In the past few compasses we gave a series of tips on making the most of trade shows. So now that we've talked the talk, here's how we recently walked the walk.
Two weeks ago we attended the Women's Business Enterprise National Council's (WBENC) 9th annual Women in Business conference in Atlanta, GA. In just four days, we made 175 new business contacts, met with the editors of various publications, and secured "top-of-mind" status with representatives from a great pool of prospective clients. 
Before the show we:
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Identified our 17 top prospects.
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Developed a strategy to sell our World's Smallest Newsletter and eGlue.
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Produced eye-catching creative marketing materials to drive home the message that small marketing can make a big difference, including a WSN specific to the show to distribute, a "personalized" email to send out each night, as well as branded tee-shirts, hats and business cards to compliment our strategy.
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Contacted editors and scheduled editorial interviews during the show.
During the show we:
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Networked with our top prospects and so many more, discussing two of North Star's innovative marketing tools and how they can help to grow businesses.
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Wore tee-shirts with creative messaging, such as "Go Small or Go Home," "Think Small," "It's a Small World After All" and "Sweat the Small Stuff."
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Met with editors to discuss the story ideas we'd pitched before the show.
By the third day people were looking for us. They had heard from other companies about the WSN and eGlue and wanted to meet us!
After the show we're:
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In conversations with a great bunch of prospects.
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Following up with everyone we met via email to further explain the benefits of the WSN and eGlue.
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Following up with the editors we met, working on getting some press! We'll keep you posted as we work on converting our new leads into new business.
Missed the last four weeks of the compass? Read our series on making the most of the trade show in our archives.
