Tradeshow Marketing Expert & Dynamic Public Speaker/Trainer
Disruption can come in many forms. I always wonder what it must have felt like to work at Blockbuster when Netflix starting mailing DVDs and then started streaming them. Talk about disruption!
On this week’s quick hit video, a look at a few ways to deal with disruption. Maybe you have a few to add?
You’re familiar with a SWOT Analysis, I presume?
Year ago, I wrote a brief article on doing a tradeshow marketing SWOT Analysis, which would be a bit different from a more general SWOT Analysis.
But now that we’re in a pandemic created by the COVID-19, how would you approach doing a SWOT Analysis and is it worth doing?
I would argue that while a formal SWOT is probably unnecessary, it’s not a bad idea to at least examine some of the changes the pandemic has wrought, to see what obvious and perhaps significant changes your company is facing.
How are you positioned in the marketplace? Do you have new products about to launch? How are you perceived by your customers and clientele? Are you doing things to keep relationships going? Are sales strong or flat? Just knowing these and other related things will help you understand your position in the marketplace compared to your competition and compared to how you might have been with no pandemic.
With no tradeshow marketing coming for at least another quarter or two, can you put the budget towards something else? Is a virtual event worth the investment? Can you do another kind of outreach for a fraction of the cost of exhibiting at a big tradeshow? Take a look at your options and see if there are missed opportunities that you may have overlooked.
Are there marketplace threats you sense but perhaps haven’t put your finger on? Are your supplier lines still open and working well, or are there kinks that may signal something worse down the line? Do you have any competitors that are taking this time to move aggressively into an area that you thought you dominated? Threats are often overlooked because, unless you actively think about them and look for them, they can sneak up on you without you knowing until it’s too late.
All in all, doing a brief SWOT check-in may help you understand how the company is doing and give you insight and context in how you’ll handle the rest of the year and move into 2021.
It’s not always easy to put your life into perspective when you’re caught up in the daily crazy stuff that can overwhelm you. In this episode of TradeshowGuy Monday Morning Coffee, I make an attempt to take a longer view of life, and how to deal with what you want to do in your time on this planet. Happy Labor Day!
Subscribe to TradeshowGuy Monday Morning Coffee on Apple Podcasts here.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel Tradeshow Marketing here, where the vlog version of the podcast appears weekly.
After viewing Exhibitor Magazine‘s latest survey data last week from the exhibitor and supply side of the tradeshow world, it got me to thinking about what exhibitors should do now. Here’s a short video:
Check out Exhibitor Magazine online here, and view the Exhibitor Insight Presentation I made reference to as well.
It’s not a stretch to see how tradeshow exhibit manufacturers can use the same exhibit building blocks and, with a little creativity, create much-needed physical barriers, office dividers, safety shields and more. We’ve been fortunate over the years here at TradeshowGuy Exhibits to work with one of the top exhibit manufacturers in the country, Classic Exhibits. Their creativity in design and their ability to put great products out that meet needs is unmatched, in my humble opinion.
Whether it’s coming up with needed rental equipment for corporate gatherings, office dividers, or hand sanitizer stations – all that look sharp and are miles beyond what you typically see in offices and retail stores – they keep adding.
Check out these desktop safety shields, newly available from TradeshowGuy Exhibits, manufactured by Classic Exhibits:
Download the PDFs here:
Chances are your desk or reception area doesn’t exactly fit the dimensions in the examples, in which case leave it to our designers to create a rendering showing exactly how they would look in your facility. Just go to TradeshowBuy.com and contact us, or call the number at the top of this page.
In the midst of a pandemic, what’s a nationwide staffing entity to do? In this week’s TradeshowGuy Monday Morning Coffee, we find out how one agency is doing it, anyway. Jane Gentry, CEO of Fusion, spoke with me about how they’re addressing the myriad issues surrounding staffing events and retail outlets both physically and virtually.
Plus, she shares some great tips toward the end about how to make more sales and maintain great relationships. Take a look/listen:
Find Fusion online here.
This week’s ONE GOOD THING: Twitter.
Subscribe to TradeshowGuy Monday Morning Coffee on Apple Podcasts here.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel Tradeshow Marketing here, where the vlog version of the podcast appears weekly.
We’d all love to have great clients. But are you a great client? It goes both ways. In this short video, I take a look at the ways you can be a great client.
I’ve been thinking about virtual events and have a few questions:
Let’s say that Organization A is going to convert their typical in-person event that normally hosts, oh, let’s say, 3500 exhibitors and 80,000 attendees. It’s a pretty big show. Millions of dollars generated in business. A big deal.
Now because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it will have to go virtual, if the organizers decide to move forward with the event. Something like CES2021 comes to mind, which recently announced they were going all-digital, although it could be any number of large shows.
I’ve been trying to wrap my head around how it would work. And yes, several questions come to my poor little brain as I try to understand how it will work. I would think that exhibitors will need some sort of platform that they’ll provide for online attendees to land on at their main site that will then take them on a tour of the various virtual exhibitors.
Let’s start with the organization that is putting on the virtual event:
From the attendee’s viewpoint:
From the exhibitors’ viewpoint:
No doubt, you’ll have other questions. I’d love to hear them. I can’t think of everything, right?
It’s a good time to mention that the good folks at Classic Exhibits, the main exhibit manufacturer we work with, is now offering virtual exhibits – and they’re pretty impressive. Take a look here.
It’s been several months since we caught up with John Pugh and Marcus Vahle of Share Experience, a company they launched less than a year ago near Pittsburgh on the banks of the Ohio River. With the pandemic affecting the events industry, every company in the space is looking for ways to offer value to their clients. Share Experience has moved into virtual production and making sets for virtual presentations – and much more, as you’ll learn on this wide-ranging discussion.
A quick note: I had a minor audio issue on my end – my microphone was turned too high, and I had to tone it down a bit in post-production. It does sound a bit distorted due to modulation, but I mitigated it as much as possible 🙂
Check out Share Experience.
This week’s ONE GOOD THING: Michael Shaefer’s Business Grow, where you can subscribe to his newsletter.
Subscribe to TradeshowGuy Monday Morning Coffee on Apple Podcasts here.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel Tradeshow Marketing here, where the vlog version of the podcast appears weekly.
With tradeshow marketing on the sidelines, now is as good a time as any to brush up on your tradeshow marketing skill and knowledge. And here’s a great place to find a whole lot of tradeshow marketing tips – all in one place, and all worth their weight in gold. Check out this short under-three-minute video:
Find all of these tips at TradeshowBuy.com!
