Why is a network meeting the best place to get participants for a trial run?

We talked about taking a booth at a networking event, or at least sharing a booth. The booth has to be more than informational in order to help you move your product or service. I have been to many networking events and have walked by hundreds of booths trying to figure out if what they offer applies to me as a business or as a consumer. The most common thing I see is a table with information, a place to put a business card for a draw (collecting their own mailing list) and a series of brochures that I will likely toss when I get home. It is how you get around the typical table at an event that is important. First, most people sit behind the table and offer information. They barely move until you go to take some information and then they pounce all over you. If you want to attract more attention to what you are doing, you must move from behind the table and be extremely interactive with those taking a glance at your wares.

Second, at most booths the participants must take the information from the table without much explanation. It is better to have something that is interactive so that the participant is actually a real participant in your offering. This method will certainly gain their interest in a different way.

Once you have the attention of networking event attendees, you will find more people will want to know what is going on. You have now motivated the audience to sign-up for a trial run and you are able to give them a memory that will last.

Bette Daoust, Ph.D. has been networking with others since leaving high school years ago. Realizing that no one really cared about what she did in life unless she had someone to tell and excite. She decided to find the best ways to get people's attention, be creative in how she presented herself and products, getting people to know who she was, and being visible all the time. Her friends and colleagues have often dubbed her the "Networking Queen". Blueprint for Networking Success: 150 ways to promote yourself is the first in this series. Blueprint for Branding Yourself: Another 150 ways to promote yourself is planned for release in 2005. For more information visit http://www.BlueprintBooks.com