Five Reasons Your Small Business Needs to Attend Trade Shows

By: Tina Samuels 

There are some people that with think with the advent of the internet there is no reason to attend trade shows. This couldn't be further from the truth.

Trade shows are just as relevant as they ever were, perhaps more so. Social networking is just as important in a face to face setting.

Let's look at five reasons your small business needs to make an appearance at trade shows.

Networking:

As stated above, networking at a trade show is the number one reason for going to a trade show.

Every person at the show is likely to be interested in your business, surely more there than anywhere else at any time. Not only will the attendees be interested, but often the people working the show. Others that are set up may wish to learn more, you could even forge partnerships!

Making new partners will help you expand your business. You may not join forces with another company in your niche, but you could meet another small business that offers a service or a product that will enhance your own.

Education:

Face it, though you may know everything there is to know about your particular product or service, you can learn more about anything.

You can find out more about sales avenues, service issuance, and customer service by talking with others at trade shows. You can learn from professionals and experts that speak at trade shows. By paying attention to what the experts tell you or by learning about new strides in your business niche, you might just find yourself ahead of your competitors.

You can always learn something new and even if the new stride isn't in your niche it may be on a new technology that you can integrate into your product or service, making you the first in your field to do so.

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Word of Mouth:

Word of mouth advertising is the pinnacle of advertising. What every company aims for is for people to tell others about them, have one of those people buy or use their product, and then tell more people.

The chain of advertising when spread by word of mouth is unending. Most people that visit a trade show will tell others about the product or service that caught their attention – often to six people or more according to one study. The Center for Exhibition Industry Research offers much information on how trade shows can impact your word of mouth advertising.http://www.ceir.org/

Personality:

When your small business attends a trade show you are not just networking, you're putting a face and name to the product or service you're promoting.

Billy Mays was a household name – he was the reason OxyClean made such a memorable product. Billy Mays and others like him were present at trade shows. When we think of products like ShamWow or OxyClean we see the people selling them to us. These personalities are first seen at trade shows, then television.

Your product or service might just end up as memorable thanks to putting a personality to the product.

About the Author: Tina Samuels writes on small business management 101 and other topics.

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