If your company overspends with your trade show exhibits, it can affect your company negatively. When your company does not have a clear goal or plan for participating in a trade show, you will tend to overspend. Here are some tips on how your company can save on trade exhibits :

* Prepare in advance

]* Use portable displays

* Use rentals

* Upgrade current exhibits

* Buy a second hand display unit

* Set up your booth in advance

* Get familiar with exhibition ground services

* Keep emergency materials handy

First do not take part in every show that is held. This can just be a waste of money and man-power. Instead, if you are in a business where several shows are held in a year, you can make a careful selection of a few. Changing venues each year is possible too. By choosing which show to take part in, you can plan your trade show display well in advance. In this way, you can plan your budget strategize your goals and eliminate unnecessary rush. Having a good lead time to plan means you can check out cost of making banners and other displays with several companies and choose someone who offers reasonable rates.

If your company is participating in a trade show and is planning to bring your own display booths then it is best to use lightweight and portable displays. This will lessen the cost of having them transported. Likewise, using lightweight and portable materials will also lessen the cost of labor and the amount of time needed for assembly. Portable units can be assembled by a single person or a two-man team. Modular units also have the flexibility of changing in size by adding panels and extra-fittings to them. Having extra panels will allow you to maximize the display area. When using portable units, your company can assemble your display at least an hour before the exhibit opens. Another cost cutting option is to opt for display rental rather than building your own display unit.

Renting display units for trade shows is ideal for small companies or companies with limited budget for marketing. If your company only plans to attend exhibits only once a year, then it is best to just rent a display booth only during the exhibit schedule. There are a lot of rental companies that offer very good rental rates to fit any budget. When renting, make sure that the rental company is located within the city where the exhibit is going to be held since this will avoid paying for additional transportation costs. Likewise, if your rental company is within the city, they will be familiar with the venue and therefore will likely know what to prepare.

If you have existing display units that you have used in trade shows before, you can still use these for the next trade show. If these units look worn out already, you can repair and upgrade them instead of having new ones built. It would be cheaper for you to redesign, re-panel, and repaint your old display booths to make them look fresh and new again. If you do not have old display booths lying around, you can opt to purchase pre-owned display booths of other companies. Many large companies have enough budgets that they can afford to have new display booths built every time they participate in trade shows.

A pre-owned unit will quickly and inexpensively look as good as new with paint retouching or wall panel replacing. Adding backlighting and redesigning the graphics will work wonders in advertising your company’s products and services. Nowadays, there are a variety of techniques and designs that can save you on your construction time and cost.

If the schedule of the trade show is going to be on a weekday, then you must avoid the rush during the weekends by pre-planning how you are going to assemble your display booth in advanced. Extra costs can also be avoided with advanced planning. Also, if there are any glitches observed, they can be ironed out before the opening of the exhibit. Advanced knowledge of the place where the exhibit will be held will allow you to be familiar with all the materials that you will need to bring such as power cords and additional tables and chairs.

Strategic location of a booth display plays and important role in attracting maximum foot traffic. So, planning in advance reduces costs and improves traffic too. Finally, make sure you have a small handy kit bag with emergency supplies. This could include extra power cords for the computer, extra giveaways, promotional pamphlets, scissors, tools, paper, pens, Velcro, sticky tape etc. Careful thought and planning ahead are keys to successful trade show participation at minimum cost.

Article by Mark Delacruz of PopAndExhibits, who is a specialist in everything exhibit displays. For more information on display rental and trade show exhibits, visit his site today.