Tips for a Successful Trade Show

I am writing this from a Chiropractic Trade Show that we’re doing in Washington, D.C. We have a booth here to promote our customized telephone on-hold recordings for the Chiropractic industry. We’ve been active in several Chiropractic associations and groups, having done these tradeshows for 4 years now. Here are some tips for making your tradeshows a success:

Your booth should be simple but effective. People should be able to tell what you do in 3 seconds, or you well lose them as they walk by. This has been particularly challenging for us in the on-hold business, since it’s not a service that everyone knows about.

Have a show special. Waive your start-up fee, give them a one month free trial – whatever – but give them an incentive to sign up right there at the show.

Have a drawing for a prize. This is a great way to collect business cards or names. Make the prize something that people would want, such as an iPod, so that people are more likely to enter to win.

Use candy to get people to stop at your booth. Candy and chocolates work! Who doesn’t like chocolate? Put some out in a bowl, and people will stop by – then you have a reason to start talking to them.

Have unique promotional products at your booth. This is another “ice-breaker” and a good conversation starter.

Follow up! Make sure you take those e-mails and phone numbers, and follow up after the show. Extend your show special for a week or so, and e-mail everyone letting them know. Add these names to your database, and e-mail and call them several times a year. They may not be ready to buy now, but when they are you want to be there, so e-mail them regularly.

Get multiple exposures. Don’t do any one show or association just once. When we do a show in a particular area, I commit ourselves to doing the same show the following year. People who saw us the first time may have never been exposed to our service before, and after some time to think about it, research it a bit, and maybe even look at some competitors, they may be ready to sign up the next time.

Network with other vendors. We’ve gotten lots of business from other vendors at these shows. Have fun, use down-time and evenings to socialize and get to know people. You never know what connections people have.

Custom Pest Control Web Sites

Watt Media has specialized in the Pest Control industry for over 8 years. We have been providing our telephone on-hold messaging service to pest control companies throughout the U.S., and I am excited to say that we have expanded that to our web design services as well. We now have formed a niche in pest control web design. Our pest control websites our 100% customized – that means no templates, no sites that look the same as someone else’s.

With more and more pest control companies getting technology savvy and starting to think about internet marketing, our sites, e-newsletters, and search engine marketing have been very effective.

Our sites are very affordable and the monthly hosting is much less than most template web design companies. Ask us about our pest control sites today!

Organizing Your "To Do" List

Do you have a list of things you need to do, but have been putting off? Have trouble getting organized? Here’s a little tip that may be helpful. It has worked wonders for me. Every morning, upon my arrival to my office (or sometimes the night before if my mind is racing and I need to clear it), I write a list on a sticky note of things that I need to do that day. Then, I put an asterisk next to the really important things.

Then, I dive into it and start with the really important things first. And I make myself do it, crossing off one item at a time as I complete it. Often, those things that I’ve been putting off take very little time to actually do. Making that call I dread isn’t so bad after all. My goal is to get everything on the list crossed off by the end of the day.

Steven Covey says you should do the things that are important and urgent first, then urgent and not important. You must also do those things that are important and not urgent, and you can push off what is not urgent and also not important for a day when you have nothing much to do (haven’t had one of those days in a while).

When I have one or two items left, it kills me to look at that sticky note and I feel that I must get it done! You’ll soon find that you get great satisfaction as you check off each item, especially when you complete your last one and can grab that sticky note and crumple it up, throwing it into the waste basket as you raise your arms and let out a loud roar in triumph.

Try it out – it may work for you too!

Custom Chiropractic, Dental, and E-Commerce Websites

At Watt Media, we have become specialists in certain industries, specifically Dental and Chiropractic websites, as well as shopping carts for all types of businesses. Unlike other web companies, we do not offer template-based websites. Template sites may meet the needs of many practices, and are often attractive, but there are several reasons why we have decided to keep our focus on custom jobs.

With a template, you choose a certain layout, and basically fill in the sections yourself, or have someone on your staff do it. That means that any other practice that picks the same template as you will have the same basic look on their website as yours, just with a different name. Our clients don’t want to bother having to type in all their content, upload pictures, etc. They don’t want to be bothered with any of that. Plus, they like knowing that their sites are totally unique and don’t look just like all the rest.

Besides that, many template sites feature lots of articles for clients and other features. While these may be nice to have, they often clutter of the pages and make your site look like a page on Yahoo or MSN. Our clients are looking for sharp, clean, professional sites without unnecessary clutter.

Many template sites charge little upfront, but have hefty monthly fees as well – beware! If you don’t need any extra features such as e-mail newsletters, your monthly fee can be as little as $24.95 with Watt Media. Our upfront cost may be more, but our sites end up being much less in the long run due to the monthly hosting fees.

Digital Player for Free?

Many on-hold companies offer packages in which they include the player for free. How can they do that? Is it really free? Well…often times, it’s not. Many times, there’s a start-up fee ranging anywhere from $199 to $399 and even higher. This start-up fee covers the company’s cost for the player, but calling it a start-up fee allows them to say that the player is free. Hey – you’re not paying for the player – it’s free. But there is a $299 start-up fee. There’s nothing terribly wrong with clever marketing…but let’s compare apples to apples.

Some companies lease the player, and the lease price is built into the monthly on-hold price. For example, you’d pay $79 per month for 3 recordings, and maybe $29 of that is the hardware lease portion. Again, this is perfectly legal and ethical – but beware. Unless your contract states that this is a “lease to own,” if you ever wish to terminate service, you will have to return the digital player to the on-hold company. After years of paying for your on-hold messages, how’d you like to find out that you don’t own the equipment?!

That’s my biggest issue with these “digital players” free deals – you never own the equipment. Hopefully you’ll be happy with their service and be a life-long customer – but if you ever want to leave, you can’t even keep using your current recording because you won’t have a player.

At Watt Media, we take a more sensible approach. We sell our digital player upfront, and you own it outright. No leasing, where you pay 3 or 4 times the value of the unit, no having to give the hardware back in the event of cancellation – clients really resent having to do that. So, when it comes to digital players, as the cliché goes, make sure you always read the fine print!

Can Facebook Be Good For Business?

Traditional thinking is that LinkedIn and other similar networking sites are the best if you're looking to do some good business networking, compared to more informal social sites like Facebook. But I'm not so sure. Some of the purest networking happens at gatherings where you least expect it: kids' birthday parties, church or temple, kids' soccer games, etc. And on sites like LinkedIn, where they're all serious about getting business done, it can sometimes make it tougher to get some genuine leads.

The reason I think Facebook could be a good place for getting business is because on this site, you reconnect with friends, many who you haven't seen for years. The topic of what you do for a living invariably comes up. You don't need to build rapport - you already know these people! And since you were friends at one time, the trust is built in.

My immediate friends already know what I do. But people I went to high school or college with, not to mention middle school, day camp, childhood neighbors - don't. The friendship is there - if they need a service I offer, I know I'll have an immediate sale. Plus, what makes Facebook great is that it's purely social - at least that's the approach I take. I don't talk business at all - don't promote anything. It's all about catching up with old friends. But if it comes up, and there's a need, it's the most natural and genuine networking possible.

The key is not to have any high expectations, and don't do it purely for business, or you're likely to be dissapointed. Don't be salesy - just have fun and the business will come in time.