My head is spinning from all the useful informati0n I received at a marketing for entrepreneurs event put on by networking Guru Dave Sherman which was sponsored by my friends Paul Sanders and Ilana Lowry from the Phoenix Business Journal. There were three panels of experts who spoke for five minutes each then took questions. I spoke on a panel along with Brad Beller from Signs by Tomorrow and Pat Marco with Heritage graphics. Brad said to remember that borders increase readability of a sign by 26% and adding a second color increases message retention by 78%, Pat reminded us to use a professional graphic designer and that a good relationship with your printer could save you lots of money. I shared the five keys you must focus on that will help you turn your exhibit booth into a powerful profit center. You must set goals for the show, have a sales strategy, design a dynamic display, include promotions at the booth and follow up leads fast. We learned some great strategies for gettimg more media coverage. Tips from Christina Wagner at KFNX included: Contact the hosts of shows, don’t wait for them to contact you. Engage hosts and reporters on facebook. Steve Carr reminded us to know your audience and craft a compeling message before you make the contact and Paul Sanders said to use the paper’s editorial calendar to tie in your newsworthy angle with what the paper will be focusing on in a given month. My favorite panel was the heavy hitters on the social media panel. Dave Barhart of Blogging Business Pros, Matt O’Brien from Mint Social and Ward Andrews, Design.org & drawbackwards. Here are some of there valuable tips: Launch a contributor network, forget the home page emphasis, create every page on your blog as a landing page. Use those key words to drive traffic from Google, your blog should be your launch pad. Blog every day, write about solutions to problems, ask your audience questions, know your page visitors well, know what you want people to do or know when they land on your webpage, revise and change content often. Dave Sherman left us with some great networking tidbits. Talk to people about non-business topics, stop selling start connecting, create a higher level of commonality with the people you meet. Thanks Dave, for a great day.
Today consumers are buying differently, they are taking the leap to cheap and want everything at a bargain price, they want to find you fast and get what they need quickly. Be visible, know your audience and give them what they want. Marketing smart is critical in this marketplace.
Bling My Booth 