Happy New Year from the Johnson family. Let’s start 2017 off with a borrowed line from our new President, Donald J. Trump (who, by the way, was sworn in on my birthday, Jan. 20): Let’s not make only America, but trade show booths great again.
If you’re going to set up a booth at any trade show this year, ask yourself two questions:
1. What are our giveaways?
You need to give away something unique to make passers-by want to stop at your booth. I have learned this from experience, when we didn’t have anything to give away but business cards and brochures. Wow, what a mistake that was. Think about it the next time you’re walking through a trade show: You want to stop and pick up a few goodies from different booths, but you don’t want the old cheap pens, you want to get the good stuff.
Photo: Diane Sofranec
One of the best ways to attract people to your booth is to give away something that is really worth taking home and that they will keep. At PestWorld in Seattle in October, for example, our ACES for Business booth featured an Aluminum Anthill artwork sculpture as a giveaway (pretty cool and something of value). You had to register and put your business card in a bowl, and the winner was picked on Thursday at the convention. By making people register, you will also get their contact information, and you’ll learn more about them as they spend a little time with you at the booth.
2. How are we covering it on social media?
You also should plan for a big social media campaign before, during and in the aftermath of the event. The power of Facebook and of what the winners post and comment on about what they just won are great. The added goodwill will go a long way, as the winner is really happy with getting a valued free gift that will be very much appreciated. Our winner this year was Hilary Varona from Fahey Pest & Lawn Solutions, Sarasota, Fla. As you can see in the photo, she was so excited and very happy to win. It was even better for us, as Fahey also has been using ACES for 5 years now. The Facebook posts on ACES’, our personal, Fahey’s and Varona’s personal pages shared the great news, which many people read.
The bottom line is, plan your next trade show booth to be a success and give away something everyone will want.
Wildfire update
On a personal note, as I write this in early December, my area has been in the news due to the devastating firestorms that took place Nov. 28. To date, more than 2,400 homes and structures have been completely burned to the ground or damaged heavily in Gatlinburg, Tenn. With little to no rain for months, leaving unprecedented dry ground and extremely high winds (up to 70 mph), the fire spread more quickly than anyone could have predicted — leaving destruction in its path. The death toll currently is at 14, and the folks in our area have experienced the worst fire in more than 100 years. Please keep our friends, families, employees, neighbors and customers in your thoughts and prayers as we try to help rebuild homes and lives.
You can reach Johnson, a past president of the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), president of Sevierville, Tenn.-based Johnson Pest Control, and founder of ACES for Business at ray@johnsonpestcontrol.com.
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