade show leads you generated to see if they met with your team or if they bought from you.

Break your bigger goal into smaller activities

For example, if the idea of measuring your results fills you with dread at the size of the task, then break it down into smaller activities.  Make a schedule.  Plan a step for each month, and give yourself a reward for each small step.  So for the first month you outline each step needed to measure your results.  The second month, get the list of all the leads into one place, be it a spreadsheet or a database.  And so on.  Then give yourself rewards for completing each step along the way.

Focus on the benefits

When we focus on the obstacles, we give problems more weight than they deserve.  Put more energy into ways around obstacles, and especially on the benefits you’ll get when you achieve your new goals.  Adopt and continue with these three trade show New Year’s resolutions, and you’ll generate more leads, more sales, enhance your company brand, and make yourself more valuable to your company.  Keep these benefits in mind and the obstacles will look smaller.

Make yourself accountable

It’s harder to shirk from your New Year’s resolution when you’ve told someone else.  “I tell my clients to have a trade show team and hold each other accountable, just like you have a workout buddy,” said Michael Flavin, account executive, Skyline St. Louis.  Tell your boss you want to do this as part of your job improvement.  Then your boss will hold you accountable.  Even writing down your resolutions makes them more real.

It takes time to build a new habit.  Give yourself time to turn wishes into actions into habits.  I hope this will be a happy new year for you!

This blog post was sparked by Michael Flavin, account executive at Skyline Exhibits in St. Louis, who interviewed me about trade show New Year’s resolutions for his blog. 

For more help achieving your goals in 2012, read the What’s Working In Exhibiting white paper.  This 32 page book will give you insight to the most effective strategies and tactics exhibitors are using today to boost their results and stretch their budgets.  Click here to request your free copy. 

I have always loved music.  And because my daughter is a singer/songwriter (www.darbishaun.com shameless plug), I am currently reading everything I can about the music industry.  In that vein, while reading a book by Aerosmith’s drummer, this idea kept pestering me… so here we go…

How to “Aerosmith” Your Way to Improve Your Tradeshow Experience:

1. Walk This Way – your design, messaging & graphics — your total look and feel — should draw your audience into your space.
2. Fly Away From Here – coordinate your staff’s travel arrangements to reduce stress and expense.
3. Sweet Emotion – create an environment that stirs the emotion of your staff, clients, and prospects.
4. Deuces are Wild – your trade show exhibit draw items need to create interest or leave an impression.
5. Livin’ On The Edge – push the limits of your trade show booth space without engaging the wrath of the show design police.
6. Dude Looks Like a Lady – do not under estimate the importance of booth staffing AND never assume they know how to dress. Make it clear and spell it out or even supply the “uniform”.
7. The Grind – pace yourself for the duration of the show so that the last day is as fresh as the first.
8. Love in An Elevator – remember, you are always “on” during a show…even in an elevator, put your best forward.
9. Movin’ Out – don’t cut your possibilities short by packing up before the show closes…that last minute impression may make your show!
10. Remember – make notes of what works well and what doesn’t and apply it to the next show.  Continual improvement will help keep things fresh and only lead to more success!

Keep these song titles in mind while planning your next trade show and you cannot help but improve your results.

If you’re thinking “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” in trade show exhibiting, read the What’s Working In Exhibiting white paper.  This 32 page guidebook will tell you the most effective strategies from promotions to exhibit design to measuring your results. Click here to request your free copy. 

What kind of Skyline Trade Show Tips blog posts got the most attention in 2011?  Funny posts?  Informative posts?  Insightful posts?  Useful posts?  Why, yes!

Of the 80 blog posts we’ve published so far this year, these are the 10 that most caught your eye, and then made such an impact that many of you told your friends to read them, too.

