Exhibit!: The SME's Guide to Using Exhibitions to Grow Your Business - Softcover

Humberstone, Fiona

Softcover

ISBN 10: 095645450X ISBN 13: 9780956454508

Publisher: Flourish Publishing, 2010

Synopsis

Are you one of the tens of thousands of small businesses who pour time and money into an exhibition only to walk away with nothing?

Discover the commonsense secrets to getting more out of your next exhibition.

This is a hands-on book that guides you through the process of: Selecting an exhibition that will work for your business Reading a floorplan Understanding how visitor traffic flows around the show and how to use that when planning your stand How to create posters with impact The top twelve reasons that most people fail to gain business from exhibitions Creating a communication plan that will bring you business for months to come Setting up a competition that will bring you lots of the right sort of leads (tip: it's not about giving away a bottle of champagne!) Using Key Performance Indicators to measure your success

About this title

About the Author

Fiona Humberstone runs Flourish, a successful graphic design and marketing company based in Guildford. She works with many small businesses and her experiences inspired her to write this book.

When I started my business in 2005 I faced a challenge many start-ups face: great product, no clients and a chunky mortgage to pay. A truly terrifying combination!  Although I'd worked in the industry for several years, I hadn't been client facing for some time, so I brought no contacts with me and had no real potential for gaining any customers quickly. I was operating from a serviced office in the centre of Guildford that, whilst central, was pretty invisible. So the chances of gaining passing trade were zero. I needed to find a way of building up my business, and fast! On my second day as my own boss, I exhibited at a local business-to-business event. By the end of the day I had captured around 100 leads. Over the following days, weeks and months I called, emailed and wrote to these leads, and within a year had converted almost 70% of those into paying customers.

Those 70 new customers told their friends about my business, who told their friends, and soon we had more work than we knew what to do with. Despite working just four days a week, I became one of the fastest growing start-up printing.com franchises.

I put that success down to a combination of gaining a large number of leads in just one day, and delivering a fantastic product and service.

I still believe that if I hadn't exhibited at that June exhibition, my business would not have taken off as rapidly as it did. Sure, the business growth would not have happened if we hadn't had an attractive product at a price that people were prepared to pay. If we hadn't delivered exceptional service and great design I doubt that we would have been recommended. But five years on, I cannot think of a more cost-effective way of gaining a large number of quality leads that quickly.

As my business has grown, I have attended many more exhibitions. And over the years I've developed a process that has enabled me to make exhibitions one of the most profitable tools of my marketing strategy.

It's a process that enables me to maximise my brand exposure, gain high numbers of quality leads, and convert a high percentage of these into paying customers.

And now I want to show you how it can do the same for your business."

From the Back Cover

Exhibit! Discover the secret to using exhibitions to grow your business.

Are you one of the tens of thousands of small businesses who pour time and money into an exhibition only to walk away with nothing?

Discover how to get scores of profitable clients from your next exhibition. You'll discover how so many businesses get it wrong and how you can avoid making the same mistakes. I'll inspire you to make a great first impression with your stand and I'll lead you through the entire process of exhibiting: from picking the right exhibition through to reviewing the event and following up on your leads.

This could be the best investment you'll make all year.

Edition details

• Publisher: Flourish Publishing
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 095645450X
• ISBN 13: 9780956454508
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 180