1)HIGHLY TARGETED The campaign was highly targeted - at just 54 companies, from USA and other parts of Europe, who we knew were not represented in Scandinavia.

2)SPECIFIC EVENT It was aimed at a particular event, International Online Show, where we knew a number of relevant prospects would be attending.

3)SOMETHING VALUABLE TO OFFER It was aimed at companies who had an interest in selling online information services to business and academic sectors, where my client had a wide range of existing contacts.

4)GOOD TIMING The timing was good - it was sent out in week before Show, when exhibitors were absolutely focused on what they wanted to get out of Show.

5)MANAGEABLE FOLLOW UP The number of companies approached was a manageable number, and resulted in a number of successful responses, which could all be followed up in 3 day duration of Show.

6)REASON TO SAY "YES" The two step approach - a mailing, followed up with a meeting at a venue they were definitely going to attend, made it easier for them to say "yes" to a meeting.

7)DEMONSTRATION OF CREDIBILITY The subsequent meeting was an opportunity to demonstrate credibility and confidence in client's ability to deliver desired result - new business from Scandinavian customers.

8)POWERFUL SALES LETTER And Sales letter was a powerful invitation from an organisation with access to a customer base that each of companies would like to reach, without them having to devote expensive resources to starting from scratch.

It needed to be good. It was being aimed at business professionals, who are notoriously difficult to persuade.

You can see it here at http://www.informationcity.com

I highly recommend this combination of trade show and email campaign. With a little thought, I'm sure many of you can mould such a strategy to your own business circumstances.

Now that you've got a service you can pick up your email. Be sure to check box which says "leave email on server" or "do not delete messages" or something like that, unless you are absolutely sure you want to delete them. What this does is leave messages on your POP server until you read them with your normal email client.

Okay, now what? Well, when you travel you can find a place to read your email. Let's say you are at a convention. You could find a kiosk which allows for internet access and viola, you can read your email. Sometimes salespeople will let you use one of their screens if they think you might be or might become a customer. Airports, libraries and other places also commonly have computer and internet access for a fee.

Some cautions are in order here. By their very nature these kinds of public systems are not secure. Just be sure you use your common sense and don't do anything you would not want to broadcast to entire planet. Also, be sure email service that you choose stores password for you - never enter your email account password on a public system. Thus, you should enter your password once - when you set up email account.

It's also a good idea to change your POP email account password more often, most especially after you return from your traveling.

Personally, I prefer to carry a laptop or handheld device (such as a palm pilot or Jornada) with me when I travel. This way I can pick up my email from hotel room or anywhere I can find an ethernet jack, without worrying about inherent security issues of using a public system.