Storefront Away From Store

Before it was Digitalegacies Designs scrapbooking designs, my company was Digitalegacies, a small business in Metro Detroit making memory DVDs. Among the many great experiences I had during Digitalegacies existence, the most fun, and most grueling, was the business showcase I did sponsored by the Northville Chamber of Commerce.

Of course, I was on a pretty strict budget for my fledgling company, so I couldn’t have all the bells and whistles some businesses did, but I didn’t do too bad. I had great placement on the floor, near the eating a resting area. With a video display, It was nice to see, on the occasions where there was less traffic at my table, people watching the DIgitalegacies video while they sampled the restaurants’ food!

I was looking at a site online that specializes in custom exhibition stands. They do dream setups! Well, okay, to a marketing fanatic, they are a dream.

Think about trade shows you’ve been to. Maybe an auto show or a pedigreed per show. What about the outdoor living show or the home improvement show. Think about it, we’ve probably all been to them, just they are carefully packaged as great extravaganzas that are fun for the whole family. And they are too. Trade shows aren’t to make direct sales. They are to get you to remember the business for later, so they have to make a really big impact, a memory.

At Full Circle Group in the UK, they had photos of some of their work that’s been at shows worldwide. Gorgeous walk through exhibits that are like little store on the show floor. There was on that I would have loved to have had the budget for back when I did Taste of Northville. The video screen was on the outside of the display, which was a walk-in, like a little office inside with displays and of course, brochures! That would make a wonderful presentation at a trade show for a memory DVD business, any business really, but I think back to the show spot I organized when I look at those things. Have something really catching outside, like a video, that draws people into the exhibit which has walls that kinda block out the competition. Give me a feel like I’ve walked into your world and I’m being personally attended to with any questions I have and I’m likely to remember you!

Of course, the exhibition display must have room for takeaways, the information and gifts that will help you be remembered! we had brochures, pens, easter candy because it was close to Easter and St. Patrick's Day coupons. We also had roving balloons. I had four friends who worked for dinner after the show. Rich filled balloons and worked the crowd, handing our mobile promotion to the kids and telling parents about the business, encouraging them to come to our table. We had chairs for people to sit and watch the small DVD player at the table too. I think a great exhibit has chairs in the walk-in part. People will get tired walking on the hard floors at shows and if you can offer them a place to rest while they look at your wares, they’ll stay longer.

So that’s what a really good, a really special, trade show exhibit has. Something to catch you, like video, and someplace to shelter you from the competition with a feeling of comfort and lots of takeaways to remind you about the business when you get home!