---

Guest post by: Seth Godin Become an Author

Tweet

---

---

I'm talking about trade shows, SXSW, street marketing...

There are two ways to be glad you went:

1. An overwhelming show of force. When you have the biggest booth, when you are the buzz of the event, when you are everywhere people look, you reinforce your position as the leader.

2. Powerful personal interactions. Not with everyone. Just with people who want to talk with you, who will benefit from a powerful exchange. Not mass, but high in value. Even better, designing these interactions (and your product) so that this small number of people set out to evangelize their peers on your behalf.

The mistake almost everyone makes is to do both. Or to believe that they know a cheap shortcut on their way to #1. Or to get too busy chasing (and failing) at mass that they don't have time to do the personal.

Years ago, the company I worked for spent millions at various venues of the Consumer Electronics Show. We were there, we were sort of big and we sort of won. But not really. Too much noise, too much competition, we were neither. By trying to reach as many as we could, we were never intimate enough to generate conversations that mattered or ideas that spread...

Once again, it comes down to scale. If you staff and invest appropriately, you don't have to 'win' the show to make it worth the trip. On the other hand, if you're setting out to win and investing at the appropriate level, you better win.

Related Articles

  Should you join a networking group?
  What will YOU do Differently to Succeed?
  Words are key to exposing your site!
  Eight Steps to Goal Setting
  Tools for Personal Development
  Marketing and Selling
  The Joy of Repetition
  How to Follow a Path with Heart For Greater Life Success
  Why Generation Y Work At Home Opportunities Online Are Increasing
  3 Secrets on Getting the Most Out of Attending Events
  Loneliness in Business
  Different times call for different action
  You Have to Connect to Sell
  5 Double Readership Path Techniques to Increase The Effectiveness of Your Copy
  How to Network With a Large Group
  Creating Synergy With Others
  The Art of Being a Good Group Leader
  Creating Synchronicity in Your Life
  Start small and really network
  Who Are Angel Investors

Related Forum Posts

Re: Does it help to join business groups?
Toronto Angel Group
Toronto Business Events
Facebook for Dummies
Re: 4 Home Based Opportunities For 2011

Share this article. Fund someone's dream.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

How My Company Got Started

Values! Is it really that simple

Resistance to Change and How to Deal With It

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.