Just click on the article headlines to view these 10 most popular posts of 2011:

#1.  19 Chuck Norris Exhibitor Jokes

Chuck Norris jokes are not only popular on the Internet; they are apparently tops for trade show exhibitors, too.  Chuck did a round-house kick to readers’ funny bones, and they shared several of their own Chuck Norris jokes, too.  This blog post from August 2011 will finish the year with over 10,000 views, and hopefully almost 200,000 laughs.

#2.  Don’t Be “That Guy” At Trade Shows              

Trade shows allow us to meet our clients and prospects face to face, which helps us build stronger relationships with the people we do business with.  But what if that person just doesn’t seem to get it?  This June 2011 article showed all the ways “that guy” could bungle his trade show marketing, from what he says, how his booth looks, what he does in his tradeshow exhibit, and more.

#3.  Are QR Codes Worth Putting On Your Trade Show Displays?

One of the most-talked about new technologies for trade show exhibitors are QR codes.  They are 2-dimensional bar codes that, when scanned with a properly outfitted smart phone, can take you to a web page.  Skyline tested QR codes in our Exhibitor Show 2011 booth, tracked the less-than-inspiring results, and reported the experience in this April 2011 article.

#4.  Why Didn’t That Attendee Stop In My Trade Show Booth?

For all you do at trade shows, getting attendees to stop in your booth is the key first step.  But what if they don’t?  This September 2011 article outlines 8 possible reasons attendees don’t stop in your tradeshow displays, and what the main actions exhibitors can take to get attendees to visit them, and thus start the process for a successful show.

#5.  Will Your Trade Show Booth Staffers Make This Elephant-Sized Mistake?

After visiting the Fancy Foods Show, Scott Price was surprised at the treatment he received at one of the trade show booths.   He felt that one booth staffer was too focused on saving a little money on a giveaway and missed the mark on building their brand.  This June 2011 article stirred the most heated conversation of any blog post this year.

#6.  10 Ways To Use Social Media To Get Attention At Trade Shows         

Guest blogger Nate Riggs gave a presentation about Social Media for trade show exhibitors at the Skyline Central Ohio office, and this April 2011 blog post summarized his popular session.  It’s filled with practical, accessible tips on using social media.  It was popular with your fellow readers, who shared it a lot with their own peers via Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites.

#7.  5 Quick Measurements To Improve Your Trade Show Results

While most exhibitors feel the pressure to measure their trade show results, many don’t know where to start.  While it’s best to measure the metrics most important to your bosses, it’s also possible to measure things that will provide insights into significant improvements in your trade show program.  So this April 2011 article gave exhibitors 5 fast items they can measure to drive positive change.

#8.  23 Trade Show LOL Cats Make Exhibitors Laugh Out Loud

On the Internet there are “memes” – topics or ideas that take hold and spread because they are funny or unique.  One of the most endearing — and enduring — memes is the LOL cats.  These are pictures of cats doing cute and wacky things, with photo captions that are written in a style reminiscent of Tweety Bird.  This September 2011 blog post featured 23 images that combined the absurdity of LOL cats with the absurdity of trade shows.

#9.  Get Better Trade Show Results By Leaving Your Brochures At Home

Because they are often overwhelmed by the mountain of logistical tasks required, trade show exhibitors can default to doing the same thing repeatedly rather than try new approaches.  In this January 2011 article, Judy Fairbanks advocates trying something new by leaving your brochures at home.  She gives 6 reasons why this change will be for the better and help you boost your results while lowering your costs.

#10.  19 Made-Up Trade Show Statistics

While there is a wealth of statistics about the value of trade shows, there are certain gaps that I felt needed filling.  Such as, what percent of U.S. booth staffers only speak one language?  What percent of booth staffers were hired by their company in the past month?  Since I couldn’t find stats like those, I made them up.  But while they are fictional, they still retain a ring of truth.  Readers added their own made-up trade show statistics to this March 2011 article, too.

I hope you enjoyed reading these top articles during 2011, and look forward to proving you with more informative, insightful, helpful, and occasionally funny tips in 2012.

