One of the best sources of new contacts and business is a trade show.  I’ve been attending various shows since 2003 and find value every time. It is a great opportunity to catch up on new technology, keep an eye on any competition, getting the pulse of buyers and most importantly meeting new people in your industry.

Some of the shows we like to attend are CES, PMA, RetailVision, E3, Interop, CTIA and Photokina.

Attending a trade show is generally a great ROI, but having a booth is even better. You don’t have to go the uber expensive route with a large expo area near the doors. There are several great options for smaller companies.

Many times you can pick up a table near the back of the room at a reduced rate either well in advance of the show or with a few weeks of the show when they are trying to close out inventory. Our first few booths were under $1k.

No question, it was worth the investment. You’ll be amazed at the different type of people that stop by; your end users, potential resellers and high up executives with entourages.

If you are a more mature company with a longer roster of contacts you can do a hotel suite. This is actually the best bang-for-your-buck. Invite your contacts up for a private meeting with no distractions. It is best to pick a location near the venue. If you cant arrange this you may need to hire a driver or have someone on staff handle driving duties with a rental vehicle.

Attending in one form or another is the goal. Be in the space and be confident, attendees are open to hearing and trying new ideas. Get out there and shake hands!

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 15th, 2010 at 2:36 pmand is filed under Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.