The Difference Between Artists and Graphic Designers

When you’re choosing someone to do artwork for your branding, logo, or advertising campaign, keep in mind the type of person that you should hire. Many companies have hired an artist instead of an actual, experienced graphic designer. There are very big differences between the two that you should be aware of as it can [...]

Testimonials Can Increase Your Sales

Testimonials and endorsements are one of the most persuasive tools that can be used to gain an increased sales to clients. Yet, it’s an item that gets put on the back burner at many companies. Set the intention to aggregate testimonials and put a plan in place for capturing them so that they can be [...]

Wrap Your Vehicles For Maximum Impact

A cool marketing tactic that not enough companies take advantage of are vehicle wraps. There are plenty opportunities for gaining additional brand exposure sitting right in the parking lot. Yet, companies doing vehicle wraps are in the minority. Although some companies will view vehicle wraps as being costly, the reality is: if you amortize the [...]

Get The Most Out Of Your Email Marketing

Even with the hype of social media and other online vehicles, email is the still the best push marketing tool for reaching your audiences. With the tools available for a low cost fee, it’s a cost-effective way to inform and educate. Separate lists can be created in these tools for different segments such as different [...]

Brand With Promo Items That Fuel Your Tribe

Promotional items are a great way to keep your company name brand in the mind of your customers. Use them to your advantage by choosing the items wisely for the members of your tribe. Make sure your promotional items are related to your brand and/or are definitely something that people will keep and use. Otherwise, [...]

Increase Brand Following With Interactivity

One thing that keeps coming up is the idea of creating more of a community or tribe around your brand and using online tools to do that. There are several tools that could be considered as social media tools to build this community. Following are social media tools that stations are using to increase the [...]

Get the Most Out of Trade Shows and Conferences

For several years, companies have been cutting back on the amount of trade shows and conferences that they participate in. They have also been cutting the number of people that they send. With the economy making a slow recovery, conferences are now coming back up as a line item budget. It’s hard to justify the expense of the registration plus the travel. However, with some planning, attendance at a conference may be exactly the boost that your station’s bottom line needs. Following are some different areas to think about in planning your attendance at a trade show or conference.

Face-to-face meetings

Going to trade shows gives you the opportunity to meet with people that you may not necessarily have the funding to travel and meet with otherwise. The multitude of contacts that you can arrange meetings with abound: clients, colleagues, mentors, mentees, marketing, and media.

There are wonderful tools like email and the phone that help advance business goals and make getting things like sales done more efficiently. However, there simply is no replacement for the personal relationships that develop when meeting people outside of the normal day-to-day routine. A camaraderie evolves that aids in attaining business goals in the future when you need to deal with those people again.

The key is to find out who is going to the same show and arrange meetings in advance. Too many times people think, “I’ll meet up with so-and-so there.” And, it doesn’t happen because time goes by so quickly.

Networking Events

New contacts can be made and existing contacts bolstered when you spend time going to networking events. Who knows, that one person you’ve been wanting to meet in person for a long time might just happen to be at the same event you decide to go to. Look at the conference schedule ahead of time to see what events are being planned. Also, keep an eye out for the receptions and events that happen that are not published because they are last minute. Some are invitation only so be sure to find that out.

Learning

The main purpose of creating conferences is to educate the industry on topics that are timely and relevant. Much thought goes into arranging speakers and sessions. Look at the conference schedule ahead of time and plan what sessions you will attend. This will also give you the time frames when you can arrange meetings and attend networking events.

Technology

Arrange time to meet with technology companies to see what they have planned that could increase your sales and reduce your station’s costs. Vendors are at the show to create solutions for companies. They work hard to solve issues. If you have a specific issue, bring it to a company and brainstorm. You might be surprised at the plethora of different solutions that are sparked.

Check Out Competition

Let’s be honest: we all have to keep an eye on our competition so that we can stay ahead of them. Trade shows are a wonderful mechanism to doing just that. Set aside time to see what your competition is doing and how it could affect how you are doing business, if at all. Doing this keeps a company from being surprised or blindsided by competitor’s announcements.

Awards programs

Winning awards helps with morale and selling spots. Plan on entering and attending awards programs at trade shows and conferences. Be sure to take photos and grab a pocket video camera. This can give even more longevity to your conference attendance by creating content for your status updates and websites.

There is no replacement for the relationships and spontaneous ideas that germinate when attending trade shows and conferences. If you follow a plan, you can get the most out of trade shows and conferences so that they contribute to your station’s bottom line.

NOTE: Lauren Originals, Inc., corporate headquarters for DIY Marketing, has a Lauren Signature program for trade show success called Ready? Set. Show! Find more info at www.ready-set-show.com.

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For several years, companies have been cutting back on the amount of trade shows and conferences that they participate in. They have also been cutting the number of people that they send. With the economy making a slow recovery, conferences are now coming back up as a line item budget. It’s hard to justify the [...]

Bolster Your Marketing Message with Your Phone System

Multiple people call your company on a daily basis for various reasons.  Because of that, your modern phone system should create the right branding opportunities for your company. Initial message Many times, this is the very first impression and interaction that a person will have with your company.  Make sure that it’s a good one [...]

Five Steps For Creating a Fabulous Media Tour

If you want to raise awareness for your product or your service, think about hosting a media tour when you’re launching. Having a great media tour will help you establish credibility in the market.  The press you generate through public relations has more credibility than advertising, which makes this tactic all the more appealing to [...]

DIY Marketing Executive, Lauren L. Darr, Featured in Making Waves Magazine

January 22, 2010–GREENS FORK, IN – Lauren L. Darr, CEO of Lauren Originals, Inc., which owns the brand DIY Marketing Communications, has been featured in the national publication, “Making Waves” as a part of being named to the “25 Women to Watch in Sales and Marketing” list by American Women in Radio & Television. The [...]

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