Your customers’ attention span is getting shorter. With today’s reliance on emails, texting, social networking and other forms of “quick communication”,  getting your point across quickly and effectively is essential.  

So I thought I’d start posting tips for writing clearly and “tightly”.  Here’s my first one:

Select nouns and verbs carefully. Don’t say, “dog” if you know it was a poodle. Don’t say someone “moved” when you know she sprinted. The right words can “show” as well as “tell”.

The word is out! By 2018, experts believe women entrepreneurs will have created between five and 5.5 million jobs in the U.S.

Mid-America Events & Expos, Inc. is a certfied woman-owned company, and we’re always looking for ways to other entrepreneurs succeed because for us to thrive, we need a strong economy! Some of our favorite tips include:

• Be creative: what you did before might not be enough right now. Look for new ways to create an impact including blogs, Facebook and other social media. Because they enable you to stay in front of your customers with fresh, relevant content, these promotional channels can positively impact both customer retention and set your business apart from your competition.
• Find face-to-face ways to interact with your primary audience. In-person events accelerate the selling process. They are considered best for branding, creating name recognition, and building databases. With more prospects in your sales pipeline, you’ll be able to rebound faster for post-recession profits.  
• Consider how you might want to re-position your product or service. Buyers are still making buying decisions. This is a good time to go after those people who are re-evaluating their current buying decisions. If you have a high-end product, you might want to focus your messaging on durability instead of luxury, for example.

Body Mind Life Expo 2010, February 27 & 28, is offering a free workshop on exploring career opportunities in sustainable industries and market sectors of “hot” green careers to pursue with guaranteed employment.
It’s hard to read an article or news report these days about green jobs or the green economy without referring to the green industry.
Green jobs can be found in virtually all industries. Why? Because of the growing number of organizations in all industries that have committed themselves to sustainability and green values.
Even with staffing cuts, new green job titles and business opportunities are emerging every day. It’s an exciting time to claim what role you want to play in creating a more sustainable world through your work. It’s the best time to position yourself for creating a green career track that’s meaningful for you.”
People see green careers as “feel good” opportunities and support companies and careers with a green focus.

Are you interested in pursuing a Green Career?
Free workshops are presented by Barbara Parks. Barbara is the founder of Green Career Tracks, one of the first career coaching services in the U.S. launched in 2004 to promote careers that support environmental, social and economic justice. She specializes in career coaching for people who want to work for a more sustainable future through conscious career choices and work opportunities in the growing green economy

Because we produce the Seniors Spring Show and Seniors Expo, and are the state directors of the Ms. Minnesota Senior Pageant, we try to stay on top of the seniors market. Here’s some of what we know:

The nation’s 77 million baby boomers are turning 60 at a rate of 8,000 a day, and they still have the spending power and the energy to influence a huge portion of our economy. This post-war generation has driven every significant cultural and marketing trend for 50 years, and they are doing it again: they are re-defining Senior America.

Fact: They will try new things! Boomers’ buying habits are more flexible than you may realize. These newly senior adults grew up in a time when novelty and experimentation were expected. They are open to new products and services.  

We completely understand when clients say they don’t have time to organize or staff an event, because every event involves a lot of details.

We’re a little more than one month out from the 10th annual Body Mind Life Expo, and our staff is busy processing booth applications, confirming speakers and seminars, arranging media interviews with our show participants and finalizing venue details at the Minneapolis Convention Center. We’re also sending emails and postcards to invite our past attendees, and finishing up a 4-page spread about the event that will run in Edge Magazine.

At Mid-America Events & Expos we do this for a living, and we’ve got our processes in place. But if you’re trying to coordinate an event, and do your regular job too, it can be a real juggling act! 

If you need help planning or staffing an event, call us. We thrive on this stuff!

Eco-friendly lifestyles are so mainstream these days, aren’t they? At the Body Mind Life Expo, we wanted to show everyday folks some easy ways to add “green” to their regular routines. We think we came up with fun ideas!

·       It’s easy to make an eco-friendly fashion statement. We’re hosting the Hope Chest Healthy Living Fashion Show at the expo, featuring donated active wear from the two retail stores operated by Hope Chest for Breast Cancer.

·         Did you resolve to get fit in 2010? Nationally-known fitness expert Wendie Pett will show you how to save fuel by using your body as a gym. She’ll also give you great tips for staying motivated.

·         Do you work for a living? Career expert Barbara Parks will tell you how to launch a career that will help our planet. Co-sponsored by WomenVenture, she’ll give you practical ideas for exploring green job opportunities.

Hope to see you at the Body Mind Life Expo, February 27-28, 2010 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. www.101expos.com.

Booth giveaways give people a reason to stop at your expo booth. Your goal is to make the most of this opportunity.

You may get a lot of foot traffic if you put out a bowl of candy, but you are not giving people anything to remember you by. Nor are you building in a way to build your database and your business.

Be creative! Is your product baby-friendly? Give a tiny plush toy or balloon with your company name and logo on it to everyone who makes a purchase, or signs up for your mailing list.

Is your product related to health and wellness? Mini bottles of hand sanitizers customized with your company name and contact information (about $1.39 each) have become one of the hottest giveaway items. Offer one to each person who gives you their contact information.

Do you do most of your business via the Internet? We found customized self-adhesive note pads in the shape of a computer monitor selling for less than 50 cents each.

Colorful customized totes can be found for less than $1.40 each.

Other inexpensive but effective promotional items include pens, bottle openers, magnets, coasters, air fresheners  and key chains.

Giveaways work and with a little thought, you can come up with items that will help people remember YOUR business when they are ready to buy.

  In 2009, we said good-bye to several well-known retail chains and brand names. Strangely, I was shocked when I read a list recapping the defunct brands. I had assumed several of those companies and products had gone by the wayside a long time ago. They hadn’t done anything to capture the attention of the buying public.   This may seem like a shaky economic time to spend money on exhibit space. But if the show has a solid track record for attracting people in your target market, a booth can be your smartest marketing investment.   Why? Consider these three reasons:

1. Your presence at the show will give shoppers the image of corporate stability. People don’t feel comfortable buying from a company that might not be around next month. Simply by being at the show, you are reminding people that you are still an active player in the marketplace.  

2. People haven’t entirely stopped spending.  They are re-evaluating their current buying decisions. Now is a good time to go after people who have been buying from your competition (especially if your competition chooses to skip exhibiting at the show).

3. Expos are an easy and efficient way to add prospects to your sales pipeline. On-site sales during an expo are just a short term benefit. The far greater benefit is adding sales leads to your database so that you’ll be able to rebound faster as the economy recovers.