Six Tips to Better Branding
Branding speaks of the relationship between the product and the purchaser – it is the product’s ‘Promise’ in the mind of the consumer. This is a cumulative effect that develops over time, and leads to impressions and qualities being associated with the company, product or service. There is an emotional connection, such as the ‘Maine mystique’ connoting the regional characteristic of ‘fine, authentic craftsmanship’. We are very fortunate to live in a state that has a brand identity – use it!

1. Think Like a Consumer…
Build your business through your customer relationships by listening to them, evaluating their comments, and understanding and meeting their needs. You must have a 360-degree view of the customer’s experience, and communication with them is the only way to effectively obtain this. Relationships take time to build - this is a long-term plan!

2. **Be Different**
What sets you apart? Find out who you are and own that space! What distinctive benefits do your products offer – in convenience, customization, risk reduction/security, or time savings? If your competition drops the price – change the playing field and add value to your product or service, while maintaining your original price. Differentiate.

3. Own Your Own Space
What unique logo/image will lodge in peoples’ minds and make them curious about your product or service? Everything you do ‘brands’, from your phone message on the answering machine, to the product’s packaging, to the transaction process itself, to you carrying out the purchase to your customer’s car. Your message to your customer must be consistent and pervasive throughout their entire experience.

4. The Smaller the Target, the Bigger the Opportunity
Narrow your customer focus. Time, energy, and dollars focused on your specific customer base will empower your business efforts, much more so than trying to be all things to all people.

5. Marketing is about Ideas, Not Dollars
Alert your community newspaper if you are a new business or have a business related ‘event’ – they are often glad of the tip and the resulting news article is an invaluable ‘ad’ for your business. Better yet, write the basics of the article yourself and present as a press release to your paper. Collaborate with others who are seeking the same market, whether it is in forming a co-operative or partnering in advertising.

6. Beware the Enemy Within
Say NO to what really doesn’t fit with your business plan and brand image. Eliminate trade-offs, fence straddling, and fighting on all fronts, which only blurs your image. Often it is not the competition who is the problem, but our own selves!



Credits: Many of these ideas were presented in the keynote address by Sam Hill, Helios Marketing president, at the executive forum “Branding in the 21st Century”.


Ten Tips for a Better Booth
According to Bruce Baker, a national speaker on Booth Construction, Visual Merchandising, and Marketing, “Your booth is your Number One sales tool.” Many of these points were taken from his seminar “Creating Trade Show Booths That Sell” offered by the Maine Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs).

1. Pre-Show Promotion. Pre-show mailers inviting buyers to respond to your booth offer (you do have one, don’t you? E.g. a valued promotional product, free freight or product discount for show orders) can increase your booth traffic by as much as 33%. Stickers on all outgoing materials (mailers, packages, invoices) touting the show dates and booth numbers are an inexpensive way to advertise your presence. If you have a web site, sending prospects to it preliminarily will increase credibility, pre-educate your potential buyer about your product, and allow for an integrated booth/web site look and message. A press release about your company’s exhibit can draw further on site interviews – and buyers! Because no one knows that you are exhibiting until you tell them…

2. Make it easy on yourself. Preliminary thought to booth design and construction will save you hours of frustration in the long run. Structural safety is a must – crashing shelves and ankle grabbing extension cords do not impress a buyer. Modular arrangements are most versatile and functional, especially if you do several shows with varying booth dimensions and customer traffic flow. It should be light weight (plywood is not!) and portable, and easily fit into your automobile or van. It should definitely be fireproofed (there are several easily applied sprays on the market, and many shows require the use of them). And, if the fair you exhibit at is outdoors, be sure that it is wind and rainproof as well!

Other tips: keep a dedicated show-only crate packed with all the small supplies you will likely need, such as extension cord, stapler, tape, cash box, calculator – and don’t forget Velcro for multitudinous uses! Get the industrial type from a fabric or awning supply company.

3. You can’t engage the mind until you stop the eye! Attract attention. You have only 3 seconds to grab the eye – and the attention – of that buyer in the aisle. Your booth should loudly declare:
· Who you are
· What you do
· What your offer is
Graphics or large-format photography (visible from across the aisle) have high impact and can often get this message across quickly. Kept simple and designed with the audience in mind, you can quickly impart what you want them to remember about your product. You don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression!

4. Be well illuminated. The power of well-placed light cannot be overestimated. If folks can’t see your products, your product will remain unnoticed. Halogen track lighting illuminates best. Also, be electrically safe with three-prong cords and plugs. If electricity and lighting needs are ordered ahead of time, err on the side of generosity. Increased electrical service the day of show set-up will cost dearly in labor fees.

5. Reflect the taste of your ultimate consumer. Where is your product ultimately going to live? Who is your customer? Thinking of its ultimate home will help you decide whether your booth should have a casual, formal, outdoor, or party atmosphere. It may even help you decide a color theme (do stay away from orange or purple – folks either love or hate one or the other!) If your booth makes your customer feel ‘at home’ they will walk in more easily and stay longer, thus increasing the likelihood of a sale.

6. Don’t underestimate merchandising and display arrangement. Visual interest is key. Items lined up in tight little rows invites boredom, but not buyers. Neither does chaos! Contrasting textures, complementary colors, varied heights all add visual interest and draw attention to your product. Do not be overcrowded, but use as much of your space as possible.

7. What’s new? Realize that show attendees are there to primarily see what’s new! Even if you don’t have a new product, if you have a new look or a fresh message, they will want to find out more about your company and the products you do have. The use of a laptop computer displaying rotating product, mood and information screens can help tell your story. Buyer viewing is effortless when displayed at eye level.

8. Be there! Physically and mentally. Alert, pleasant, engaged. Never mind you drove all night to get there and just spent six hours setting up for a week long show. This is the stuff that keeps you young and in shape for life! Be in your booth, standing (bring an anti-fatigue mat and two pairs of shoes) not sitting, certainly not sleeping in a chair! not on the phone, not eating your lunch…it’s all been seen – and passed by – before.

9. Tips on booth demeanor… Greet customers with meaningful dialogue, not chit chat. Ask open-ended questions, not ones that can be answered simply with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Project energy and enthusiasm about your product – if you are not excited about it, no one else is going to be. Talk about the benefits of your product (this widget will save you time!) not its features (this widget is blue). Treat your customers as individuals – they are! Look at their face, not their badge. Above all else, have FUN!

10. Follow-up! Or, the last day of the show is not the last day of the show! 79% of all the leads generated at shows are not followed up! Two weeks later is too late…write those thank you letters and prepare those packets before leaving for the show! This allows for timely mailing upon your return.

Hopefully some of these tips have taken the mystery – but not the magic! - out of a fairly common sense approach to trade and craft show preparedness. It takes practice, though. Every show that you do will educate you on what you can do better next time, how you can become more dynamic in your presentation. Make a list on what to improve, what to change - and then do it!

Other credits: Many tips were also gleaned from Skyline Display seminars (www.skylinedisplays.com) and various issues of The CraftsReport (www.craftsreport.com).









Maine Small Business Development Center (Maine SBDC)
Administered by the School of Business at the University of Southern Maine, the Maine Small Business Development Center (Maine SBDC) Statewide Network provides comprehensive business management assistance, training and information services to Maine's micro and small business community. The focus of the Maine SBDC is to assist in the creation and maintenance of viable micro and small businesses and the jobs these businesses provide.