Three Great Books About Trade Shows

One of the secrets to having successful trade show experiences is in the research you conduct before you ever get to the show. The first decision to make is whether the show is worthwhile for your company to attend. Part of the research that should go into your decision-making process for shows is a little homework called reading. There are many books on the market that purport to help you navigate the treacherous waters of the highly-competitive trade show world. It’s one thing to buy a pop up banner and quite another knowing what message to put on it. That’s where research and some carefully chosen books can help. Here are three top choices.

How To Get the Most Out of Trade Shows by Steve Miller

Miller’s book is well organized and very readable. He covers crucial topics like preparation and does an especially good job with personal preparation—which starts with good personal hygiene. Such too-often-overlooked “small” matters can ruin an otherwise good presentation at a show. Miller goes on to cover all aspects of show craft, from the body language of attendees to marketing strategy. It’s an excellent “crash course” in trade shows and can help a company make the leap from attending to exhibiting at shows.

Trade Show in a Day: Get It Done Right, Get It Done Fast! by The Planning Shop

An excellent one-volume resource done by Rhonda Abrams and Betsy Bozdech for The Planning Shop. The authors cover the nuts-and-bolts basics of logistical planning for trade shows in a concise, well organized, and thoughtful way. They also separate fact from fiction on whether it is always better to rent expensive booth equipment—they opine you can frequently purchase quality materials outright much cheaper than you can rent them.

Guerrilla Trade Show Selling: New Unconventional Weapons and Tactics to Meet More People, Get More Leads, and Close More Sales by Conrad Levinson, Mark S.A. Smith, and Orvel Ray Wilson

From true thinking outside-the-box “guerrilla” ideas to simple common sense ones (like following up on leads), this book has it all. An excellent resource for a small company that doesn’t have a big budget, this latest entry from the Guerrilla Group can still prove useful even for someone in a Fortune 500 company. Good ideas frequently transcend all budgetary considerations.

You can always find an excellent selection of trade show materials, all at great prices, simply by visiting The Display Outlet.