In roughly six weeks, one of the nation's largest minority business trade shows will take place in New Orleans. The event is put on annually by the National Minority Supplier Development Council and detailed information about the conference and trade show is available at http://www.nmsdconline.com. There will be over 850 corporate and minority business booths and I estimate more than seven thousand attendees, representing the premier corporations and minority businesses in America.
This is a wonderful opportunity for MBEs to get their goods and services in front of major corporations. It is also an opportunity for MBEs to network, form strategic alliances and to do business with each other. Having attended many of these conferences, however, I also know that it can be overwhelming. From the opening welcome reception to the gala night, there are thousands of individuals coursing through the show and you can easily get lost in the shuffle. So with only a few weeks before the conference, I thought I'd share a few strategies with you about how you can effectively work a NMSDC (or any other trade show).
Make a Plan
The first part of your strategy occurs before you even attend the trade show. This involves sitting down and developing a strategy for what you hope to achieve from the event. What are your goals? Which attendees are must sees for you? How can you isolate and get face time with your best prospects? There are answers to all of these questions, but you must spend the time to think clearly about your aims. Trade shows are an investment of time and capital and so to just "show up" without a plan is a bad idea. Some people argue that trade shows are ineffective, but these are probably some of the folks who fail to approach the matter with a well thought out plan.
Reach out to Your Targets Beforehand
It is also a great idea to reach out to as many of your targets in advance, if possible. Let them know that you will be there and do your best to arrange one on one appointments. Depending on your relationship with the target you may be able to schedule a sit down meeting or even a meal outside of the din and fray of the trade show. The NMSDC trade show occurs over the course of four days. Within that time, there are plenty of opportunities to reach out to your best prospects away from the crowd. This allows you to get to know your targets on a more personal level and can set the table for future exploration.
Purchase a Booth if You Can But Don't Let That Prevent You From Participating
You do not have to display at the trade show in order to be effective. If purchasing a booth is within your budget then having a well put together booth with good signage and plenty of marketing materials can be a good way of establishing your presence. And of course, what is a trade show without all those giveaway items? But if you are not in a position to have a booth, or afford 1000 doodads, you can do well without one.
First, the name of the game is making quality contacts with quality people. That is why making a plan and reaching out in advance is so important. Having a booth does not guarantee that this will happen. Further, most of your contacts aren't interested in one more glossy marketing folder. It is far more effective to simply get a business card and place the info in a pda device under a folder designated for the show. Once you are back at the office, this facilitates easy follow up through emails, telephone calls, etc. In our new, greener economy, it's better to save the paper and send the marketing materials digitally.
These simple suggestions alone will help you to get immeasurably more out of your trade show experience. But in the weeks ahead, I will continue to share some of the strategies that I and other successful entrepreneurs have used to get the very best from our trade show output.
Stay tuned!
