Lisa Crittenden replied to a topic in the forum Friday Polls:
Over the ten years I've worked in my market, I have attended mixers and meetings of every business association and chamber group in my broadcast area (a total of 9 organizations). I have also actively promoted the station at health fairs, trade shows, county fairs, farmer's markets, and other local events where a booth can be set up. While all of these activities are time consuming, they have resulted in new clients that I might not have had access to if I called on the business in person. A recent health fair I attended, resulted in 3 new advertisers, one of which I had approached multiple times with no success. Overall, I have found that having a booth at an event has netted me more new customers that the business associations and chamber groups. The key to the fairs and events is to promote the stations offerings and talk to the other exhibitors while you are there. These are businesses and organizations that are actively marketing their products/services, often the Marketing contact is there for you to talk to directly. It is important to keep in mind that you are promoting the station, when you talk to a prospect there, find out as much about what they do as possible and follow up on the next business day. Don't discount business associations and chamber participation, as they are a great way to establish and maintain relationships with clients.
