If you want to guarantee disaster, huge expense and seriously challenge your health in your trade show marketing, follow this simple formula. Although these top 10 tips are somewhat humorous, they are unfortunately based on real-life observations I have made in many trade shows.
1) Think you know everything, even if you've never attended a travel trade show. You're convinced travel trade show marketing is for you because everyone else seems to do it. Plus you're not sure what other tourism marketing to do.
2) Don't do any pre-show promotions to regional customers and prospects. You don't want to spend any more money because your cheap or max'd out your credit card. You figure it's the trade show management's job to get people to the show.
3) Never talk to show management and don't read the manual before the show. You believe that all they want to do is try to sell you more space or inform you about an additional union cost they forgot to tell you about.
4) Design and build the booth yourself in your spare time. Proudly place your company name across the middle of your display in large 4" type; "Joe's Fun Trips". Load up the booth and table with dozen's of small photos your 7-year old niece took with "Brownie camera.
5) Don't talk with your staff or create show goals. Put your old Uncle Albert in the booth since he knows your region and trips better then anyone, even though he's hard of hearing and shy. Don't have or practice a strategy on how to approach prospects.
6) Arrive just in time for the show because you want to avoid extra lodging costs. Carry and move all your booth supplies and avoid the expense and hassle of shipping and handling.
7) Consider everyone in the show a prospect. Try to coral everyone that's walking by. Tell everyone what's better about your trips and why everyone else's stinks.
8) Give everyone several of your expensive new 4-color brochures. You invested the majority of your tourism promotional money into the new brochures and you want to make sure everyone has one.
9) You and old Uncle Albert will work the weeklong booth yourselves. Don't drink water. Eat tradeshow concessionaire fast food exclusively. Attends late night hospitality suites, drink all the free beer you can and party with associates every night. Forget your breath mints.
10) Jump into operations when your get back to the office. Wait for all the calls and new clients from your travel trade show marketing to come pouring in.
If you want the top tips for how-to exhibit successfully, read my other articles on travel trade show exhibiting on my website or here at EzineArticles.com. It doesn't matter what industry you are in. Successful trade show exhibiting is something you can learn and prosper from - unless you are old Uncle Albert.
Tim Warren is the author of "Tourism Marketing Success" guaranteed to help you standout from the crowd and sell more in your trade show booth, website, advertising, brochure and more. For free travel marketing and business articles and the free mini-course; "The 10 Commandments of Travel Business Success" visit http:// http://www.adventurebizsuccess.com/ Since 1994, business and marketing resources exclusively for tourism and hospitality professionals and travel trade associations.
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