Tradeshow Marketing Expert & Dynamic Public Speaker/Trainer

March 4, 2016

SoYoung wins ExhibitorLIVE’s Best 10×10 Portable Modular Exhibit Award

At this year’s ExhibitorLIVE conference and tradeshow in Las Vegas, the annual Portable/Modular Design award were handed out. Here at TradeshowGuy Exhibits (formerly) Communication One Exhibits, we snared a design award for last summer’s SoYoung 10×10 portable booth.

Keep in mind, this was not the popularity contest where everyone got to vote on their favorite design. No, this was the juried design award.

The goal of the competition was to “recognize the vendors and designers responsible for these remarkable exhibits, while also spotlight what’s possible in this realm.” It was the third annual version of this competition. While it appears that all of the awards have yet to be posted online, you’re welcome to review winners of the first and second years.

When we were contacted by SoYoung last summer, owner Catherine Choi indicated that they were looking to upgrade their current booth, which was a bit of a mishmash of hanging shelves and display units which didn’t work as well as they liked. Working with Classic Exhibits and designer Katina Rigall, we created an attractive and functional booth with a large backlit graphic, product display shelves and a unique aluminum CNC-cut display tree (which is what we think knocked it out of the park and got the judges’ attention).

The booth made its debut at Expo East last fall in Baltimore and will continue its work at Expo West in Anaheim this winter and beyond.

Exhibitor Magazine made the announcement of all of the award winners on March 1st, starting with the SoYoung booth. Many thanks to Classic Exhibits and Katina for creating a beautiful, creative and functional design, and of course to SoYoung for reaching out to us for the project.

Check out our gallery of the SoYoung booth here.

March 1, 2016

Booth Staff Body Language Primer

Have you ever walked by a tradeshow booth and felt somewhat put off by the vibe you were getting? So much so that you just kept on walking?

That’s not a surprise. The way that people stand, move and hold their body communicates a great deal. We don’t need to hear words to get a very plain message, and often that message is “we’re not really interested in talking to you right now.”

While you can spend a few minutes Googling body language and get a ton of great information, let’s stick to specifics for a booth staffer in a busy tradeshow.

Arms crossed: indicates a defensive position. People will see you as someone who is really not all that interested in talking with you right now.

Sitting on a chair: tired and non-energetic. Therefore it will be seen as not ready to engage.

On the phone: whether you’re talking or just checking out Twitter, Facebook or whatever, this also shows the visitor that they are less important than that stupid cat video (at least that’s what they think if they bother to think).

Holding a clipboard: can often be seen as someone who is on a mission to fill out the form, and will pounce at the first moment. Visitors often avoid this person.

Eating: Ugh.

No eye contact: again showing a visitor that you’re not important. It also shows shyness or desire to avoid interaction.

Direct eye contact and a smile: a positive sign that most visitors will interpret as a willingness to engage.

Hands down at side: another good positive open body position which tells a visitor that you’re ready to have a conversation.

Clenched fist: seen as a negative or aggressive stance.

A visitor can make a snap judgment in just a few seconds while standing 10 or 15 feet away. They will often make a decision on visiting your booth based entirely on the body language that your staff is using. Learn to read body language, and learn to use it positively to communicate an upbeat, welcoming message to your visitors.

February 24, 2016

MoneyWise Guys Radio Interview: TradeshowGuy Tim Patterson

I was invited to sit down and chat with the guys at MoneyWiseGuys recently. They host a daily money and business related show at KERN radio in Bakersfield. It was fun, upbeat and hopefully a bit educational to their listeners.

Give a listen here:

February 17, 2016

B2B Tradeshow Leads Generation Guaranteed [Webinar Replay]

In spite of some technical glitches, we did manage to capture a recording of the B2B Tradeshow Lead Generation Guaranteed Webinar with myself and Hiett Ives of Show Dynamics. Take a look:

Sign up for our next webinar, Developing Content to Cut Through Internet Noise, featuring Lisa Apolinski of 3 Dog Write at TradeshowGuy Webinars. The webinar is schedule for March 16th at 10 am.

February 10, 2016

How to Develop a Tradeshow Marketing Mindset

Is a tradeshow marketing as easy as setting up a booth, smiling as visitors come by, and asking a few questions?

Sure, that’s some of it. But creating a mindset in your team for tradeshow marketing involves more.

So let’s capture a few items that are critical in creating a tradeshow marketing mindset:

Realize that all of your visitors are rushing around and want to visit as many booths as possible. Which really means, don’t waste their time.
Some thing: you have hundreds of people you’d like to see. Don’t let unqualified visitors waste your time.
Prepare for a marathon. Three or four days of standing, meeting, greeting, collecting information, giving demos and answering questions can take it out of anyone. Make sure you’re in good physical shape prior to the big event.
With the fast proliferation of mobile devices, your customers are connected to their world through the smartphone they carry. They do research, make connections, pay bills, find a nearby restaurant and more while on the move. Realize how this affects your marketing message and methods and learn how to reach them on this platform while they’re on the move at a tradeshow.
Prepare, prepare, prepare. I can’t stress this enough. Too many exhibitors think about things a few weeks ahead and try to make major (or even minor) changes without putting thought into it or knowing how much time things change. From graphic changes to booth makeovers to staff training to pre-show marketing and post-show followup, know how much time all the items take and work backwards from the show date.
While a tradeshow is a single, specific event, the online discussion around it will start weeks prior to the show and will continue for weeks afterwards. When you are targeting a show, be sure to listen to the chatter by monitoring the show hashtag, and prepare what you’ll do with sharing information, photos and videos for weeks after the show as the energy dies down.
You’re one of hundreds, or thousands of other exhibitors. There are only a few ways to stand out: have a freakin’ awesome booth that stops people in their tracks, have something going on in your booth space that compels them to stop such as a professional demo or interactive activity, create a pre-show marketing message and campaign so powerful that people make a stop at your booth one of their priorities or have a product that everyone needs or wants to see NOW.
Once the show is over, your work is not done. To make the show worthwhile, all of those leads and related information must be delivered to the right sales folks to follow up in a timely manner. Again, the race is still underway and you’ll have competitors who are following up within 24-48 hours. What’s your follow up plan?

