Frankly I am sick and tired of hearing all of the doom and gloom that is being parroted all over the media and all over the place; the economy is in a bad state at the moment BUT we all seem to be forgetting a few things.
Our economy is the strongest in the world – not one of the strongest but THE strongest; as a British friend of mine says, “When America sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold!”
There is plenty of business still going on and in large part, the reason why the US economy is so strong is simply because of the very large and industrious small business base we have here in America. America is the land of free enterprise and opportunity and unlike elsewhere, a man (or woman) can make their own luck!
It’s a constant wonder to me that some come up to me and tell me how “lucky” I am; it is a wonder because I discovered a long time ago that the harder I work the luckier I get!
This is what I’m doing; and I did this in the last recession and the one before that; I’m sticking to what I know works – I know trade shows work and I always make good money and create new business opportunities but I have to play it right.
I do not go overboard and fall for trade show and exhibition management hype – I talk to businesses who have attended at shows before if it is a new one to me.
I do not look at attending a brand new event – if it is a new event it is untried, untested and uninteresting to me.
I improve my marketing and sales efforts; if anything I will increase my dollar spend on these activities in order to extract as much business as I am able to do – now is a time when my competition is struggling and they are cutting back on customer contact and service precisely because they have cut their spend; this leaves their market share vulnerable and I aim to take it from them. Big company clients are especially vulnerable and I am more likely to get business out of them now than at any other time.
I’m planning for recovery – that other “R” word which people keep forgetting about. Recessions are bad news but not for everybody – Carnegie built an entire steel empire and conglomerate on the basis of steel he bought during recession and then sold on to railroad builders at massive profits when the recovery followed; I’m not Carnegie but I apply his principles, buy low and sell high and now is a time when I will be able to buy new business cheaply.
Trade Show Tips 