Attending special events will increase your exposure

by Bette Daoust, Ph.D.

If an event falls into the area that is part of your expertise, find a way to attend and learn from others. Every time you attend an event, you should be able to come back with information that you can use for your own business. If you go through the display booths, you can pick up good information about what others are doing in the marketplace.

It is also a good forum for developing new business relationships. This is much easier if you are simply a participant at the event. If you have a table, you will be more restricted in movement. People that drop by your table will have an interest in what you do but most often these events only provide you with exposure. I tend to let others display and wander around the room. This gives me additional information and ideas.

While attending a special event, it will pay to mingle with other attendees and listen to what they have to say. You will gain more insight as to what the crowd is looking for. If you decide that you want to speak at this event the following year, you will have some insights about what they thought was good and also what they thought was useless. Go to these events with an open mind and learn as much as you can. Do not go with the thought in mind that you have to go because it might be good for business. Turn up your enthusiasm and get the most out of it. These special events are tools that help you towards being more successful.

Listening to what others have to say will help you to understand the audience. If you are lucky enough to be one of the speakers, you will be able to adapt your speech to fit the audience. I have been in the situation where my speech was out of the ordinary and I thought it was going to be a big bomb. When I walked around the room, I found that most people were looking forward to a change of topic. I had one of the biggest audiences in my break-out room; in fact they were spilling into the hallway.