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In this issue:
• Marketing Article: Top Trade Show Exhibit Trends
• Marketing Article: 10 Secrets For Everyday Writing Success

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In the past, trade shows have always provided a forum to display the new products and advancements of a particular industry. New trends and innovations are usually the center of the event, and with a competitor only a few booths away, the hard sell has always been inevitable – until now.

Current trends are creating a different climate at trade shows these days. With competition for the customer’s attention stronger than ever, exhibitors are no longer fixated on separating themselves from their competitors by focusing on a particular product and simply talking about solutions and benefits. Which leads us to the first, and probably most profound, trend in trade show exhibiting.

Experiential Exhibits:
Product pitches and demos are “out” – at least they are no longer the centerpiece of a trade show exhibit. Instead of the literal, one-on-one, “we’re better because . . .” spiel, the challenge has become creating an experience for the potential customer that leaves them in awe, or at least makes a strong enough impression that they forget about the competition. While the trade show booth is a temporary fixture, the idea is to create a space that has a feeling of permanence and keeps the customer engaged. So engaged, in fact, that the customer has a memorable experience, and associates that experience with your product – eliminating the need for the hard sell, and creating a smooth landing for the soft sell.

Each element of these “experiential exhibits” is crucial and must be carefully selected to effectively execute a cutting-edge, yet warm and inviting, space. Any sort of “edutainment” feature anchored in technology, such as interactive computer games that test knowledge or popular television game shows as a template for a game featuring facts and information about your company or industry, are a must-have. Making this part of your trade show booth space gives you an opportunity to make your booth more of an interactive space.

Materials:
There are many different types of materials that can be used and are used to make trade show displays. But because of it’s versatility and low cost in comparison to other materials, fabric is one of the trendiest materials to use for your booth. Metal and wood are used less frequently because of their weight, bulkiness and inflexibility.

You can use fabric in a subtle way, almost like a canvas, to create a backdrop for the theme of your space. And often, the light, airy nature of the fabrics used for today’s exhibits create a light, airy feeling for your trade show display. But more often, you will find fabric being used for the banner stands, such as the Allure tensioned fabric banner displays that have recently hit the market. These high-quality banners are quickly set up (about two minutes with no tools needed) and easy to put together, convenient to travel with (even on an airplane,) economical to ship, and, shelves can be added to the banners for a more sophisticated look. These advantages, along with the long life and durability of the Allure banners, makes them slightly more expensive than typical banner stands. But the extra money is worth it - these banners create such a strong presence that they can be used by themselves or combined with a pop-up or custom booth to really make your space “pop.”

Lighting:
Whether you are going for a more traditional trade show booth or the cutting-edge experiential, lighting is crucial in creating the mood for your space. Because of this, custom lighting is becoming more mainstream.

Using filtered or wash lights creates a mood that drastically contrasts with a trade show display that uses spotlights. But ambience is not the only reason custom lighting has become more popular. You can also use lighting – however dramatic or subdued – to bring attention to featured products.

The Final Touches
Today’s trade show visitors are limited on time and bombarded with a flurry of sales and marketing gimmicks. To “stand out in the crowd,” here are some additional trends that have emerged in recent years.

Booth Details – Once you have gotten a visitor’s attention and they have entered your space, you must give them a good reason to stick around for more than a couple of seconds. This is the time for you to immerse the customer with your brand. Visitors want to see how your product or service will benefit them – so show them. Testimonials are an easy way to achieve this, in addition to marketing materials featuring people using your product, as well as the standard product demonstration. And because presentation is everything, additional pieces in your booth, such as literature racks, are a good way to keep your space organized while attractively displaying your marketing materials without overwhelming prospects with too much information.

Time is of the Essence – With the demands of today’s busy work schedules, most visitors do not have an entire day to spend at a trade show. Their time at the event is valuable, so you must be able to get their attention and quickly and easily explain what your company offers. Some of these visitors will come to the trade show as a team, and the team will include decision-makers who evaluate you, in comparison with the competition.

Get the Word Out – This is a trend that has been around for awhile, but one that is often overlooked. Prior to the event, let your clients and potential customers know that you are participating in a trade show – use every promotional opportunity to mention it, use direct mail, email and other traditional marketing avenues to drive more traffic to your exhibit.

Trade shows are an essential piece of an overall successful marketing strategy. And implementing these trends for your trade show space will help create that memorable experience for clients and potential customers that will hopefully make follow-up a breeze.

