As small business owners, we need to constantly be doing the right things to be selling and marketing to get new clients each moment of every day. At least that’s how it feels to me. Every activity or event that I participate in needs to have a quantifiable return on investment (ROI) and bring me one step closer to getting a new client.
Trade Shows
I was with a client this morning who was investing tons of time, money and staff in a trade show with the only objective of raising awareness of their product. I pointed out that while that was a great idea, wouldn’t it be a better idea to do a quick survey to make a case to gauge interest in one of their new products or to create an event where they could invite people to?
Sampling
One conference that I went to, gave away a swag bag that had mostly paper in it. Most interesting was a pack of kleenex packed especially and branded with the company’s logo. The company was a marketing consulting firm so I have no idea how the kleenex related but at least it was a creative way of introducing their card. If you’re sampling a product, how are you telling your brand story and giving them a call to action through that sample? If you’re selling a service and it’s specific to some people (ie. most people don’t want or need your services) then consider adding a sample of a related product to what your service provides as a benefit. For example, I saw a stress ball shaped as a brain at a headhunters’ booth they were giving away. It was memorable and related to their service.
Speaking
I’ve spoken a lot about this in the past so I’ll just make it short by simply saying if you’re not offering a way to connect or a next step to help your audience with respect to the topic that you’re covering, you’re doing both you and them a disservice. They are in the room because they are in pain and you can help them. If you do a great job helping them with that pain and don’t make an offer, the next guy who does a similar speech but actually does make an offer will get the business you were supposed to get.
So if you’re not offering a call to action or a next step that allows the people you interact with to eventually become your loving fans and clients, then you may not be doing the right things…think carefully about it and stop wasting opportunities.
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Related articles

• Expert Advice on Effective Small Business Marketing (business.com)
• Trade Shows – Finding the Best Visitors (ruralstops.blogspot.com)
• Create High Impact Trade Show Results Within a Reduced Budget (sys-con.com)