Just because you write something doesn’t mean the recipient will have a good reason to read it. Your e-mail, letter, blog, newsletter or social media post must compete with the flood of other written communications. You have to capture the person’s attention. Involve the reader. Good writing is one-to-one communication. You’re not writing to a group, even though a group may read it. Think of your audience as one person. It will improve your style.

We are thrilled to have received so many glowing comments from exhibitors and sponsors of last week’s Body Mind Life Expo in Minneapolis. What a great 10th anniversary celebration of this event!  

We always say that producing a quality consumer show is a collaborative effort. What’s that saying about people who work the hardest having the best luck? It sure is true with consumer events. Those people who really work their booths, who distribute the VIP admission tickets we give them, and take advantage of the marketing tools we provide, always seem to be the most satisifed after our events. We love teaming up with our exhibitors by giving them the tools and advice they need to succeed. 

One exhibitor who works hard at her booth, and who always takes advantage of our marketing tools, sent us this message:

Thank you so much for such an excellent expo! Once again I was so impressed with the great work that you do. You guys are so effective and poised & professional. I’m so grateful for all that you do and I really value how you help me reach new customers. Mid-America Events & Expos puts on such a great event — that I’m going to add another expo this year — Girlfriends Expo & Getaway. And, I’m going to tell all my collegues to get a booth too. 

Today’s promotional channels are starved for information. Companies that promote themselves through social media such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn need fresh content almost daily.

People on these channels don’t necessarily want to be sold to, even if they become a fan of your company’s page. Everything that you write for these media should be keyword-rich, and filled with useful and timely information. It should not be focused so much on your product’s features and benefits as it should be on drawing people into your sales process.

For 10 years, we’ve strived to make the Body Mind Life Expo the ultimate health & natural products event. This anniversary year will be no exception. The expo, which takes place this weekend, will feature hundreds of ways for you to improve your life physically, emotionally, spiritually and even financially.

From advice on getting started in an earth-friendly career to a fashion show featuring gently-used (recycled) designer clothes and accessories, this year we’re all about helping people live a greener life. Fitness expert Wendie Pett is stopping by to motivate you to stay in shape, and spiritual author Leonard Jacobson will give you tips on how to live in the present.

We’ll also have mainstream advice on everything from smoking cessation to the use of bioidentical hormones.

50% of all ticket proceeds go to Hope Chest for Breast Cancer.

See you this weekend at the Minneapolis Convention Center! For more info, visit www.101expos.com.

I have been amazed by the new marketing avenues businesses are optimizing these days. I wanted to know more about how Mid-America Events and Expos are cultivating this face-to- face marketing opportunity to teach customers about  products and services.

I caught up with 2009’s Show and Event Manager of The Year, Michelle Roddie.  Michelle works with corporate clients organizing events like “ Go Red” all over the country. These are huge events.   She works with venues  as a coordinator for her clients.  Michelle is traveling to Detroit, Tampa and Anaheim, just in March for the ”Go Red” event.  No detail is too small.  Each event offers a challenge. “That is what keeps my job exciting”, Michelle says.  

I learned more about each expo Michelle coordinates . From scheduling talent and workshops at each expo to organizing exhibitors, Michelle keeps these events on track. Body Mind Life Expo is coming up the weekend, February 27-28 and Michelle is busy coordinating last minute details. 

“I look for each company’s unique potential to attract customers.”  

What an interesting marketing opportunity. Thousands of customers, eager to learn about you’re your product or service, and you there to teach them.

More than 10.1 million U.S. firms are owned by women, and approximately one third of all Minnesota businesses are women-owned including Mid-America Events & Expos, producers of the upcoming Body Mind Life Expo and the Seniors Spring Show.

 These expos are intentionally created to have a strong appeal to women, because they also make most of the buying decisions.

We attract them to our shows with a great line-up that includes fashion shows, healthy living seminars, live entertainment and local celebrities. Because many of the companies participating in our shows are woman-owned, making a personal connection with other women during these events is a powerful way to help their recovery. They need a platform to get in front of thousands of potential women buyers to that they can to start filling their sales funnel.

Just because you write something doesn’t mean the recipient will have a good reason to read it. Whatever you write must compete with the flood of other written communications that your customers encounter every day. You have to capture the person’s attention. Involve the reader. Good writing is one-to-one communication. You’re not writing to a group, even though a group may read it. Think of your audience as one person. It will improve your style.

A woman who exhibited at last November’s Girlfriends Expo & Getaway got in touch with us on Facebook this week. She was excited to tell us that she’d gotten two new sales reps from exhibiting at the show.  One of those sales reps has already started building a solid new customer base.

She asked if we still had booth space available at the Body Mind Life Expo, and luckily we have a few spots left. We’re glad to play a role in her 2010 marketing plan, and in helping her to build her business.

Most expo producers market to the masses. They offer something for everyone to draw a huge turnout. If sponsors and exhibitors don’t sell much even if there is a big crowd, well it’s their own fault, right? Wrong!

If you are selling vinyl siding, an expo hall filled with apartment dwellers is useless to you. If you are selling to people over age 60, having a bunch of kids helping themselves to your free candy won’t help your bottom line.

In other words: if the producers don’t do their jobs by bringing enough of the right type of people into the expo, even having a huge crowd is beside the point. 

You can’t always judge a show by its name. The sponsors and exhibitors should reflect the show’s theme. As a result, you’ll get fewer tire kickers at your booth and more motivated prospects. That’s why we try to guide would-be show participants to the appropriate expos that suit their demographics. It’s better for them, and happy sponsors and exhibitors are better for us.

Of course, it’s still not a slam dunk. We give our participants lots of advice and tell them that they must work hard at our shows if they want to be successful. Those who understand the principle of targeted marketing, and who work hard during the show, are usually ecstatic when they are brought face-to-face with the right people. 

Assume that your reader is extremely busy.

He/she may skim your message,

and save it to read more thoroughly later. 

Be concise. Why use three words when one will suffice? For example: “I would like to thank you” and “thank you” communicate the same point.

·          Remove the phrase “I believe that …” from your writing. (As in, “I believe that now is the best time to move forward.”) If you didn’t believe it, you wouldn’t be writing it.

·          Instead of writing “The people who read the newspaper”, write “The newspaper readers.”