At CAPS, we are planning to participate in a trade show in two weeks (the Texas City Industrial Trade Show) and are scrambling to prepare for it. I mean, we only have two week, right? Trade shows are always a lot of fun for us allowing us to get out and interact with potential customers, and the community, and share a bit about who we are and what we do. But yes, they are also a distraction from our regular work as well as a bit of trouble to prepare for and execute. Still…we do what we need to do.
Yesterday (Wednesday) we made a decision to also participate in a career fair at one of our local college campuses. The San Jacinto College Career Fair is a different kind of fun for us as this allows us to interact, personally, with potential candidates for positions in our organization. The problem? This fair is scheduled for Tuesday. That’s right…less that one week to prepare!
Ha! No step for a stepper, right? Well, I put my brain to work scrambling for new ideas for this one as the rules are a little different. The show is only 3 hours long; we have a “booth” on hand but are wondering if we want to go through all the trouble of setting it up for such a short show; we are not targeting customers but rather potential employees; and some of these potential employees are not quite sure what it is we do.
So, we need photos. And we need them fast. I have a marketing budget, of course, and could organize for some professional help, but not overnight. My strategy? I took a look at some nice equipment photos we have on hand, took a bit of time on each to remove the backgrounds (Photoshop), uploaded 10 of them to a local photo shop, chose the one-hour service and waited for my text notification. Here’s the results:
Not bad, right? Oh…so you want to know the name of my photo service? The one that printed my photos, mounted them on some lightweight frames, then sent me a text message to come pick them up? Um…that would be Walmart.
Marketing is important to our business as we sometimes need to find a way to show customers, potential customers, and potential employees examples of our work. (These units are not something most people encounter on their everyday wanderings.) I have no problem investing in value-added products and services that help us accomplish our marketing goals. But when something comes along that meets our needs, is quick, reliable, and just happens to be inexpensive, well, it’s just one of those things with me…
I can’t resist a good deal!
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