Free Stuff
By far the easiest way to draw people is free stuff. Key chains, magnets, pencils, pens, rulers, bandanas, pins, letter openers, Frisbees, hats, T-shirts—people love this junk. The problem is making it pay off. Just because someone takes a free magnet doesn't mean they're going to buy what you're selling.

But the goal is to maximize your impact. And that helps by picking the right freebie. Magnets work great for pizza places—people see the magnet on the fridge when they're trying to decide what to have for dinner. It doesn't work so well with investment bankers. In that case a letter opener may be more appropriate. Free advertising may be another goal of your freebie, and the best example I saw at the state fair was another college that was giving away purple tote bags. Every fifth person at the state fair had one and everyone wanted one.

Free stuff is great, but make sure it's getting you somewhere.

Make Contact
One of the main reasons for being at a convention is to make contact with people. The booth next to us knew how to do this. They were giving out temporary tattoos with their school's mascot, but rather than just handing them out, they had sponges on hand and were applying them while people waited. And while they waited they'd chat.

Of course it helped that they had a very outgoing, friendly staff. With an introvert like me the idea would have bombed. But they were able to have more conversations and get more people interested in their school. It sure beats the three seconds it takes someone to pick up a free pencil and keep walking.

Know Your Audience
In order for any of your efforts to pay off, you need to know your audience. The Minnesota State Fair crowd is very different from the Association of Telemarketers. The state fair crowd is a T-shirts and shorts group—which is a fine match for temporary tattoos. A suit and tie crowd probably wouldn't respond very well to temporary tattoos.

Know what your audience is there for and appeal to that.

If you've got a booth, know how to use it. Give us a call if you're attending a convention or trade show and need help with booths, freebies, banners or even temporary tattoos.