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Mat Kelly is the president of ExhibitDEAL, the Original Exhibit Wholesaler specializing in trade show exhibits from large custom displays to portable trade show displays - on the web at http://www.exhibitdeal.com/

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During my 30-year career in a variety of professional positions in both the private and public sectors I have written literally thousands of letters and memos and hundreds of reports. If I had to boil–down everything I’ve learned about practical day-to-day writing for both personal and business purposes into 10 key points, this would be my “Top 10 List".

1. Preparation Is the Key
Do all of your research first, before you start to write. Even a letter normally requires some minor research such as making some phone calls or reviewing a file. It’s also very important to prepare yourself mentally before writing. So, don’t sit down to write too soon. Mull it over for a while, sometimes a day or two, sometimes an hour or two, depending on the complexity of the job at hand. It’s amazing how the sub-conscious mind will work on the problem “behind the scenes” and when you finally do start writing, it will flow.

2. Always Use a Sample
For me, this is critical. No matter what I write, it helps tremendously if I have some visual stimulation. If I’m writing a letter I post a copy of a similar letter, or the one I’m responding to, somewhere in my direct line-of-sight. It helps me focus and keeps my mind on the subject at hand, minimizing the tendency for my mind to wander. No matter what it is, I always make a point to find some previous work or a sample of work similar to what I’m doing. It really stimulates the creative writing process and increases productivity significantly.

3. Shorter Is Always Better
Whether you’re writing a report or a letter, look for ways to cut it down in length. Concentrate on conveying the essential message. If something you’ve written does not enhance the core message, or doesn’t add value, consider cutting it. These days, you have to be “short and to the point” to get your message read.

4. Use Concise and Appropriate Language
Your letter or report should use simple straightforward language, for clarity and precision. Use short sentences and don't let paragraphs exceed three or four sentences. As much as possible, use language and terminology familiar to the intended recipient. Do not use technical terms and acronyms without explaining them, unless you are certain that the addressee is familiar with them.

5. “Be” Your Addressee
A key technique to use when writing anything is to clearly “visualize” your audience. As you write, try to imagine in your mind’s eye the specific person(s) to whom your written product is directed. I often imagine that I am sitting across the boardroom table from my addressee, trying to explain my points in person. Make an effort to see the situation from the other person’s perspective. What would you be looking to see if you were the recipient of the letter or report?

6. Do the Outline First
Even if it’s a one-page letter, it doesn’t hurt to jot down a few quick notes on the main points that you want to cover. This process forces you to think logically about exactly what you want to cover and it helps you decide in which order you will approach your subject. For a letter this is helpful. For a report, this is absolutely essential. In fact, I believe that you should force yourself to go through the entire thinking process that is required to develop a complete draft Table of Contents, before you start to write any report.

7. Write and Then Rewrite
No matter how much preparation I do, I always find that I can improve on the first draft. That’s partly because when I’m writing that first version, my main focus is to get the essence of my thoughts down on paper. At that stage I don’t worry about perfect phrasing, grammar or logic. My main mission the first time through is to make sure that I capture the critical words and phrases that form the core meaning of what I want to communicate. Then I can do the fine-tuning in the last pass.

8. Format Is Important
Whatever you are writing, make sure it looks professional. This is where proper formatting comes in. Your credibility, and/or that of your organization, is on the line; with your report or letter serving as your representative. If it is not professionally formatted, it will reflect negatively on you, even if the content is good and it is well-written. Rightly or wrongly, the value of your work will diminish in people’s eyes if the formatting of your document is shoddy or amateurish looking. On the other hand, weak research and/or writing will appear better than it really is if the formatting is good.

9. Read It Out Loud
Some people who haven’t tried it may laugh when they read this, but it really works. At any point during the drafting process, but definitely at the draft final stage, read your report or letter to yourself “out loud”. It’s amazing what one picks up when they actually “hear” their words as if they were being spoken to them as the addressee. I find this helps me the most in picking up awkward phrasing and unnecessary repetition of words or terms.

10. Check Spelling and Grammar
Last, but far from least, make sure you double check the spelling and grammar in your document. These days, with spell-checkers built into word processing programs there’s really no excuse not to do this. Once again your document is a direct reflection of you and/or your organization. If it is riddled with spelling mistakes and obvious grammatical errors, it will appear unprofessional and your credibility will suffer. Watch out for the words that sound the same but have completely different meanings that a spell-checker won’t pick up. Words such as “four” and “fore”, for example. Your final read-through out loud should catch any of these.

Whether you're writing a letter, a memorandum, a report or an essay, follow the above tips and you won't go wrong.

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Shaun Fawcett is Webmaster of two of the most visited writing-help Web sites on the Net. He is the author of numerous “how-to” books on everyday practical writing help. He also writes about how to create and publish books and ebooks. His main “writing tools” site is: http://WritingHelpTools.com