Not all business owners have the budget for exhibition stands, so how do you market yourself without shelling out thousands?
Firstly, not all exhibitions will cost you the astronomical fees you’re anticipating- look close to home for bargain opportunities – for example early bird offers for early bookings, and once you attend, you can often save money by pre booking for the following year.
If you’re worried about the expense versus return, why not try;
- Walking the floor at exhibitions is a great way to meet new contacts and tell them about what you do, take literature and business cards with you – all it will cost you is your time and money spent on printing.
- Hover near the cafe / break points to catch up with people and have an informal chat- ensure that you avoid bombarding people with sales information and technical jargon- you want them to like you and to want to do business with you.
- Partner with a fellow professional to share a stand- half the cost but the same impact and an opportunity to share resources and contacts.
Afterwards, you can calculate your costs and evaluate if it is worthwhile investing in a stand moving forwards.
If exhibitions aren’t your thing, consider partnering with fellow professionals to produce a seminar event offering information to prospective clients. Again, you can share the cost of venue hire by forming a strategic partnership, and for free events can use ticket sales sites such as eventbrite for free, you can then incorporate networking into your event and get to meet your attendees in person, and promote yourself through what you do.
Avanti offer networking opportunities as well as our accountancy services, for networking that doesn’t break the bank or to discuss strategic partnerships, give us a call (08000) 388 799