Most Important Trade Shows You Should Attend For Your Business in 2013

A guest post by my friend Sarah Bridgewater
 

Trade shows are a great way to get ideas, make connections, get view at the current climate and bring your business to the next level.  Here are the most important trade shows you should be attending in 2013 in order to best help your business grow and thrive. 

Any serious entrepreneur or small business owner, manager, CEO, CIO, CFO, COO or other chief should take major steps to attend the Small Business Expo New York City.  A B2B exhibition, the Small Business Expo “focuses on showcasing innovative products and services from startups and small businesses in the tri-state area, you can find out about nybusiness expo here. The exhibition is a fantastic resource for networking and making lasting business connections.  It’s also a great way to see what your competition is up to as well as learn the latest strategies and resources for your business.  

The exhibition floor, dubbed the Show Floor and boasted by the Expo to maximize your ROI, puts you and your business in touch with senior management and executives as well as giving your business exposure to journalists, bloggers, industry experts and other influential people whose approval could launch your business into the next orbit.  The Expo also offers a whole component specifically geared towards startups, including one on one mentoring in venture capitalism, legal advice, management, angel investors, technology and other consulting categories.   

SXSW, or South by Southwest, is an invaluable 4-day trade show for anyone in film, music, technology, marketing, distribution, merchandising, social media and other startups whose schools or fields are associated with media.  The trade show registers about 60,000 but is open to all who have the SXSW wristband, putting your business in touch directly with customers, peers and competition.  This is a fantastic networking event for startups in media as the often-clique culture can be hard to break into; it’s also an especially useful tool for interacting with younger audiences and markets, in terms of research, marketing and sales and generating a buzz. 

      

Some other notable trade shows: Dreamhack, Gamescon and E3 are great expos for seeing the latest in gaming technology and systems, which can often lead to better preparation for the “next big thing” as well as allowing you to predict upcoming market trends.  Comic-Con is another great media expo but probably the most niche out of this list.  The auto industry holds some of the biggest and brightest trade shows in the country and those in the industry should absolutely attend the New York and Chicago Auto Shows, respectfully. 

Alternative energy is likely the future of virtually every industry and Malaysia’s SolarAsia photovoltaic and solar energy expo is one of the largest trade shows in world; some American alt energy trade shows for those who can’t make it overseas include PV America (East & West), Solar Power International and Windpower. CeBIT is great for business technology.  

The most popular trade show in the world, however, pulling in about 140,000 visitors a year, is the consumer-goods exhibition Ambiente in Frankfurt, Germany.      

    

Trade shows are a great way to make the world of business a little smaller and a whole lot warmer, providing you with the knowledge, opportunities and connections to grow your business and make a stronger impact in your market.  

About the Author: Sarah Bridgewater has been writing about trade show topics for companies like Nimlok for more than 15 years. Find out more and check out their site. When not writing, you can find Sarah at home with her 2 young boys.

Image credit:google images