You've jumped through all the hurdles and management just approved the budget for the trade show booth you've been dying to do for ages. You just high-fived your team when it hits you-you don't just need a trade show booth, you need that trade show booth to get results!

This means you have to get people to come to your trade show booth-lots of them or your boss is going to be one unhappy person. Yikes!

Before you start that letter of resignation, wipe the sweat from your brow and take a deep breath. Feel better?

Great, now you're ready to find out how to make your booth stand out on that trade show floor and have people standing knee-deep in line just to see what you're up to!

1. Think color. Lots of it! Bold, sassy colors that immediately get attention from trade show attendees. Many people make the mistake of thinking if they build it, they will come. Nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to trade show booths! You have lots of competition and to beat it, you need a trade show booth that lets people know they're dealing with professionals who know what they're doing. Color does this almost better than anything else-unless you're going against the grain by using stark, upscale colors like white and black to make your statement. And believe me, color does make a statement.

2. Now think lights! Lights can make a fairly ordinary tradeshow booth something special. How? Think of the way paintings in museums are lit, the way candlelight sets the atmosphere for dinner or weddings. You can take a regular Joe trade show booth, put some truly cool lights in place, and Presto! You have a real show stopper-right there at your booth where you can smooze and sell to your heart's content (or your feet wear out, whichever comes first!).

3. Next, sound. Remember that guy at the end of the row with his white-cloth covered brochure covered table? Remember how he reminded you of the Maytag repairman in the old television commercials? Now imagine if he'd had some great music playing from his booth-or had simply had people out in front of the booth greeting and mixing it up with the trade show attendees. Because you can have the best looking booth on the block, but if you don't make some noise that makes people want to get to know you better, then you're just another pretty face. And that would be a real shame since you have such a great company.

4. Action. Now, many trade show exhibitors are resorting to things like having magicians or dancers performing at their trade show booths. This is a great idea-if the performances are related to your business. If you're going to have a magician, have him or her pull your product out of his hat or some other item that will keep your company top-of-mind during the act. Why? While it's important to give trade show event attendees something to entertain them, if you don't keep your company and product in their minds along the way, they're more likely to remember the entertainment than who (your company!) provided it for them. So you want to spend your money on some type of entertainment that is fun and pertinent to your business.

5. Free stuff. Now before you finalize that order for 500,000 pens with your company name and logo on them, stop. Put some real thought into this first. Pens are great, but people lose them, they run out of ink, not to mention that practically every trade show exhibitor is going to be giving away, yep, you guessed it, pens. So give away a notepad instead. One with your logo on it instead. Or better yet, have a drawing several times a day for a larger item that people will really use and that's related in some way to your business. This is the very best idea ever. Why? Because people come BACK to your booth to see if they've won. This gives you yet another chance to get your marketing message across-which makes you the real winner.


Patty Stripes is unlocking her chest of trade show secrets without keeping anything back. Learn how to design sizzling trade show booths, and learn everything about trade show giveaways.


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