While it’s great to know all of the things you should do at a tradeshow, it’s also enlightening to flip the coin and figure out ways to sabotage your tradeshow appearance. Y’know, to hopefully avoid doing so.
- Take any person from the office who’s willing to come. So what if they are new, or don’t know the products well, and are young and well-known partiers? You only need them to show up at the booth during show hours, no doubt.
- Don’t tell anyone, such as potential or current clients that you’re going to the show. They’ll find you there anyway.
- Bring a notebook to write down the name of anyone that might be interested in your products or services. Low tech is best.
- Grab a handful of old product sell sheets. If there are any changes, you can jot them in the margins. Don’t want to let them go to waste.
- Plan on setting up the booth yourself. Even though you’ve never done that. After all, you’re an Ikea pro.
- Don’t bother to check out last year’s (or the year before’s) graphics. A picture is a picture.
- Wait until the last minute. Hey, the show’s only next month, right?
- Do the same thing next year as you did this year.
Put your effort into doing at least half of the preceding tips, and no doubt you’ll sabotage your tradeshow marketing efforts. And plan on updating your resume soon!
