It’s crunch time at jhP! We’re working feverishly to get our booth together for the Chamber Business Expo on Tuesday, October 27. Even Accounts Payable is feeling the pinch. Some of the partners are foregoing breakfast in order to have enough time in the day, while others are harnessing their “super powers” to get the job done!

We can be as creative and as outlandish as we want to when we work on our own self-promotion and this year’s Chamber Expo booth will be no exception. We wouldn’t simply dream up a theme, put out some brochures and call it good. No, we have to design a booth that will captivate and inspire attendees, educate them on our multitude of marketing services and then deliver the creative juice that leaves them wanting more! That’s a tall order. I’m not sure even Superman could fill those shoes…

We promise to wet your marketing and advertising appetite with our tasty display. Visit us at the Chamber Business Expo on Tuesday, October 27 from 1 pm to 5 pm at the Ramada Inn.

Smart marketing at key trade shows can boost your business, but only if you use the opportunity to your fullest advantage. Here are some helpful tips to make your trade show experience more impactful:

1. Set goals. What do you hope to achieve by attending this trade show? Increasing brand awareness? Building your contact database? Obtaining a certain number of leads? If so, what qualifies a lead? Until you determine what you want to achieve, you won’t know whether it’s a smart marketing investment or if you’d be better off spending that money elsewhere. Setting goals will also help you measure and quantify your successes while showing you where to improve next time.
2. If you’re going, go strong. Exhibiting at trade shows comes with a price tag, but don’t drop the big dollars reserving your booth space only to cut the budget for the event itself. Simply showing up won’t work. Make sure you invest enough to ensure success – reserve a key space and develop brilliant creative with the right message for your audience.
3. Start “working the crowd” BEFORE the event. A trade show is much more than a single-event contact opportunity. Treat it like one facet of a campaign and get your company’s name in front of your audience multiple times. Send out pre-show invitations to attendees and tell them why they need to visit your booth (register to win a prize, get a massage, learn exclusive information, etc). Place an ad in the trade show program. Offer a member of your leadership team to be a guest speaker. And always, ALWAYS follow up all potential leads with a personalized thank-you note. If possible, you might even create a mini-website component for booth visitors to interact with after the show.
4. Touch their senses. Strive to engage all five senses of your attendees. Find a way to make them hear or smell your booth before they even set eyes on it. The more senses you are able to captivate, the more likely the attendee will want to visit and interact with your booth.
   
5. Be unique. At the end of the day, make sure your exhibit was memorable. If your exhibit was just another booth with a full-color banner stand, you probably didn’t command much attention. Instead, think out-of-the-box and find a way to make your exhibit stand out. Go with a theme or concept that will make your message unique.

jhP demonstrated digital expertise at Tuesday’s Chamber Business Expo to feature our expanding line of social media services.

With a live Twitter feed scrolling at the booth, jhP team members scoured the Expo with iPhones in-hand, recruiting attendees to post comments on the big screen. The team also handed out oranges – a tasty reminder of our company color –  to encourage recipients to visit our website to learn more about social media and register for the chance to win their very own iPhone.

Did you miss us? Don’t worry, you can still register to win the iPhone on our webpage:,www.jhpadv.com, just click on the pulsing iPhone button.

Here are a few photos from the event:

The jhP Prize Patrol was out in full force November 1, fulfilling our Chamber Business Expo giveaway by delivering iPod Nanos to our three “P” word winners. Congratulations Dave (prestidigitation), Josh (plethora) and Susan (progressive)!
Below is video footage captured as the jhP Prize Patrol delivered an iPod to Josh Pattie at J. & Co. Frameshop.

Passion, potential, perspective . . . what’s your power word?

The jhP partners were out in full force Wednesday at the 2007 Business Expo put on by the Topeka Chamber of Commerce. Decked out in matching orange shirts, jhP team members spread like wildfire handing out orange cupcakes and cards, inviting Expo attendees to register their “p” word to win a free iPod Nano.

Our booth featured a digital video highlighting successful client work and jhP team members. Click here to check it out. We’ve also posted some pictures to our Flickr gallery so you can see the team in action.

If you missed our booth, but still want to register for a free iPod Nano, visit our website to sign up and give us your power word. While you’re there you can also check out our favorite YouTube videos.

Winners will be announced, Thursday November 1.