Not Just For Tradeshows

By Author: Kaye Z. Marks
Total Articles: 252
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The tradeshow is often the bastion of free hand outs. This is where companies go if they want to give out things for free that have their company name all over it.

You can't help but get a whole slew of interesting little freebies when walking down the rows at various tradeshows. Every each show I'm sure most companies are looking around for something they can hand out. They vary greatly from the standards of pad printing to the odd ball little toys a company conjures up to make a name for themselves.

But why do these things have to be limited to special events? Why can't you always have some of them on hand and ready to pass around when the time is right? There are so many different occasions when you can hand something to someone for free, and guess what, if they aren't expecting it you can make that much better of an impression.

I think that is a very important part of this to consider. At a tradeshow people know they're going to walk away with a lot of stuff for free. If they don't they'll certainly be upset, and because they're expecting things, it really doesn't make a big impression on them. That's ...
... why companies try to find the weird stuff to pass around so that they'll be remembered.

In every day life I'm not thinking that someone will walk up to me with a free item on their hands to give me. When I visit an office I'm not expecting to get anything, and that's why I'm so surprised when I do get handed something.

Get a lot of pad printing done so that you always have notepads around the office. Now, when someone is there and they need to make a note hand them the pad. Tell them to keep it. Not only are they now able to write down what they need to, but they get a free notepad in the process.

They'll both remember you because of it, and walk away with the notepad in tow to help them further remember you months down the line. I'm sure you can think of a bunch of different good opportunities to give something away for free. Even if we're just talking about a pen with your name on it, that'll often be enough.

A lot of marketing is about giving people something they weren't expecting. If you can surprise them into having interest in you, than you've made it past the natural defenses we build up against advertising.

The less someone is expecting, the more you can surprise them by going above and beyond what they were looking for. There's no reason to save all of your handouts for tradeshows. You're surrounded already by chances to spread your name with a well-timed handout.