While these are the top 10 tips from 2011, what was the most-requested white paper?  Hands-down, it was the What’s Working In Exhibiting white paper, which you can get for yourself by clicking here.

Making changes in your life to be more productive is a commitment.  Just like going to a trade show, there is a lot of time, effort and money involved.  They are both ongoing processes that involve a lot of continual work.  For example, it is still difficult for me to not revert back to some of my old habits, like checking email all the time.  It’s great that you’ve made the upfront commitment to getting more done or exhibiting at a top industry show, but now you have to make sure that either of these efforts are a success.  Let’s take a look at how we can help design a process that can ensure success with whatever we are doing.

Using Positive and Negative Incentives

I read a book by Ian Ayers called Carrots and Sticks: Unlocking the Power of Incentives to Get Things Done.  This is a great book that talks about how we can use incentives, disincentives and commitment contracts to help us get things done and stick with an activity.

To explain more about this and how we can utilize the principals, Ayers says to start by looking at how we are motivated.  We are motivated to do things because of a positive or negative incentive.  A positive incentive would be selling widgets because the more we sell the more money we get.  A negative incentive would be putting our hand on a hot stove; it hurts so we stop doing it.  It would be great if everything was this cut and dry and we could simply say, “I do this because of this positive reason or I do not do that because that negative reason.” Unfortunately, it’s not always that easy.  Often times the apparent incentives are not significant enough to motivate us to accomplish, and continue to follow through with, certain commitments.  New Year’s resolutions anyone?

Set Up A Commitment Contract

Ayers’ book shows us how to set up a system that provides positive and negative incentives through commitment contracts that will help us accomplish our goals.  He discusses a system that not only outlines a result of what will happen if you accomplish the task, but breaks down the various measures that will monitor and ensure you stay accountable for completing or not completing the given task.

For example, you can set up a commitment contract with three friends to workout three times a week together, and if anyone doesn’t show up they have to buy lunch for the ones that do.

This simple example provides:

1. Goal – meeting three times a week.

2. Stakes or Parameters – show up three times a week or pay for lunches.

3. Accountability – other friends will monitor attendance.

4. Support – by making the goal known by others they can provide support.

Once you have these parameters in place your likelihood of success greatly improves compared to going it alone.  I find that companies often have the same issues when going to trade shows.  They get all fired up and book a space, get a great looking trade show booth and even get a ton of leads, but then they just dump them on the sales staff and hope for the best.  The actual show is only the start of the process and should be a part of your company’s marketing efforts as a whole.  You need to continue your work at what you have established during the show and continue to follow up and cultivate the relationships and opportunities that you’ve made there.

Using Incentives For Trade Show Booth Staffers

When coordinating your next show think about what incentives your booth staffers have to get good leads with proper information.  When they are handing off the leads to whoever is following up they know what information that contact needs.  Then, they need to work with the follow up person to make sure they are cultivating the relationship that you have established.  You can provide a prize or award for the staffer that gets the most leads.  Better yet, reward the staffer that has the highest amount of sales generated from their leads.  This will help staffers focus on attendees that will turn into customers and provide incentive to do a good job throughout the process.

Whether you are tackling a new task or your company is making a commitment to exhibiting at a show, make sure you have the proper incentives in place so that you can follow through with what you want to accomplish.  Ayers has set up a website that allows you to create a commitment contract where you can create parameters, incentives and accountability to help you accomplish your goals.  Check it out, it is free to do at http://www.stickk.com/.

Find out more ways to help you achieve your goals with the best tips, strategies and tactics for exhibiting today.  Request your free copy of the What’s Working In Exhibiting white paper by clicking here.

What’s the first question to ask when you are exhibiting at trade shows?  That’s a good question.

