Monday, March 30, 2009

Resources for TLS and TPIE Exhibitors

We greatly appreciate your participation in FNGLA’s trade shows!

With greater competition for tighter market share, it’s more important than ever to put your company in the forefront of the industry and there is no better place than a trade show to do so.

Just to reconfirm you’ve made a smart decision to exhibit in The Landscape Show and/or TPIE, here are a few points from the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) to consider:

• Approximately two thirds (63%-70%) of visitors place a high level of importance on face-to-face interaction during the pre-purchasing stages of the customer’s buying process.

• To decision makers, exhibitions continue to rank in value above sales calls and trade publications as one of the most useful sources of purchasing information.

• Decision makers say that exhibitions make real-time evaluations possible and provide the best opportunity to “touch and feel” displayed products and services.

• Exhibitions continue to attract a high quality audience before, during and after national recessions.

• Exhibitions bring prospective customers with a net buying influence of 82% to exhibitors, which means that an overwhelming percentage of attendees have buying authority.

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It’s definitely not business as usual out there!
We know things are tight and everyone’s trying to determine what is their next best move. To make smart decisions, you need timely information, relevant and accurate perspectives from experts and a strong network. It goes without saying that The Landscape Show and TPIE are great opportunities for building and strengthening your business network.

Resources

Here are some web sites and links we consider good business resources as it relates to timely info and accessible expertise:

FNGLA's web site

As a member of FNGLA you have access to the Pros section of the FNGLA web site (inside the member-only area) which provides a vast array of operational and regulatory publications relevant to the nursery and landscape industry.

In addition, on the home page of the FNGLA web site, you’ll find industry alerts which keep industry members informed topics of critical importance.

Making Cents of Green Industry Economics

This blog is posted by Dr. Charlie Hall who is the current chairholder of the Ellison Chair in International Floriculture at Texas A & M.

Two Hat Marketing

Two Hat Marketing is a blog by Steve Miller who is a well-respected consultant for the trade show industry. His clients include some of the largest exhibitions in the country, as well as The Landscape Show and TPIE. You can read his blog on business marketing and can follow him on twitter.

Florida Trend's Daily Top Stories

Sign up for Florida Trend's Daily Top Stories to keep up with what is happening around the state that may impact your Florida business.

Hank Fishkind

Hank Fishkind is a noted economist for Florida and is interviewed each Tuesday on WMFE, the PBS radio station for central Florida. Click here to hear his weekly perspectives on various aspects related to Florida’s economy.

Look for an announcement in the near future related to Hank Fishkind and Associates and a special presentation which will take place at The Landscape Show in October! It’s very exciting news for Florida’s nursery & landscape industry!


If you’ve found a great resource on the web which you’d like to share with the industry, send us the web address or link and we’ll check it out.

Look for more useful ideas and resources in future e-mails from us. Some will relate to exhibiting in trade shows and some will be related to business in general. The more we can help one another, the better we all do. Let us know if you have tips or ideas to share with your fellow exhibitors.

For more info related to The Landscape Show or TPIE, visit http://www.fngla.org/ or call 800-375-3642, or e-mail shaines@fngla.org, or joliver@fngla.org.