New in Nonfiction: 10 Author Questions for Lisa Masiello about Her New Book, Trade Show 411
Author’s Note: As my new nonfiction marketing book, Trade Show 411: The Essential Guide to Exhibiting Like a Pro, is now released, bloggers and reporters are asking questions about the book and reader benefits. So, I thought I’d take a moment to reveal my answers to you, give you some insight into why I chose to write this book, and share a bit about what you will learn from reading it.
1. Your book is about exhibiting at trade shows, conferences, and corporate events. What sparked your interest in this originally?
During my 30-year marketing career, managing corporate trade shows was a large part of my responsibilities. It always reminded me of a theatrical production. Our exhibitor booth was like a stage set. Everything we developed from the look of the booth to the messaging, to the collateral, to our giveaway items, and everything else had to work together to effectively present our company’s brand and products to the show’s attendees. I loved designing the booths, attending the shows, chatting with potential customers, meeting our business goals, and then working to do something bigger, better, and different at the next show. It really became a passion for me. My goal was always to get show attendees as excited about our company and our products as all of our employees were.
2. But why did you pick the topic of exhibiting at trade shows in particular? You could have written about another aspect of marketing like digital marketing or advertising.
When I started in my marketing career in 1991, I was given the responsibility of managing my company’s trade show participation, but I didn’t know the first thing about it. I had barely attended trade shows, never mind exhibited at one. I was the only person in the marketing department so I didn’t have any help and there was no one to show me the way. I also didn’t know anyone in a similar position at another company who could give me advice. I was pushed into the deep end of the pool and needed to learn how to swim on my own. I made a lot of mistakes. But I learned something new with each mistake and never made that mistake again. Over time, exhibiting became easier and easier. Today, after exhibiting at and participating in hundreds of trade shows around the world, I have a ton of experience. But I don’t want other people who are less experienced to have to go through all the doubt, uncertainty, sleepless nights, and challenges I went through. I want their journey to be much smoother and for it to happen more quickly than it happened for me. I know what they’re going through because I went through it myself and I want to give them the help and the insider insights that I didn’t have.
3. So, who is Trade Show 411 for? Who would benefit most from reading it?
Certainly, I had marketing professionals in mind when I wrote the book but it’s not just for marketers, it’s also for small business owners. This book would be a great trade show bible, so to speak, for a young professional who just got their first job as a marketing coordinator and wants to learn about what being a successful exhibitor entails. It’s also the perfect guidebook for a manager who is an experienced marketer but has had limited or no trade show experience and must now take on the added responsibility of managing their company’s conference participation. Marketing directors and CMOs can also give copies of this book to their staff to help drive success for both their team and their company. But besides marketing professionals, this is a great step by step roadmap for small business owners who understand the benefits of exhibiting but don’t have any idea of where to begin.
4. Is this book for a specific type or size of business or best for companies in a specific industry?
The information I talk about in Trade Show 411 can be used by any company of any size in any industry. Although I spent my career in the technology industry, I worked for small startups and some of the largest companies in the word. I came to realize that both types of companies have many of the same challenges. It doesn’t matter if you own a small retail business with five employees and have a very limited budget or work for a large automotive manufacturer with 25,000 employees and have a multi-million-dollar budget. So, I included strategies, tactics, and examples for everyone.
5. How can readers and their businesses benefit from this book? What are some of the specific areas of trade show management you discuss?
Each chapter focuses on a different topic so a reader can start at the beginning or pick and choose what they read first, depending on what is important to them and what type of show they will be attending next. Some of the topics I discuss include things like what revenue generating tactics you can implement on a limited budget and hidden trade show expenses that can cost you a lot of money if you don’t know how to manage them effectively. My lead generation and lead management chapter is long because I talk about how to transform leads from ho-hum to sales qualified by developing the right questions. Of course, how to select the perfect show to exhibit at, choose the ideal booth size and location, and assemble the perfect booth staff are a must for any exhibitor guide. I also address valuable public relations strategies and include examples of press releases and media alerts readers can create for themselves. And, maybe most important in this COVID world we’re still living in, I talk about ways to stay on track when your trade show gets turned upside down by issues outside of your control.
6. What are the key takeaways for readers?
My objective for this book from the beginning has been to help marketers and business owners understand the ins and outs of exhibiting, giving them the head start I didn’t have, and enabling them to maximize their trade show results. I do this by providing both the strategy and action plan to set them off on the right foot. It’s not trade show marketing at the 35,000-foot level. It’s a balance of instruction and information that can easily be adapted and applied to each reader’s situation, needs, and goals. But the biggest thing to know is that the COVID-19 situation we find ourselves in now should not prevent you from pressing forward and fulfilling your trade show plans.
7. Can exhibitors at in-person events and virtual events both benefit from this book?
Yes. There’s still a lot of uncertainty over when events will take place and if they’ll be in-person or virtual. But you don’t need to let the uncertainty drive you crazy and cause a lot of extra work. There are things you can do now to plan for a successful show, eliminate stress, and be effective whether your show ends up being at a convention center, online, or both. Although some topics, like selecting the perfect booth size and location, are specific to in-person events, other topics, like ways to stay on track when your trade show gets turned upside down, are very helpful for readers exhibiting at a virtual event. Since each chapter can stand on it’s own, you can easily flip through the table of contents, check out the topics, and flip directly to the chapters that interest you at the moment.
8. Some nonfiction books can be full of facts but are dry and uninteresting. How did you make this nonfiction marketing book interesting and engaging while also being informative and fact-filled?
I actually thought of that exact thing when I started writing the book. While I wanted to include all the facts and information I could, I also wanted it to be a book that I would be interested in reading. So, I decided to share some of myself by including my own personal stories and anecdotes. I’m honest about the challenges I’ve had, errors I’ve made, things I learned along the way, and how I overcame them to deliver the successful trade show results I needed to achieve. I want readers to be able to say, “oh wow, I did that too. I can really relate” or “that’s a great tip. It’ll save us so much money.”
9. Have you been interested in writing nonfiction for a while or is this a new interest for you?
Writing is certainly not a new interest for me. I was an avid reader from a very young age. When I got my first marketing job after college I was forced to write customer newsletters, product brochures, advertising messages and other types of content. I enjoyed doing it and realized I was good at it. Over the decades, I’ve written a ton of stuff you may have actually seen but you didn’t know I wrote it because it was written for corporations or other people who included their name as author, not mine. Trade Show 411 is my opportunity to share my knowledge with others using my name.
10. What’s next for you? Do you have another book in the works?
Yes, I’m actually working on another book right now on women’s entrepreneurship in ten different countries around the world. It shares inspirational stories of female entrepreneurs and offers resources that any women can take advantage of to start and grow their own businesses. I am an entrepreneur myself so women’s entrepreneurship and empowerment are also passions of mine. Women need to be presented with role models who look like them, speak like them, and understand their cultural challenges, not just the stereotypical female entrepreneur we see all the time. The book is called She Did and I Will and it’s scheduled to be released in March 2024.
