Working the floor is the most important part of a trade show. While you should always have a booth displaying your products, you should also get out and talk to the other people at the trade show. They’ll make important contacts for you later.

• Go see what is offered at every single booth at the show.
• Talk to the other business owners.
• Take and read the literature offered at each booth.
• Sit in and listen to meetings, seminars, and presentations.
• Hand out your business card to anyone that will take it.
• Look for the press badges and stop them. Tell them who you are and swap cards. Don’t talk talk to them for more than ten seconds, thank them, and move on.

Do some kind of give away and ask everybody to drop their business card in a jar to enter the giveaway. You’ll get huge amounts of business cards that have the websites and phone numbers of people you never would have met otherwise. Read their websites and try to set up a partnering arrangement to use their strengths where you have weaknesses.

If you do these things at your next trade show, you’ll come out on the other side with a lot of contacts and strong leads on new customers.

- John