Adding a new subscriber to a company's e newsletter list.

1 ) Do one! It’s more affordable than you think . For instance, you can target customers at a local 5K. Road race expos often attract active and healthy individuals with higher discretionary income. These expos range in exhibit price from a hundred bucks to thousands of dollars.

2 ) Come up with a unique giveaway with your company’s logo and info on it. (We chose water bottles since we were at a road race.)

3 ) Blog (or microblog) before, during and after the event. Set-up a Facebook event page and invite your friends. Don’t forget to use Twitter! Tweeting from your cell phone at the event adds to the serendipity. Include the info in your e newsletter.

4 ) Further promote your biz with a logoed wardrobe piece. Try a cap or a shirt.

5 ) Make your booth stand out with color, simplicity and organization. If you’re just testing the waters, don’t immediately invest in a cookie cutter trade show display. They are quite pricey and quite impersonal.  At the show above, we set-up rows of pink water bottles on the left and green ones on the right. They both matched the colors in the logo/banner. It made for a bright and eye catching presentation that drew the runners to us. Thus, making it  easy to tell them what we do and how we can help them in the future.

6 ) Don’t hard sell. Make it fun for your booth visitors. Ask them things like “how was the race?” AND:  ”Were you happy with your time?” Of course, if it’s not a race, customize your questions to that event. Then, give them their gift. For the folks who linger a few extra seconds, ask them if they have any questions. Then, make sure to listen and answer them.

7 ) Don’t forget your little black book (or red or green…) to get email addresses for new subscribers to your e newsletter.

8 ) Turn visitors into advocates. If someone seems particularly interested in what you do, see if there’s a way to get them involved as an advocate. (For instance, I met a woman with a local women’s church group who wants to help us collect “Sweaters for Seniors,” our cause marketing program we’ll repeat this fall.)

9 ) Borrow a cup of sugar from your booth neighbors. Just kidding about the sugar. But you get the idea. Shows provide a great atmosphere for networking with fellow exhibitors.

10 ) After the event, post pictures on your blog, Twitpic, Flickr and Facebook–to name a few. Another good investment is a Flip video camera so you can make a YouTube video like the one I posted above. Good luck!

Sharna Fulton sold her first piece of hand painted pottery at the Duluth Fall Festival in 1998. Over the next 10 years, she grew a nationally known giftware company, SportsPottery.com, exhibiting at the world’s largest marathons and sporting events. During that tenure, Ms. Fulton sold her wares and interfaced with thousands of athletes and their fans from Boston to Los Angeles to London.

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