There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes into tradeshows, and it isn’t just what you see in the exhibit hall. Behind every exhibit are months of pre-planning, and post-show reflections. A successful tradeshow is the outcome of good planning and the right preparations. And as cheesy as it might sound, you really do get out of a tradeshow what you put in.

Research the individuals who will be attending. Who are they, and what might they be looking for while there? Learning who is attending can also help you plan out who you will talk to. If you see someone that you have either done business with in the past or someone you’ve had conversations with in the past and want to reconnect, reach out and see about setting up meetings with them. 

In addition, create goals for the tradeshow, both personal and business, and create a plan of action on how you can achieve those goals. By setting your expectations realistically for the event, and how you can best use your time and resources, you’ll be able to achieve or exceed those goals.

If your company has a booth location, schedule a time for your team to do a test setup before shipping the items to the tradeshow. Ensure everything works the way it should, and that nothing is broken or missing pieces. It makes it easier on yourself and your team if you know how to set up your booth before you get to the tradeshow floor. You might only get a few hours or less of set-up time, so it’s best to use the time wisely. The more time you have can be used for any last-minute emergencies that might pop up. 

Alongside ensuring your booth setup is good to go, print materials and handouts are key in sharing your company’s offerings with potential customers. If you think you have enough print materials, you probably don’t have enough! It’s always better to have over-estimated how many print materials to send than not having enough. The worst thing that can happen to you is someone wants information about you, or your company, and you don’t have any more print materials to hand out. If this does ever happen, and it might, the best course of action is to take their contact information down and send them a digital version of your materials.  

Be sure to bring materials to market yourself and the business you represent, including business cards. You are there to make connections. The people you meet may end up being a very useful resource down the road. So, bring a decent-sized stack of your business cards with you so that you can share your information with people.

Networking and making connections are key components of tradeshows. Even if there are no formal networking opportunities, speaking sessions, cocktail hours, parties and other events associated with the tradeshow are a great way to meet other people in your industry. While you’re networking, it is also a good idea to have some way to organize business cards and contacts that you made during the event. Some shows have an event-specific app with contact info for all the confirmed attendees, but sometimes you will need to store a contact on your own. This may be as simple as pen and paper, but some apps allow you to scan business cards and record their contact info and any notes in one place. You can also jot notes down on any business cards you collect from people, to help personalize your follow-up when back in the office.

These are just some of the things you can do pre-show to prepare yourself. There is a lot more on the technical side of tradeshows that is equally important. But these are great starting points to keep in mind regardless if you are going to your first tradeshow or your 500th.

Being active on social media is important in many industries, including the real estate industry. And keeping your social media pages like Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, for yourself as a real estate professional and your company’s social media pages, up to date shows that you are an active member in the industry as well as your company. Updating your social media pages allows your followers and clients to stay in the know about your company, new features, programs, events, sponsorships, and partnerships you are involved in. 

Holiday Promotion: 

Holidays are a great chance to showcase important updates like holiday hours or closures and also have a little bit of fun in the posting. If there is a national holiday that is “on brand” for your company, get creative! Our company, Bridge Loan Network, recently posted celebrating National Video Games Day, which matched other promotions we’ve published throughout the year. A quick search on National Holidays can turn up fun and easy ways to add content to your social media profiles each month.  

Event Participation

Events are a great opportunity to network and make new business connections and partnerships, so it’s a great idea to promote these to your audience! Sharing the general timeline of the event, the educational content and how you and your company are participating are great ways to create engagement online. For example, our company uses headshots of our team members who are attending in our content so that if people go to the event, they know who they are looking for if they are interested in talking to us. When possible, it’s also a great idea to link to relevant pages in your post for more information on the event, even if it’s a blog post on your own company’s website. That helps push potential customers to your website from your social media pages and from there, people can choose to learn more about your company, and then decide they are interested in working with you.  

Meet The Team Showcases:  

Show off the faces that your followers and clients are working with or could work with. It helps to make it a more personable experience, and it is always helpful to put a face to the name. It also helps for tradeshows and events to know who you are looking for if you want to connect with someone at the company. If clients want to talk to the featured person to learn more about the company, this is a great opportunity to send a LinkedIn request and start that professional connection!  

Hashtags: 

Don’t be afraid to use keyword hashtags to help reach more people. Even just a handful of keywords that relate to your content can help it reach a relevant audience, full of potential clients. You can even search hashtags of relevant content to make connections with other folks in the industry and set up potential partnerships.

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Now that you have some ideas about how to stay active on social media, go out there and share some content! And feel free to follow Bridge Loan Network on INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, and LINKEDIN.

In the real estate industry, whether you are a private lender, broker, or investor, networking is a key factor of growing your business.

Conferences, local meetups, and networking events are everywhere in our industry and will help you stay ahead of the curve if you are a contributing member. Plus, they are an investment in yourself and your company, and you’ll want to make the most of the time spent away from the office.

And as you’ve undoubtedly gathered, networking entails a lot more than just showing up, grabbing some free food, and exchanging business cards. It’s about connecting with people, sharing about yourself and what you do, and collecting valuable contacts and knowledge to grow professionally.

To make the most of it, all it takes is a little preparation and practice. Here’s what you need to know before you grab your business cards and head to your next industry event.

BEFORE

Set Reasonable Expectation

When preparing for a networking event, establish goals for your time there. Is your goal to find a specific service in which your company has a need for? A goal to meet five new people in the industry? Or are you hoping to connect with one particular person or company? By setting specific goals you can better prepare yourself and use your time wisely at the event.

Dress to Impress

Research the event you’re going to attend, the location, and the general theme of the event. First impressions matter, and this way you can set yourself up for success in putting your best foot forward. Think of it as a more informal interview, you’ll want to dress the part.

Bring Business Cards

This one seems obvious, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say they’ve forgotten their cards at home, or that they just gave their last card away. Bring more cards than you think you may need and keep them on hand for the entirety of the event. One sided business card exchanges can leave a bad taste in folks’ mouths and could hinder their desire to follow-up with you in the future.

DURING

Focus on Making a Connection, Not a Sale

The overall goal for any event is to grow your network and allow for follow up with the appropriate folks after the event. With this in mind, don’t focus so much on making the sale right on the spot, but on making a connection. Show folks that you’re interested in more than just your opportunities. The best questions you can ask are ones that can’t be answered by just “yes” or “no” and allow for more fluid conversation.

Take Notes

After you ask for someone’s card, take notes on the card after they walk away or immediately after the event. This will help you to be more specific with your follow-up efforts. Even if you can’t write on their card, utilize your Notes app on your phone to highlight key topics and important information from your conversation. This can be as simple as the product or service they are looking for more information on, to favorite local food spots you discussed, to times that work best for follow-up.

Don’t Spam People with Cards

The closest thing to you throwing all your business cards away in the trash is by just passing them out to everyone you meet without having the actual conversations. If you haven’t built enough rapport with someone to encourage them to ask for your card, and vice versa, don’t just offer one because you think it’s what you’re supposed to do.

AFTER  

Follow-up

Making the connection is just the first step. To cultivate the relationship, you need to follow up with the folks you networked with. Make sure to personalize each phone call or email, letting each person know you enjoyed meeting them and mention something specific you talked about. A quick tip: One of the fastest ways to stop a connection in its tracks is to send everyone the same generic follow-up or LinkedIn connection request.

One of the best tools you can utilize in your career is networking, and you can make the most of it by preparing in advance, acting professionally during the event, and being proactive with your follow-up. Beyond that, simply try to enjoy yourself!