How to get value from business Conferences and Exhibitions

Top Tips for Making the Most of East Kent B2B

There are masses of benefits and the opportunities for learning, connecting and growing you will not find anywhere else.  Follow these tips and reap the benefits

Plan in advance

Check out the programme and choose the sessions you want to attend.  This way you won’t miss out

Be Digital

Make connections with other attendees/exhibitors before the event using our social media

Like us on Facebook - Follow us on Twitter - Join our Linkedin Group

Pack your cards

Bring a healthy stack of business cards with you and give them out to relevant contacts face to face as a physical reminder of your business

Be ready to network
Be ready with who you are and what you do

Speed networking

Exciting and high impact that produces exceptional results

Meet lots of new contacts in a short space of time, sessions running all day that are fun and really work

Be a sponge

There will be a lot going on at the same time so watch, listen and absorb.  Take notes during speaker sessions – there will be masses of golden nuggets of information that could easily have the power to change your business.

Follow up

Identify the most important prospects you met

Schedule time to follow up with them personally within a few days

Make a plan of what you have learnt and how to apply them to your business

Kent businesses report healthy growth through 2014

Kent businesses report healthy growth through 2014

As a growing centre for businesses – of all shapes and sizes – Kent firms are reporting strong trading conditions and burgeoning order books. Its proximity to the Continent coupled with strong transport links to the rest of the country and closeness to the Capital make Kent a great place for producers, manufacturers and retailers along with the leisure, tourism & service industries. With the economy growing well once more it seems that  businesses in the South East are reaping the benefits of this renewed confidence.

A sure sign that businesses are feeling more confident is reflected in the numbers of exhibitors at the next Kent Invicta Chamber B2B on the 8th July in Ashford and the good news stories that they report. Whether businesses are opening new facilities or developing their offering these businesses are certainly feeling the positivity that is being played out across the rest of the economy. 

The Kent B2B is an event that at its heart aims to connect these businesses enabling them to meet new contacts, suppliers and peers – ensuring that the growth of business within Kent continues and is sustainable. The exhibition and conference attracts a diverse range of local, county–wide and national businesses – all of whom have growth and development stories to share.

Positive changes for many businesses in Kent 

For example, The Kent Event Centre in Detling, near to Maidstone has recently opened the Maidstone Exhibition Hall a brand new 3,000 square metre building.  The building offers excellent facilities to exhibitors including a higher height level and of course has state of the art technology including fibre optic WIFI and hard wired points. Equi-Expo and the Kent Garden Show have both used this new structure and the centre has another eighteen bookings through the rest of 2014. An investment of this scale enables the Kent Event Centre to offer a wider range of large scale events, exhibitions and conferences in Kent and the South East.

Chegworth Valley, an organic farm growing fruit, vegetables and salads and producing award-winning farm pressed apple and fruit juices is exhibiting for the first time at the Kent B2B and are excited at the opportunity the event represents in raising their profile amongst the other exhibitors and delegates. Having recently added a delivery service they are keen to make new contacts and show the service and quality of produce that they supply. 

Buckmore Park is a regular exhibitor of the B2B events. Their recent expansion has included the opening of a new Paddock Circuit that provides Turn Up 'n' Drive Karting during most weekends and school holidays. Other key events for them in the coming months include a special Hungarian Grand Prix event being held on July 27th as well as many more individual and team karting events throughout the year - great for friends, colleagues and individuals.

Local company with far reaching ambitions

The diversity of industry in Kent is amazing too - an interesting example of this comes via Zein Marketing who have recently been working with an exciting aviation project based in Lydd. 4x4 Aviation is a local firm looking to revolutionise the transportation of freight in countries with poor infrastructures - a truly innovative venture that could offer huge benefits to developing countries. 

With the range and nature of businesses around the region continuing to grow, events like the Kent B2B have become increasingly important - as an opportunity for businesses to meet and network as well as an opportunity for business owners to hear from industry leaders and take part in informative workshops. These great resources are all delivered in a way that ensures lessons can be implemented immediately, offering useful strategies and plans. The Kent B2B is truly the place to meet for those in business. 

