Page 201 - 597 Business Ideas You can Start from Home - doing what you LOVE! (Beginner Internet Marketing Series)

1 94 Your Idea, I nc.

With booths costing anywhere from $2,500 to $4,500 or more,
when you factor in travel, lodging, shipping, food, and miscella­
neous expenses, it is a really expensive decision. This makes choos­
ing the right show all that more critical. So, how do you do that?
It's simple: Do your homework. Collect all the information you can
from different sources .

Some great ways t o learn about shows are:

1. From other exhibitors similar in size to your company.
If you can visit the show before your company is ready to
exhibit, you will know what to expect. You will have the
opportunity to meet other exhibitors and network with
people who don't compete with your line. Ask them how
the show has been in the past for them and how it is now.
In a slow economy, buyers are attending fewer trade shows
per year in order to cut back on corporate spending. So, you
may want to ask buyers directly which shows they plan on
attending. Although informative, another exhibitor's results
may not be indicative of what you could do at the show,
but mainly you can learn much more about the "traffic"
at the show and the overall opinion or consensus of many
exhibitors.

2. Go online to the show's website and check out the exhib­
itor list. Try contacting some small, noncompeting compa­
nies listed and see what you can learn about the show. You'll
be surprised at how open and helpful some people will be
about their trade-show experiences.

3. Ask local store owners which shows they attend to find
their new products. Just be honest with the owner and let
her know that you are trying to figure out where to exhibit
your new product, and she is likely to share her insights.

4. Ask the trade-show company to give you a list of buyers
that attend the show. They will likely give you a generic
list by simply listing the stores that send buyers. Of course,