Mindset is everything. The more you’re prepared for what tradeshow marketing and execution entails, the better your results!

February 4, 2016

February Webinar: B2B Tradeshow Lead Generation Guaranteed

I’m getting together with Hiett Ives of Show Dynamics of Houston on February 16th as he presents “B2B Tradeshow Leads Guaranteed.” It’ll last about 45 minutes with a Q&A afterwards. Can you really guarantee lead generation? Hiett has been in the industry for 40 years, and has learned a thing or two.

Hiett Ives of Show Dynamics, Inc. of Houston

Be sure to join us. Register today at TradeshowGuyWebinars.com. Even if you can’t join us, you’ll get the replay. But you should be there live if you can!

It’s at 10 am Pacific / 11 am Mountain / 12 noon Central / 1 pm Eastern on Tuesday, February 16th.

Here’s Hiett with a brief discussion of tradeshow follow up:

February 3, 2016

Working Effectively With a 3D Exhibit Designer

You’ve decided it’s time for a new booth. Time to start from scratch. For whatever reason, your current booth no longer effectively represents the company brand, so you’re hiring a new exhibit designer.

Where do you start? To begin with, it’s not a bad idea to issue an RFP (Request for Proposal).

Once you’ve chosen a designer and/or exhibit house, it’s time to get off to a good start with your new 3D designer. You’ll want to keep a few things in mind:

First, if you’re working with a graphic designer to come up with a booth design, you may be starting with the wrong person. Graphic designers aren’t necessarily trained in 3D exhibit design, and 3D exhibit designers are necessarily adept at graphic design. Chances are you’ll want both.

Start by creating a design brief that details your overall marketing goals, and then details the specific tradeshow marketing goals. In fact, if you can detail the show-by-show goals, that will be even better. Define the objectives: branding awareness, lead generation, media and PR outreach, product sales and more. Not everything will be directly applicable to the 3D design, but your designer can absorb the information anyway.

Next, explain from your perspective, the company’s brand and how you’d like to represent it to the world. If you have information on how the brand is seen by consumers and clients, add that in too, especially if it’s different from your perspective.

Now, list your products and services. Sometimes, in the case where a company has hundreds of products, listing them all is probably unnecessary. However, a good description of the main product areas is important. Create a list of issues and problems that your products and services address: what do they solve? How do they help customers solve a problem, achieve a goal or satisfy a need?

Detail your target market. Are they young, old? Consumers or businesses? Men, women? Or some combination?

Next, write a paragraph or two on the look and feel of your new booth. Detail size, materials, and how the booth should make people feel when they see it. Is it traditional, cutting edge, modern? Space age, funky, unusual? What colors are in your brand?

Include your budget, booth size, note if it will be set up in different configurations, and the functional needs, such as storage, product display, meeting areas, demo counters, video monitors, greeting counters and other items such as banner stands, iPad kiosks, etc.

Include a few comments on how and where will the booth be stored and whether you expect your staff to set up the booth or if you plan to hire show labor.

Working with an experienced designer and exhibit house can save you money in the long run, especially if you exhibit multiple times a year. You’ll have a professional team working with you at each step to craft a creative and effective design and bring that design to life.

February 1, 2016

Always Somebody Smaller, Always Somebody Bigger

It doesn’t matter what size your company is. It doesn’t matter how big your tradeshow booth is compared to your neighbor or competitor at the big tradeshow.

There will always be a company that is bigger than you. There will always be a competitor that is smaller than you, and probably nipping your heels.

There’s a sports analogy here somewhere, let’s see if, by fishing for it, I can find it.

We can’t concern ourselves with the other team. We have to play our game to the best of our ability. – a coach somewhere

I’m sure that applies in business as well. You should be aware of your competition, certainly, but more importantly, take care of all business needs in-house. That’s the paramount need to succeed.

So when it comes to tradeshows, you’ll always be somewhere in the middle. Others will be bigger, richer, have wider distribution, more products and more staff. There will be competitors who are smaller, with fewer resources, have less distribution than you and fewer products available.

The biggest competitor – and the biggest cheerleader – will always be yourself.

January 28, 2016

Meet Me at Expo West for a TradeshowGuy Button

Nothing like a shameless promotional plug, eh?

Given my recent propensity to do more promotion that usual (see TradeshowGuyWebinars.com), I had one of those middle-on-the-night flashes: GET SOME TRADESHOWGUY BUTTONS! And GIVE THEM AWAY!

Of course. Why not?

So if you see me at a show, ask. I should have a handful in my pocket. And in March, I’ll have a hundred or two at Expo West in Anaheim, handing them out to exhibitors and attendees.

Just for fun, you know. Want some? Tweet me for a free button at Expo West!

January 25, 2016

Find Your Exhibit with Exhibit Design Search [Video]

Need to get your hands on your next great tradeshow exhibit but don’t know where to start? Here’s a place that will give you so many choices your head will spin. However, the great thing is that once you narrow your choices down, it’s easy to share with your colleagues and team members. Check out this video:

Check out the Exhibit Design Search now!

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All posts by: Tim Patterson