4. How else you can use a booklet to market your company? Once you have produced a booklet, you can often find other organizations that can benefit from it. This then helps to recoup your production costs, should that be of concern. For example, a manufacturer could sell it to distributors. You also continue marketing your own company, and generate new revenue in process.

Other uses include direct mail campaigns or licensing rights to your booklet to another company. Licensing might also involve translating it into other languages to reach additional markets. Licensing agreements mean that client produces booklet. Your company grants specific rights, by written contract, for client to do all production of booklet manuscript that your company owns.

Identify prospects in your own industry by looking at vendors, suppliers, and manufacturers. Each is a marketing niche. Approach them in a common-sense way. Remember that you are providing solutions to many of your clients' problems.

5. What common mistakes do companies make when exhibiting?

One of biggest mistakes companies make when exhibiting is in repeating what other exhibitors are giving away, or repeating what company has done year after year regardless of results. An uninteresting handout makes statement that a company has put limited thought into their clients' needs. The importance of educating clients about how you can help them cannot be overstated. When your company makes one more sale because someone reads booklet you gave them, investment of purchasing or creating booklet pays off handsomely.

Getting a return on overall investment of tradeshow is ultimately primary reason for attending show at all. Some industries, such as pharmaceutical industry, are now making a concerted effort to pull back on money spent on excessively expensive and inappropriate giveaways, and are turning toward giveaways with educational value.

Using a booklet as a tradeshow booth giveaway creates magic as you enjoy better-qualified leads that produce larger sales over a longer period of time with well-educated clients. A small investment in booklet is definitely worth large return.

Susan Friedmann CSP, www.thetradeshowcoach.com a leader in the tradeshow industry, helps companies niche market within an industry.

6. Am I using my knowledge about these people as individuals in this presentation?

(See AU74 again.) Before meeting, you should've learned a number of things you can work into your presentation, i.e., "Anne asked specifically about intuition so I'm going to address that now," or "Bill, here are some pointers on optimism."

7. What time is it?

Professionals don't abuse their audience's time. They begin and end on time and pace themselves so they have time to finish whole presentation without rushing and still leave time for Q&A.

8. Am I speaking on what I said I would?

Believe it or not, this is number 1 complaint I hear from people - "They didn't talk about what they said they were going to."

9. Am I using "you" ten times more than "I"?

Your personal experience is interesting to you, and their personal experience is interesting to them. Any time you use word "I" audience will tend to tune out. That's just way it is.

10. Am I using images, myth, fable and metaphor?

These techniques reach your audience in a way logical, rational, and analytic speaking cannot. 'A picture says a thousand words' -- use images and paint word pictures.