Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

Last weekend, friends and I went to a home expo. There was LOTS of signage – screamin’ colors, big letters, jam-packed text, exclamation points galore!!…but…no grabbers.

As we were walking around the sparsely attended show, I couldn’t (readily) tell what about 20% of the companies offered.

Even sadder, in at least 50% of the booths I couldn’t see any reason to stop. ( Yawn….yet another kitchen remodeling company… “What’s in it for me?”)

Then there were the booths – where even if I might be interested – the booth people (and their kids,their friends, their family) were standing in front of signage…and products…and info, yakkin’ away (or even eating) so I couldn’t read the signs, look at the product, or even grab a brochure.  And I could only wonder at the deserted booths – products, information…and full drink cups(!?), all left behind.  (Nothing says “we’ve given up”and “we don’t care” like a forlorn, littered trade show booth.)

I’m sure many of these people will complain the “show wasn’t worth the money.” Well, we attendees were thinking the same thing.

That problem with signs and space? Applies to web sites too. It’s okay (really) to leave some white space (and room for your visitors to roam as they wish.)