You, being the super savvy business person that you are know that in order to get some new leads and branch out into the biz; you need to attend trade shows. While they are excellent in theory, they certainly add up (and are a totally tedious task). By the time you register, get a booth, travel, shack up, promote, and give away your precious goods (and sacrifice your precious time) you may be looking at a $10K (plus!) price tag that just isn’t doable for you right now. Countrymen, it’s time to lend your ears and listen up!

One important thing to know is that size doesn’t always matter (wink, wink)! You can still showcase your products in a smaller booth and bigger isn’t always better. This will help you trim costs and still make cash. Still not convinced? Save money by also hiring some trade show staffing agency staffers. Check out Vonazon, which will complement your budget and help your business get noticed!

Also, did you know that you can use social media monitoring to do everything a trade show does, all from the comfort of your own desk or home computer (who wouldn’t want to do all this in their P.J.’s)? By using tools like SDL SM2 and creating searches that target your specific services and products, you can sneak a peek at clients and consumers who pose questions, complaints, and comments about the show, attendees, and so on. Here are some key tips to help you achieve success without breaking the bank. “Listen” up!

1. Know about the show!

Remember the age old saying, “The early bird gets the worm?” You have to research a show before it debuts. Look at websites for each event and stalk relevant groups or hashtags that were created for the soul purpose of the convention. Twitter is your biggest treasure trove of useful info that will give you instant insight and sales leads!

2. Step it up and set it up!

Use SM2 or other social media to set up specific searches (obviously search the event’s name or hashtags-duh!). You can also play big brother and listen and look in on these saved searches to monitor conversations and new developments.

3. Sell yourself (not literally)

If you will be M.I.A. from the convention, this means your products or services will go unseen. However, if you create enough eye catching ads, YouTube videos, or update your product page; you’ll get your goods or services noticed for a pint sized price in comparison to attending a show. You can also use a marketing agency to promote a virtual trade show attendance. They market for the preshow, post-show, and can even hook up live posts to Facebook and more!

4. Sherlock Holmes the searches

Once your searches take off and provide you with promising data get your detective on and explore all the available info. Begin to filter information by the “author” or use “author tags” to monitor and get in contact with the top authors from all of your search sources.

5. Tap into Twitter

If you aren’t going to be physically at the show, tap into Twitter during the event. You can address all questions, comments, and give links to all of the promotions, pages, and videos you devised to sell yourself.

6. Dig deep

Face it! Other companies will be showing off their products and enticing others with lots of giveaways. Since you are saving buckets of money, now is the time to dig a little deeper and part with some of your product. Use hashtags to advertise specials and sales but be sure to be in the know with the kind of deals your competitors are offering so you don’t go too big or look too cheap.

7. Make the sale (Bet that money, honey!)

You put in the work, now it’s time to reap the rewards. Your potential clients have been informed and enticed so it’s time to follow up to make the sale. Feel free to contact them with more information about your brand and get them on board with your products.

A wise man (Ben Franklin) once said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Keep your brand and business afloat by making some financial choices that can yield you great results. All you have to do is, listen. If you are a social media virgin or not technology savvy, hiring a trade show industry marketing agency to do the social media presence will help you de-stress, save money, and help you compete with the big (not necessarily better) guys!