Insanely Clever Marketing

Win The Tradeshow, Wow Investors, Work To Expand Your Business

Posted by Penelope Herbert on November 22, 2016 · 2 Comments 

Once you find your business has reached a certain level of success on the market, you might think about slowing down. But that would be the mistake.

In fact, going full steam ahead is a good idea if you want to expand your business and continue to be profitable. One of the worst things that your business can be is stagnant. If your company stops moving forward, you’re no longer offering customers fresh and exciting products on the market.

Instead, you’ll become yesterday’s news, and that’s the last thing that you want. Ideally, you need to keep pushing your business in new directions. You need to bring new products or services onto the market and keep offering your customers more.

Unfortunately, if you want to expand your business, you’re probably going to need more funds than you have in the bank. As such, there are two options to consider here. You can borrow more money, or you can seek out more investors to help you support the expansion. If you borrow, you will have to pay it back sooner rather than later. You must be aware of the interest rate that you’ll be held to.

Business loans can often be similar to short term loans. The rates of interest can be extortionate to the point where they are impossible to pay back. It is crucial that you borrow from a reputable lender. This may mean that you have to wait longer before you are approved for a loan. But, it will be worth it if you can make sure that borrow doesn’t push your business under.

The other option is to grab the attention of investors. But to do that, you’re going to need a few things in place. Let’s look at some of the traits that will make your business catnip for those wealthy investors.

Longevity And The Five Year Plan

Your company may have already seen a lot of success, and that’s great. It will certainly be useful when you’re trying to bring investors to the table. You can show some evidence already that they will get the money they invest in you back. But you can’t just show investors where you are, you need to think about where you’re going.

Most investors will be on the lookout for a business with a five-year plan. If you have a five-year plan, it shows that your company has longevity. Remember, investors want to avoid pouring money into a company that is only going to be around for a couple of years. If your plan is to get rich quick and then sell out, you should leave that idea off the table.

You might think that a five-year plan is all about showing what products you’re planning to introduce. Or, how you hope to expand profits in the next few years. Actually, you should also be showing what you’re doing right now. You need to demonstrate that everything is being booked and billed as it should be. You should also be able to show that your employees are constantly expanding. It might be worth focusing on training that you’ve put in place to build up business expertise. If you can demonstrate ROI here, you’ll certainly grab their attention. You can learn more about employee training on Walkme.com.

The Right Time And Place Online

Typically, if you want to grab the interest of investors, there are a few places that you can go. If your business is still small, you can set up a ‘work with us’ page on your website. A page like this briefly describes your company’s interest in working with other businesses. It should also present ideas of how a partnership like this could be mutually beneficial.

Keep it short and sweet, allowing you to reel them in before presenting your full strategy. This should help you generate some new leads online. You can also look for other businesses yourself, but in most cases, it will be better if they come to you. Remember, it might be worth building up your SEO campaign if you want to find investors through online leads. Build up your SEO by using a site like Wearebluebox.com. This is the only way that you can make sure more people find your company.

If you are recruiting investors online, your website needs to be picture perfect. It must look professional, stylish and modern. These guys are always looking for companies that are fresh and innovative. That’s exactly how they should see your business.

At A Tradeshow

With a little more money in funds, you can invest in a trade show appearance. This is where businesses go to get those extra funds from people who want to expand your business. The old saying “you need to spend money to make money” rings true here. When you enter the trade show, you’ll see that plenty of businesses have spent massive amounts of cash. This will purely be to gain attention. You should strongly consider doing the same. When you buy a trade show stall or booth, you want it to be custom made. The last thing you need is to enter a trade show where several other businesses have chosen the exact same design.

Use tech and marketing trends to your advantage, but spin them in a new way. For instance, a lot of companies are now latching onto the idea of using AR for promotion. Is there a way to use this to market your business? There certainly will be if your product involves any form of interaction. Even boring products can be brought to life with a marketing strategy such as this.

Remember that the devil is in the details. Everything about your business needs to ooze professionalism. If you present marketing materials to an investor such as an information booklet, it should be well designed. It needs to be well styled and laminated. If you do this, there is a chance that they will hold onto it even after they leave the tradeshow. If you look at a site like Filmsource.net you’ll be able to make sure all your materials look professional.

Who You Are

Although, it’s not just the marketing information you present to expand your business. You’ll need to have an impact too. Charisma and personal appeal are important in business. You might think that winning investors is all about your business plan and presentation. That plays a significant part but who you are certainly has an effect. Half the successful businesses on the market today wouldn’t exist without their charismatic leader. You need someone who is undeniably impressive. If that’s not you, it might be smart to recruit a figurehead for your company. This will be someone who looks like the real deal but has no say or power in how the business is run. Essentially, it’s an actor that you’ve hired as the face of your business.

Of course, you can go one step further. For tradeshows and conferences, it’s not unknown for businesses to hire a full team of models and actors. You can find these guys online working as marketing experts, and they are incredibly impressive. They will act like your team of employees which is useful if your actual team doesn’t have the right image. You’d be surprised how often investors will choose a business that is visually appealing. Find some models for your company on Modelsdirect.com.

You need to make them laugh too. It is your job and the job of the people you hire to be charming. If you want an investor to sign up, more times than not they’ve got to like who you are. Not just what you’re offering.

Remember Me

When a potential investor walks away, you need them to remember you. Be aware that an investor might spend only five minutes talking to you at a tradeshow. You have to make that five minutes count so give them something they can take away. They’ll pull it out of their bag later in their hotel room and think about your proposal. But you’ll also need a final line, and this has to be something that they can’t ignore.

It has to be bold, and it ideally needs to at least sound original. Your idea might even seem a little crazy and, believe it or not, this could work to your advantage. At the very least it will make your company memorable, and that’s exactly what you want. It’s important that you don’t come across desperate. Make them feel it’s in their best interests to sign up, not yours. They should walk away feeling like you would survive without them. But crucially, that they could benefit if they took a chance on your business.

You can do this with a little urgency entering the equation. If you can, suggest that their competitor has already made the type of investment that you’re offering. Subtly point out that you have already had offers from similar companies, even if you haven’t. To do this, you will need to research and target specific individuals. If you do that, you can figure out what they want and how you can offer it. You can find out more killer tips on Forentrepreneurs.com.

Take this advice, and you should have no trouble winning new investments in your business. I hope you see fantastic levels of success in the future.

Images from Pixabay andPexels. Header image from Flickr