Michael Williams of Synchologic spoke with Whitney Archibald of Exhibitor Online Magazine, and gave her an amazing rundown of how his company almost never pays full price to exhibit at trade shows. The article, “Secrets of a Trade Show Tightwad” is a little old (published in September 2003), but the advice he gives is still incredibly relevant. In the article he discusses a variety of tips, including:

• What his annual trade show budget is, and how they come to that number every year.
• How to negotiate for free stuff, including by offering their own CEO up for presenting the keynote speech.
• How to partner with other businesses to share the cost.
• Tips on how to staff the right people at your display.
• Learning from your mistakes.

The only item we don’t agree with is using a freelancer or student student to handle the graphic design elements of your exhibit and collateral. Your trade show display should be considered as only one piece of your overall marketing strategy. It’s important that your exhibit works in collaboration with your other marketing efforts, such as your website, direct mail campaigns or social media campaigns. At Grid, we take your entire business and marketing goals into consideration when approaching your trade show display, and we make sure that the branding, messaging and design all work together to drive your potential customers towards action. You won’t be able to find this level of 10,000 foot view approach when working with a one off designer who doesn’t know the ins and outs of your brand, or a college student who doesn’t have experience working with trade show displays before.