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Giveaways and Freebies<br />
People like to go to trade shows or conferences because there is SO MUCH<br />
free stuff going around. Visitors are swinging by booths filling up their goodie<br />
bags with freebies from table to table. You better have something good! Make<br />
it unique, something that they show their friends. I think branded stickers and<br />
buttons are always nice, but do something fun!<br />
Gather Contact Information<br />
There’s <strong>not</strong>hing worse than going home from an event realizing you never got<br />
anyone’s contact information. You want to find a way to tastefully collect visitor’s<br />
email addresses so you can add them to your mailing list. Eric Terry of Linty<br />
Fresh says he has people fill out a little card for a raffle. On the card they can<br />
check a box if they want to receive their newsletter. The people that opt in this<br />
way are usually pretty enthusiastic about your brand and you should stay in<br />
touch with them on perhaps a more personal basis.<br />
Eric from Linty Fresh does it big with his booth.<br />
THREAD’S NOT DEAD • Jeff Finley<br />
Peacocking / Building Buzz<br />
I learned the term Peacocking from Niel Strauss’s book The Game about the<br />
secret underworld of pickup artists. It explained that wearing a crazy hat or<br />
a giant gold necklace would get you more attention from the opposite sex. It<br />
seemed like a corny cliché, but somehow it worked. As funny as it sounds, doing<br />
remarkable, crazy, or funny things at trade shows builds buzz and certainly<br />
makes you stand out. When I go to events, I’ll <strong>not</strong>ice booths try to get bigger,<br />
louder, and more in your face than ever. With flashing lights, booming sound,<br />
and even dancing girls! They’re all shouting LOOK AT ME! That kind of attention<br />
whoring works but there are less shameful ways of drawing attention.<br />
For example, while I was at Siggraph in 2007, the Gnomon Workshop taught<br />
classes and gave demonstrations on big flat screen TVs. The Adobe booth had<br />
30” Cintiq monitors all around so visitors could draw on their screens. There<br />
was some user interaction going on! Think of ways to involve visitors or get<br />
them to stop and watch. Demonstrations, classes, workshops, tutorials, and<br />
performances are great.<br />
Money and Payment<br />
Are you going to accept credit cards or cash only? By taking credit cards, you<br />
can get more sales as almost everyone uses their credit or debit card these<br />
days. Not everyone carries cash on them. But I think it’s still a surprise to most<br />
visitors that a vendor is even able to take credit cards. There is also the trust<br />
factor. If your booth looks shady and amateur, people may <strong>not</strong> feel safe swiping<br />
their card with you. However, if you look pro, people might expect you to take<br />
cards. Keep in mind, accepting credit cards comes with its own price and per<br />
transaction fees. You can purchase a credit card swiping machine or even use<br />
your iPhone with apps like Swipe, or Square.<br />
If you’re taking cash, make sure you have enough to make change the whole<br />
day. Keep your cash in a secure and lockable cash drawer and make sure a<br />
trustworthy person can keep an eye on it at all times. It’s obvious but don’t<br />
walk away from it; it could get stolen! Designate someone to be responsible for<br />
managing your cash at all times!<br />
Sales & Fulfillment 72
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