Some of my regular readers may have noticed that I’ve had a bit of a problem with my blogging regularity lately (translation – I haven’t posted in a while… a long while). No, I didn’t venture to the end of the world and fall off, nor was I abducted by trade show zombies. The Trade Show Guru blog isn’t obsolete… at least not yet. I’ve just been busy with other things – mainly work, but also spending time with my family over the holidays and watching an occasional movie (though I haven’t seen Avatar lately – I’m not that wealthy, at least not yet). But I know I need to make a blog post every now and then to keep this blog at least on life support, so what better topic than tradeshow booth babes.
I know some readers will click through to this post just to see the pictures… and you’re expecting to see barely dressed, sexy women. Well, I don’t want to disappoint, so here is one…
tradeshow booth babe
And I don’t want to descriminate against my female readers, so here’s a male “booth babe”…
alternate tradeshow booth babe
OK, now that the obligatory eye-candy “tradeshow booth babe” pictures are out of the way, let me get to the point.
Tradeshow booth babes are a bad idea.
I’m familiar with the saying “sex sells” and maybe if you’re selling Miami-Vice-style cigarette jet boats to middle aged men or cheap beer to college kids, then having a skimpily clad blonde bimbo isn’t an entirely bad idea. But for most tradeshow exhibitors, booth babes are a bad idea. There are much better ways to attract qualified prospects to your tradeshow booth (even handing out trade show giveaways pens is a better idea than having a booth babe).
Having booth babes at your tradeshow booth will probably draw a crowd… but it will be a crowd of people clogging up your tradeshow booth wanting to see the pretty girl and probably having absolutely no interest in your product, service, or company. And for those people who are interested in your company, they will probably wonder if your product is any good at all if you have to resort to booth babes to try to sell it.
So let your competitors employ the booth babes at their tradeshow booths. Trust me and make your tradeshow booth a “booth-babe-free-zone”. If you are thinking about hiring a booth babe, look at this picture…
This is what a tradeshow booth babe will most likely do for your tradeshow marketing efforts, and is the mental image you should get if you seriously a booth babe for your own trade show booth… To repeat, tradeshow booth babes are a bad idea!
But just in case you didn’t get my point, let me show you another mental image to store away in the back of your head in the event you are ever, ever tempted to go the route of hiring a tradeshow booth babe to hawk your tradeshow wares…
Don’t do it. While “tradeshow booth babes” may be ok for a blog post, they are not ok for your tradeshow booth.
Care to disagree?
...
14 responses so far ↓
1 RT Cunningham // Jan 21, 2010 at 11:35 pm
I don’t know, Steve. If that booth babe was selling booth babe calendars, I’d be all over it.
2 The Trade Show Guru // Jan 22, 2010 at 7:01 pm
hi RT,
You raise a good point. I guess if you’re selling calendars with pretty women on them, then having pretty women (i.e. booth babes) manning (or womanning) your booth may be appropriate. So I guess I should update my post that booth babes are ok for selling jet boats, beer, and girlie calendars… but I think that’s about it.
Thanks for stopping by! Steve
3 Gomez // Jan 26, 2010 at 10:39 am
A friend of mine is a photographer who uses one of those photo sharing sites. Most of his stuff never gets viewed, but last week he posted a picture that shows the top of a pair of breasts. Quite frankly, less skin then the girl in your shot here… more a study of curves than anything else. Not pornographic. Not gratuitous. Definitely NOT his best photo… but guess which one has more views than any other?
4 The Trade Show Guru // Jan 26, 2010 at 11:52 am
hi Gomez,
I can’t believe you didn’t include a link to the curvy photo…
I understand that “sex sells”, and for some trade show exhibits it may be the way to go, but for most I think it is a best a distraction and at worst a liability. The key isn’t to get a whole bunch of drooling guys crowding around your trade show booth trying to get a glimpse of your booth babes… the key is to get qualified prospects that are interested in your product and/or service.
BTW, I checked out your website and your “Gomez” section of the blog. It looks very entertaining (like the monkey picture with the saying about the windshield and the bug). To my other readers… check it out.
Thanks for dropping by. Steve
5 James // Jan 27, 2010 at 1:57 pm
(laughing) – okay, G told me he posted here. Here’s the link to the curvy picture.
6 Tim // Jan 31, 2010 at 6:15 pm
Hi Steve,
I guess it depends on what you are selling, like RT said. A beer booth might be expected to have babes, and you might sell more farm equipment or hunting goods too. Or cars, or insurance, or….
Hey wait a minute. I think I’m saying that I would be more interested in a company using hot chicks as a promotional aid than one that doesn’t
7 The Trade Show Guru // Feb 2, 2010 at 12:21 pm
Hi Tim,
~ Steve
While some products might lend themselves to promotion by a booth babe, I’m guessing if you were buying a tractor to plow your fields of malt and barley (for the Blue Beaver) and you had your choice between a powerful yet affordable tractor with no booth babe or an overpriced, underpowered clunker but with a booth babe sitting in the cab smiling (but not included), you’d take the tractor that would get the job done… right?
8 Will // Feb 6, 2010 at 2:52 pm
Yikes! I will be back to actually read the whole post once my heart rate gets back to near normal. May take a while.
9 Will // Feb 6, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Your advice makes sense now that I have calmed down enough to actually read it. I do think that your Booth Babe might benefit a booth sponsored by a cosmetic surgeon however.
That last photo is downright scary.
10 Rudy // Feb 25, 2010 at 1:11 pm
Sorry… did you write something? I was busy staring at the first photo…
11 Extreme John // Feb 25, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Probably one of the best posts I have seen in a long time, unless your market demands having Booth Babes there is really no benefit to doing it. Your crazy wild car shows and stuff like that, sure why not.
I certainly wouldn’t market my limousine business booths that we do with half naked men or women.
12 The Trade Show Guru // Feb 26, 2010 at 12:59 pm
@ Will, the last photo is meant to be scary. Thanks.
Thanks for stopping by!
@Rudy, I’m sure you’re not the only person who was “distracted”.
@John, I am blushing. Feel free to comment anytime you want to say that one of my posts is “probably one of the best posts I have seen in a long time”.
13 Anne Moss // Feb 26, 2010 at 2:52 pm
Thanks for thinking about us female readers too (and I guess 10% or so of male readers?) That’s so rare to see (and very much appreciated).
I couldn’t agree more. In fact, I’m no trade show visitor, but any show that has scantly clad wimmin near the products will get me to grab my drooling husband by the elbow and head the other way
14 The Trade Show Guru // Feb 27, 2010 at 12:00 am
hey Anne,
Thanks for stopping by! ~ Steve
I try to keep as many people happy as possible. Glad to see it seems to be working.
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