Too much time, energy and money is spent searching for potential clients. In the new world of media, getting found via search engines or social media has become an additional expense.  Wooing and winning new clients is more difficult as they have information and resources available with a click on their mobile device and set up systems to guard from pesky sales people.

A leadership action plan does not need to be complex.  Great leaders inspire action without pages of rules. Simon Sinek has a simple but powerful model for inspirational leadership — starting with a golden circle and the question "Why?" His examples include Apple, Martin Luther King, and the Wright brothers ..

Watch Simon Sinek in this TEDTalk video share his insights about great leaders:

"It is time to lower the price." Competition, entering a new market, bad economy, and lack of success are all reasons you might have this thought. Is it worth the risk to lower price knowing it will impact your profit margin? 

Moving forward, instead of lowering prices and firing staff, consider what it takes to increase profitability with SMART Revenue.

The Executive Network of Seattle upcoming event includes a presentation from Kevin Wilhelm - "Driving Business Value Through Sustainability". Kevin Wilhelm is an author and leading authority on creating and implementing sustainable business practices that increase profitability and business value. 

Our culture has evolved, and executives are required to be more elastic in their roles and wear many hats. One of the essential roles is selling, including "non-sales selling". Daniel Pink refers to this type of selling as “Moving others” in his bestselling book “To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others.”

Marketing and sales are joined at the proverbial hip as the evolution of the Internet has changed the mindset from "buyer beware" (Caveat emptor) to "seller beware" (Caveat venditor).  

Since trade shows are an effective guerrilla marketing tool (aka weapon) where introductions and invitations are made, it is one of my favorite topics when doing presentations.

Instead of re-inventing the wheel, I have used this to get the minds thinking:

Take this simple marketing quiz

1. Sit in the back, watch, listen and learn.
2. Cajole your way onstage so you can make a slick presentation that gets everyone on their feet, buzzing and excited, eager to do business with you or hire you.
3. Set up a booth in the lobby that energizes and engages 12 of the people enough that they tell their friends while it disturbs or mystifies two of the others and is ignored by the rest.
4. Provide a service (like cookies and juice in a box at the exit) that many of the people there are appreciative of, but few remember or talk about.

It is always fun to watch faces scrunch to consider an answer.  #1 and #4 seems to be “Right”.  #2 appears to be where the power exists.

There is another article about trade shows here.

Most marketers engaged in event initiatives claim a positive ROI from their efforts, according to a new report from Demand Metric sponsored by Attend, but ROI is only sparingly used as an event success metric. The survey – fielded among 202 marketers (68% primarily B2B) – found the average ROI for events to be in the 25-34% range. Source - MarketingCharts

As to this specific question: “How to get ROI from a trade show, even if you don’t have a booth.”

Are you referring to random luck trade shows while using psychic magnetism? 

Or

Are you talking about using #2 in this blog about essentials for profitable revenue growth? http://www.resultist.com/blog/bid/353866/The-5-Essentials-for-Profitable-Revenue-Growth The foundation for participation is then based on purpose, connecting and engaging with specific people or companies.

Trade shows can be attractive because some people are GREAT at meeting new people.

“Hello, my name is,” socializing, smiling with casual conversation is much easier and less risky than the next step of adding value. For those who have a skill or talent of meeting new people, It is more difficult to measure “ROI”. Who records every conversation?

The people who attend trade shows walk the many large rooms are not the same (Though they certainly appear to be the same).

Improving people’s lives at work has a direct influence on company performance. A better culture and work environment offers more potential for accelerated revenue growth as a team is motivated to be innovative with sales and marketing.

Here we will highlight important points about how to retain top performers and why it is is important.

"We want to attract and retain top performers."

Unfortunately many focus on attracting the best and making the “right hire” and not enough time on “retention”. 

If team members are as dedicated and committed to the success and mission of your organization as you are, you might find validation in the ideas below.

In addition to the word “retain”, add “engage.”

“We want to attract, retain and engage top performers.”