There are many important questions you and your team can ask when preparing for your trade show program:

• Which shows should we exhibit at?
• How big a booth space do we take?
• What color should we put on our trade show exhibit graphics?
• Should we invite attendees with an email, a direct mail piece, or both?
• What giveaways should we buy?
• What clothes should our staffers wear?
• Where in the show hall is the best place to put our exhibit?
• Who should staff the trade show booth?
• Who will manage our leads after the show?
• What should we say to attendees in the aisle?
• What demo can we do to get people’s attention?
• What products should we feature in our exhibit?
• What kind of tradeshow displays will work best for us?
• What activities should we do in our booth?
• Is it worth hiring a trade show presenter?
• How will we measure our success?

These are all good questions, and the answers are often critical to your trade show success.  But all these questions go on hold until you answer the first question:  “What is our main goal for exhibiting?” Once you answer that essential question, the answers to all the other questions fall into place.

The three most common goals exhibitors seek are to boost awareness, generate leads, and meet with existing clients and key prospects.  Each of these three key goals will dictate different answers to all the other questions.

For example, who should staff the trade show booth?  If you want to generate leads, you will choose staffers who will quickly engage, qualify, present and close to many attendees.  But if you are meeting with existing clients, you may want your company VIPs or key account sales people who already have relationships with key buyers.

So next time you or someone else in your team asks a question about your trade show marketing, be sure you’ve got the first question buttoned up already.  It will make all the subsequent answers that much easier.

These questions are just the beginning of things you can ask yourself to identify your trade show marketing goals.  To find out even more ways to prepare yourself, pick up the What’s Working In Exhibiting guidebook.  This white paper will give you the best tips and strategies to answer all your questions and more.  Click here to receive your free copy. 

For those of you who read my first guest blog post, “3 Ways To Get More Out Of Your Day”,  and have now mastered your schedules, email accounts and got rid of those interruptions, I thought it was time to share a few more productivity tips with everyone.  For those of you who are interested in whether I’m actually putting my money where my mouth is on all of the activities I listed in my previous post, check out my blog.  I just finished my third 100-mile race and it’s been a productive year to say the least.  I love to hear feedback and discussion of what works, what doesn’t and ways people have push even further into the productivity universe.  Leave comments below, email or even tweet at me, @JHanlon31.

1.  Read 25% faster instantly!

First, let’s understand how reading works. You read by having your eyes jump from one set of words to another, meaning you take snap shots of a group of words, then another, then another, and so forth.  One inefficient part of this process is that you tend to re-read a lot.  The easiest way to avoid re-reading what you already read is to simply use a book mark to cover the lines you already read.

Go ahead try it out, time yourself for one minute.  I read, in an average book, about 21 lines a minute (I know, not that fast.)  Now use a book marker to cover what you’re already read and see how many lines you can read in a minute.  I averaged about 28 lines, a 25% increase instantly, and without really changing anything.  Now, be careful not to just blaze through a book, often with increased reading speed you can decrease your rate of retention.

2.  Evernote

Think exhibiting is tough?  It sure beats the alternatives!  Here are 16 burdensome things you can avoid by exhibiting at a trade show!

I’d rather be exhibiting than:

1. Losing touch with what’s going on in my market
2. Not knowing what my competition is doing
3. Forgetting what my client looks like
4. Not keeping up with my industry network
5. Losing my clients to a competitor
6. Cold calling all day (can you say, “Voicemail Hell?”)
7. Being stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the way to a prospect
8. Cleaning up my database
9. Deleting out-of-office emails
10. Sitting in my tiny cube
11. Not expanding my company network
12. Enduring another meeting
13. Miss meeting my industry press
14. Having people ask “who is your company?” when I call
15. Not learning about the newest products
16. Being stuck in the same old routine

There’s a lot of value to your company when you are in your trade show booth!  What things would you rather be exhibiting than doing?  Share your ideas in the comment box below.

If you’d rather be exhibiting better, then get the white paper What’s Working in Exhibiting. For your free copy, click here.