Annual trade shows, consumer shows, or other events can be excellent showcases for your business. You can generate leads for new customers face-to-face there, try out new sales pitches, trial new products, ask a lot of questions to get a sense of customer needs, and check out your competition in the next aisle.

Any form of promotion, however, only works if you're pitching to the right audience. Try to attend the event as a spectator first, before signing up to be an exhibitor. If that's not possible, ask to see the previous year's program and call a few of the noncompeting exhibitors to see if they thought it was worthwhile. Did they generate lots of business and are they going back this year? And finally, do what you can to get contact information for potential customers — and then follow up with them.