Dame Kelly Holmes to open West Kent B2B 

Exciting news for the West Kent B2B event as Dame Kelly Holmes has been confirmed to open proceedings on the 30th April at the River Centre in Tonbridge. As a double Olympic Champion Dame Kelly has been an inspiration to many people both on and off the athletics track. Although now retired from the world of track and field, Dame Kelly is still determined to push herself physically and mentally, recently taking part in a Duathlon, an event which combines the disciplines of running and cycling. Aside from sports Dame Kelly is venturing into the world of food, drink and retail by starting her own Cafe in Hildenborough and developing a chain of frozen yoghurts and juice bars. Alongside this, her charity, the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust helps "Get lives on track" through the mentoring from world class sports stars. She recently hosted an event at the River Centre that celebrated the success of the Trust with young people from Kent.

Offering opportunities to all types and sizes of business

With the West Kent B2B event entitled “Leading the Way” Dame Kelly Holmes is the perfect choice –an exemplary sports star intent on developing young lives across the county and beyond. 

Offering industry leading speakers and advice

West Kent B2B is so much more than an exhibition; it is an event that plans to offer advice, information and share knowledge. It is an event where you can give your contacts list a boost by meeting a range of diverse, interesting businesses through speed networking. Or, gain insight through attending the keynote speaker sessions given by industry leaders and find out how to apply their lessons to your business, increasing your sales and profitability. Speakers booked for this year’s event include marketing expert Barnaby Wynter, dynamic entrepreneur Daniel Priestley, media guru Stuart Smith and social media expert Katie King. Tailored specifically for the West Kent market this event also offers insightful workshops and will bring together local and county wide firms, connecting businesses and offering advice for all sizes and types of business. 

West Kent B2B is backed by the West Kent Partnership, the economic partnership for the council areas of Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and Malling and Tunbridge Wells and sponsored by Caxtons, one of the leading Chartered Surveyors in the South East.  There will also be the opportunity to hear about “Escalate”, an interest free loan available across West Kent, Maidstone and East Sussex. The event is run by the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce, Chief Executive, Jo James commented, “These B2B events are really high quality, engaging and informative. They offer businesses not only the opportunity to meet and network with a huge range of local and Kent wide firms, but also the chance to gain invaluable insight from leading business speakers – a must in the diary of any local business.”

A great day for businesses locally, regionally and nationally, find out more and book your FREE place now - not only will you get £100 FREE advertising but a FREE welcome coffee as well.

Why small businesses should be blogging

If you aren’t changing your web site, on a regular basis, then what have you really got? An online brochure is the answer that many professionals would give you. So, how to keep your web site content fresh should be top of any small businesses marketing agenda. With fresh content comes (hopefully) fresh traffic. Your web site can be jam packed with information about your product or service, have loads of testimonials and recommendations but nothing can develop engagement as quickly as a high quality blog.

Blogs will .....

Blogs offer not only a great way of engaging with your clients but also a brilliant way to increase your authority with them - showing them exactly how much knowledge you have, not only about your product or service, but, also your target market - them! 

Blogs enable people to make immediate contact with you by commenting - offering the perfect opportunity for you to then engage with them in the future, perhaps even making a time for a phone call or a meeting.

Blogs are well loved by the search engines too - Google likes web sites that are updated and many industry experts see them as a one of the most natural ways to build SEO.

Blogs offer your prospective clients more opportunities to find you, as the search engines will be able to pick up on the words within your blog and display them in the search results on those certain words.

What your blog should look like ...

So the reasons why small businesses should have blogging at the top of the “to do” list seems clear - but how to go about it? There are now lots of great, easy to use options for creating blogs - Google and WordPress are two of the favourites. But, bear in mind that ideally you should have your blog hosted within your web site, so that the site also benefits for the traffic your blogs creates. 

Then it pays to do some planning - one of the most important factors is that your blogs are consistent. You are aiming to build a following of people who look out for, or even search out your blogs - don’t leave them hanging. Try to blog two or three times a week - but, at the very least make sure its once. The content needs to be top quality as well - offer useful tips, great insight, share your knowledge, add pictures, links, video clips. 

Developing your social media strategy as a small business owner can seem daunting - so many channels, where to start right? Well, blogging could help you here - creating great content and sharing it across the social media channels can help you to build your networks, whilst directing traffic back to your web site too. A win, win. 

Want to find out more about why blogging is so important? Come along to the FREE workshop at the West Kent B2B on the 30th April at The River Centre, Tonbridge. To book your FREE delegate space that gains you entry to this workshop (and others) plus access to talks by expert key note speakers including Daniel Priestley, Stuart Smith, Katie King and speed networking sessions click here

30 April - The River Centre, Tonbridge