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We I finally got it over.
I attended a the 3 day Wisconsin Restaurant Expo. (I work as a building repair company in restaurants) and it was very interesting.

My guess there was about 5000 industry people there during the 3 days. I belive I made some good contacts. One of my posters listed all of the companies I work with (40 national chains and about 20 independents) A lot of people had seen my postcards and fliers in the mail but didn't know if they could trust me, they had been burned by to many handyman companies, so when they saw my resume I think I got their attention.
Also made some good contacts with a few of the local chains.

Things that I learned that mite help others,
I went over board on fliers used only about 700 ordered 4000

Ran the 1st day solo, should have had help so I could network on the floor.

I had 6 great poster with large before and after shots, next time maybe smaller photos and more of them.

location mite have been better, I was on an outside wall which I still think was a good place but next year I want to move to the center more.

The last day I made a point of going around and networking with the other booths, There were a lot of booths that offer services to the industry that I don't directly compete with. (equipment people, plumbers, builders) I should have made a point to hit those booth each day, their staffing seemed to change each day. Plumbers don't tile their repair, dish washer installers don't repair the floor under the machines and so on.

Now I just need to sort threw the leads and follow-up with the people.

parkerfairfield

I wonder if you have a book for before & afters.
If not, maybe you will now

Good info!

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Carport King

The most important is the very last sentence! FOLLOW-UP now and fast! Take the rest of those mailers and mail to your list again-again-again until there gone. Good luck PS. Look at the front door and always stay on the right with your booth. Bag the middle!

Dale S.

I CANNOT AGREE MORE with CarportKing!!! I can't even begin to tell you the response rate that we get from simply calling the contacts we made at home shows. The amazing thing, our customers tell us that NO ONE ELSE DOES THIS! Oh well, their loss...and I am not telling them.

The other thing we do is ask for the approximate timing of their projects. We then put the contact sheets into files by month. We contact them during that month. That way we don't bug them prematurely, but we keep the value of the contact.

Home shows (we have 2 per year) are by far are most succcesful for the buck approach to getting new business. The attendees are pre-qualified as interested and the cost per real job is very very low....we are planning for our Fall Home Show and considering expanding the number of booths again...we have expanded every year...not sure where the sweet spot is, but a larger display certainly adds to credibility.

As for booth placement, we have gotten pretty picky. For us, we want to be in the best lit area so that our granite 'pops' as the visitor comes by...

I could go on and on, but their is a lot of good info on the net for becoming more effective at home shows. We have read a lot and follow most of the tips...they work!
dale