7. Wear clothes with your logo. Name tags are great for participants but displaying your logo or name is important for building your brand. If you can't afford to have them done, create your own. There are transfer materials made for your ink jet printers (see your office supply store), find some nice shirts/blouses, and go create.

8. Don't just stand behind booth, go in front of booth and mix and mingle.

9. Stand up behind booth with a smile. If you get tired go sit somewhere else and have someone there that has an attractive approachable energy. Rule of thumb is to rotate energy every 30 to 60 minutes.

10. Display your web site name big and bold in background. Make name a different color than "www" and ".com".

Here's a bonus for you. How about going in with another one-person business and sharing costs. One that I like to use, is to work with someone like does chair-massages. It is a big attractor to people.

Oops, let me slip in another tip -- let's call it a super bonus -- for getting this far in your reading and in your mindset. If you are a shy person, a dead way to sell at a trade show, hire a trade show presenter.

A trade show presenter is experienced at attracting people to your booth. Their fee may seem expensive, and I said I was going to keep these tips in inexpensive realm, yet then if your ROI gains from it, it will pay for itself. And these experts on presenting at trade shows will pull in people all time. Find someone training for this type of work and you might even be able to barter.

Here’s where Julie got creative on her own behalf. She recognized she needed to rethink how she was going to package her services and whom she was trying to reach. She also realized that people, her prospective clients, might talk more freely and willingly about their vision for their businesses and their challenges when they weren’t talking directly to a potential vendor. So she called together several friends who were in related businesses and designed some questions she needed answers to. Here they are, along with underlying principle that can be applied to any market niche:

What technology would help you save time and do more of what you enjoy? (speaking to universal desire to work less for more reward)

What technical problem(s) drive you crazy and what would you pay to be rid of them? (speaking to emotional side of being in business)

What’s your budget for technical upgrades and support? is it covering your needs? (assessing financial viability)

These questions can easily be modified to lead you to relevant information for your particular business idea. By committing yourself to genuine conversations with potential clients that explore what it’s like to be in their shoes –their dreams, their needs and challenges – you can tap your natural empathy, curiosity, and intuitive listening and put a friendly face on market research, bringing real value to yourself and other person.

In closing, let’s look at four principles of gift-giving as they apply to exploring markets for your business idea. 1. Have a spirit of inquiry about other person. Remember you’re inquiring about level of interest in your idea. You’re not trying to sell or convince anyone of its merits. 2. The best gift (or service) is one that improves overall quality of life. You can move beyond simply fixing a problem by looking for bigger picture (for instance, a fitness consultant who understands her client’s exercise preferences and lifestyle stress points in designing a workout routine) or offering stepped up service (showing genuine interest in client’s success). 3. They know best! Whether or not you think you know what your potential clients’ needs or goals are is irrelevant. 4. You undoubtedly have more than one gift (business idea) in you. Don’t get overly attached to this one!

Good luck, and happy gift giving!

Nina Ham is an internationally certified women’s business coach and a licensed psychotherapist. Her company, Success from the Inside Out, offers teleclasses for creating sustainable business success and has an upcoming teleclass on Defining Your Niche for coaches, consultants and therapists. Visit her website at www.SuccessfromtheInsideOut.com and subscribe to her E-zine.