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Social Networking and Face-to-Face MarketingSocial

Written by Barry Siskind

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Trade Show Etiquette - Free Mints and First Impressions

This past year I decided to participate in three vendor shows. All were exercises in salesmanship and people watching. I must confess that I enjoyed the latter most. I made a number of observations which I promised to share with you before the holidays. Here is a sampling of what I learned about trade shows from vendors to attendees.

In a recent issue of Trade Show Executive, I read an interesting article about Magic Stick, the winner of the TSE 2009 Innovation Award. Magic Stick is a small gadget, about the size of a computer memory stick that you carry with you. When you see someone also carrying a Magic Stick you can electronically exchange contact information. You each aim, push a button and voila - you are networked.

Welcome to the age of High-Tec social networking whose first victims may very well be the handshake and a business card. Twitter, Facebook, Web 2.0, SecondLife, LinkedIn, Flickr, LibraryThing, Ning, Jaiku, EventPeeps, are here to stay. There is nothing we can do about it nor should we for fear of being labeled Luddites. We should embrace social networking as a positive technology to help us build our personal networks.

This discussion is reminiscent of a time – a decade ago – when the world was a twitter (oops) about something called a virtual trade show and how this heralded the death of face-to-face marketing as we knew it. What happened to virtual exhibitions was that they became an integral part of larger face-to-face events providing year round exposure to products, services and education. What was feared to be an enemy became a powerful ally. The same, I am guessing, will happen to social networking sites.

Face to face marketing needs all the help it can get to maximize its potential and if technology can help, then all the better. But technology cannot replace the power of meeting a vendor or customer and talking about issues eye-ball to eye-ball. Meeting face to face is how we form opinions of people and the institutions that employ them. When we can integrate the technology to enhance our interpersonal contacts, then we become winners in this brand new – very old game of networking. Here are a few thoughts as you go about building a productive and profitable network.

Networks are not mailing lists – Social scientists tell us that each of us has approximately 200 people in our network. When you misuse the technology and build lists that include thousands of contacts you are clearly misusing the tool.

Find your six degrees of separation – Each of your 200 people also has a network of two hundred, each of their two hundred has two hundred as well. If you take 200 to the sixth power the number is slightly more than six billion which coincidentally includes everyone on the planet. Learning how to tap into these sub-networks opens you to unlimited potential. If you look carefully you can find anyone you want to contact through your six degrees of separation.

Don’t abuse your network – this is so easy when you simply use your network for commercial purposes. The people in your network are folks you have made a personal contact with. They have families, worries and dreams. When you can treat your network as an extension of yourself and treat these people as individuals you cannot lose.

Stay in touch – there’s not much point meeting someone at a trade fair, exchanging information and not staying in touch. Treat your network as a living breathing thing that needs attention or it will simply wilt and die.

Make it a 24/7 habit – don’t just built your network in times of need. You should be constantly looking for opportunities to expand your sphere of influence.

Give something back – If your network is a living entity then it needs food to survive. The food you provide is in your willingness to give back. This means being constantly on the lookout to offer advice, contacts or a friendly word to your 200 people.

Social networking is quickly finding its place in the face-to-face marketing world. When you combine the power of your interpersonal skills to build your network and then integrate technology to record the experience and maintain contact you have a winning combination.

Barry Siskind
		About the author:
		Barry Siskind, President of International Training and Management Company is one of North America’s most sought after consultants and speakers and an internationally recognized trade and consumer show expert. Barry provides a wide range of products and services to help exhibitors improve their bottom line both on and off the trade show floor. These services translate to stellar results for his clients. He has written seven best-selling books and over 500 original trade articles and industry reports as well as a Guru series for the Centre for Exhibition Industry Research. .