MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convetion, Exhibition)

Organising to exhibit at an exhibition can be more than simply renting a stand and then turning up on the day. There are many things you will need to consider in addition to ensuring that your staff are well trained and prepared for the show; your staff have the correct and appropriate uniforms; you have set sales goals for the event; the stand is in a good spot; the exhibition stand is well designed and appropriate to the specific show; and you have invited anyone necessary.

You need ALSO to think about things such as:
– Design
– Installation
– Providing water and flowers on your stand
– Installing AV systems
– Installing Plasma screens
– Internet connections
– Stand breakdown
– Storage.

Even thinking of things such as where the power sockets are, and how many of them are available (especially important if you plan to do a presentation on your laptop, in case your battery dies). There is a lot to think about and having held a few exhibitions myself, I would be inclined to recommend getting an experienced team to work with. You can do a search on the Internet and try to find a company, although a few companies I would recommend are Clip Displays (Exhibition stands specialists worldwide) and also Spot on Display.

The trick is to be well organised, well prepared and to plan well enough in advance, in addition to working with seasoned professionals. By ridding yourself of the stress involved with the logistics of setting up your exhibition stand, you can then put more effort into the main purpose of exhibiting; and focus on sales and on the direct marketing sales opportunities.

http://www.clipdisplay.com

If you’re in concurrence with over 90% of all business ownersAds don’t work! They’re expensive, a low ROI, and all they do is fuel ad agencies to churn out more ridiculous rubbish.

So why do most ads fail to bring in sales?

Simple. If you browse the ads in your local paper, just about all of them talk about themselves:

This is our business name;
This is our logo;
This is what we do;
This is how long we’ve been in business;
This is our product/service; and then usually,
Call us now so we can sell you something.
Yeesh!

This is nothing more than making announcements. Just like scanning the Yellow Pages. And the prospects that do reply are the 1% that are looking for your product at that time.

But what about the 99% browsing your ad who aren’t interested? They’ll scan your ad each week till they’re blue in the face and never respond.

And why not?

Because you’ve failed to connect with your audience. And convince them you’re the only business that will solve their problem. You’ve got to position yourself as the definitive expert in your field. Otherwise, your ads will bleed your promotions budget.

How to transform your ads into Money-Machines…

If you’re placing ads in your local publication – flyers, newspapers, magazines, coupon books, post card mailers, or through a website – here are three types of ads that will generate more revenues and customers:

1) The “Advertorial.”

Ads generate huge revenues for the publication they run in, but people don’t buy the publication to read ads. People are looking for specific information. I don’t know any subscribers who purchase a magazine mainly to view ads.

People are looking for interesting articles, news, product launches, interviews, how-to information, and so forth. And the way to structure your ad is to format it as an editorial.

Give away useful hints and tips that relate to your target audience. Contribute valuable advice. Send them to your website for more useful helps and hints they can forward to their friends.

Your ad should:

Grab attention;
Generate interest;
Create desire; and,
Move your reader to action.
This is the opposite of what ad agencies do for you. They sell you the idea of getting your name, logo, and killer graphics to display their skillful artwork. And then you must cross your fingers hoping the more times you run their ad, the more people call.

This may be effective in certain situations, but I’m betting you have too much business savvy to leave your company’s new customer acquisition to chance.

Here’s the next type…

2) The “Open Letter.”

This is an ad that looks like a letter. It contains a salutation and reads like a warm letter from you to a friend. Because it doesn’t look like an ad, it gets immediate attention.

Imagine writing a letter to your best friend inviting her to a celebration. You want to tell her all the details, or maybe omit some. You want to inform her who’s showing up, what to dress, and maybe hint at what to bring. You want to excite her with some of the event activities. And you want to give her the RSVP information.

The secret behind your letter is to compel her to show up. And it’s the same with your ad. You must compel your prospects to respond. Your ad should include some, if not all of these components:

A photo;
A benefit, intrigue, or fear-of-loss headline;
A salutation;
A grab-them-by-the-throat lead-in;
A conversational/bucket brigade flow;
Compelling reasons why they need your product/service;
Useful tips and facts;
The cost;
The offer;
The guarantee;
The call-to-action;
A signature;
A post script; and finally,
Your contact information.
And here’s the third type…

3) The “Classic Direct Response.”

This is the textbook direct response advertisement. On the strength of this ad, you want people to call, visit, send-in, go to your URL, snip out your coupon, jump at the offer, or book you. In shortyou want a direct response.

It’s a huge mistake to think this ad will get the entire readership responding. Believe me, that’s not what you want. You want to target your ad toward a specific market.

You also want to disqualify time-wasters, tire-kickers, and brochure collectors. You’ve got to cut through the clutter and quickly hook qualified leads. And then compel them to contact youand not your competition.

Important checklist before running your ad:

Does your ad attract the right audience?

Does it capture their attention?

Have you created desire?

Have you positioned yourself as the expert?

Can you show great value?

Have you given them a reason to act now?

Have you initiated urgency?

Did you include your contact info?

In conclusion…

These three types of ads will do more for your advertising dollars that any ad agency’s “being creative for the sake of being creative” nonsense. You probably don’t have the budget to experiment with creativity. You’re banking on instant results.

So try these three ad styles instead of trying to build your brand and image. Your brand and image will grow when more of your products are in the hands of consumers. Or when your customers absolutely rave about your service.

Tommy Yan is a direct response specialist. He started “Ads That Make Money” to help clients multiply their response rates. He knows the emotional and psychological triggers that empower prospects to respond. Go to TommyYan.com for more moneymaking articles.

Do you find your employees are avoiding meetings?

Are you finding yourself dreading your next meeting?

Have you join the legions of people that now believe meetings are a total waste of time?A widening body of research is now showing that employees equate meeting rooms with wasted time. Many feel that time spent in the meeting room is time that takes them to totally away from their responsibilities.

Here are two innovative suggestions to make your meetings more effective:

1. If your meeting lasts a half-day or more, hold it at a local hotel or conference center. Although this is the expense, you’ll find your meeting will be much more productive and you will makeup the time (and expense) through increased productivity as meeting participants have a rush of productivity when they return to the office.

2. Use “Photo Op” thinking when selecting a meeting spot. oliticians have learned to introduce legislation or concepts at an appropriate venue. If they’re talking about education, they go to a school. If they are talking about health-care, they may stand outside a hospital. Likewise, think about where you’re holding your meeting. If your meeting is to discuss a new shipping system, hold the meeting on the shipping dock. If nothing else, the noise of the shipping dock, will eliminate small talk and sidebar discussions.

Rick Weaver is an accomplished business executive with a wealth of experience in retail, market analysis, supply chain enhancement, project management, team building, and process improvement.

Rick career began in retailing as a stockclerk, eventually becoming the Director of Vendor Development at Kmart Corporation during it’s heyday. In this position he worked with hundreds of Kmart’s suppliers to improve mutual processes, procedures, and profits. As a consultant, Rick has worked with companies in various industries to develop leadership and business strategies. As an entrepreneur, Rick has founded or co-founded six successful organizations, including non-profit and for profit. Now in his role as president of MaxImpact, Rick uses his vast experience helping individuals connect to their dreams and teams connect to a common vision.

Rick’s presentation style of blending humor, real life examples, and easy to implement ideas has made him a popular speaker at seminars, workshops, and conferences in in 43 states, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

Recently I facilitated a strategic planning day with one of my clients. During the course of the day we reviewed the progress they had made since the last major planning day we had the year before. As we were reflecting on their achievements before planning the future, one of the partners made the comment on how crucial their weekly team meetings were.

Originally when I first suggested they have regular weekly meetings with their team, the same partner thought it was a waste of time as he was focussed on how much time it cost to have everyone stop work for that hour. Being an accountant he was always focussed on chargeable hours and if they are all in a meeting for an hour they are potentially losing in excess of $1000. However, he soon learned how beneficial these meetings were to the productivity and profit of their practice.

In his own words he says:

“We use this time to discuss and implement systems, streamline and improve systems and procedures.

We feel that this time is where we can resolve issues, gaining different perspectives and ideas, everyone has constructive input, we also brainstorm different ideas and create our newsletter.

We find that our meetings enable everyone to communicate openly, productivity is higher as we plan the following week, which is more cost effective and obviously time efficient. The bottom line is these meetings keep the team happy as they feel their ideas are appreciated, it increases productivity and because we are more effective we make more money.”

So the next time you postpone your team meeting because you are ‘too busy’ or don’t think it’s necessary to have them on a regular basis…think again.

Have a great week

Lorraine Pirihi
Australia ’s No. 1 Productivity Coach

Lorraine Pirihi is Australia’s Personal Productivity Specialist and Leading Life Coach. Her business The Office Organiser specialises in showing small business owners and managers, how to get organised at work so they can have a life! Lorraine is also a dynamic speaker and has produced many products including “How to Survive and Thrive at Work!”