August Activities

August 6, 2007, Monday
Google University
Aklan

August 7 & 8, 2007, Tuesday-Wednesday
Google University
Davao

August 9, 2007, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Mandaue Business Forum, Thursday
Cebu International Convention Center
(my speaking engagement is at around 4:00 p.m.)
If you wish to attend, please get in touch with the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce

August 9, 2007, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Google University
Cebu
Cebu International Convention Center
If you are a school principal or IT administrator and wish to attend, please leave a comment below

August 10,2007, 9:00 a.m., Friday
Internet and Mobile Marketing Summit
Hotel Intercon
If you wish to attend, please book through the Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines

August 13-14, 2007, Monday to Tuesday (tentative)
Google University
Bohol

August 17, 2007, Friday
Google University
Antipolo

August 18-20, Saturday to Monday (tentative)
Google University
Negros Occidental/Bacolod

August 23, 2007, Thursday
Google University
Angeles City

August 23, 2007, Friday, 8:00 p.m.
Blog Party at Taste Asia, Mall of Asia
Please await further announcements for this event

*The Google University events are organized by GILAS, if you wish to attend please get in touch with their regional operations managers.

June Activities

Back-to-back speaking engagements this month in Manila, Cebu and Davao!

Here's my sched:

June 18, 2007, Monday
Marketing Your Business Online Workshop
Digitalfilipino.com
Time: TBA
Venue: TBA

June 19, 2007, Tuesday
New Media Marketing
Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines
Time: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Venue: Ateneo Professional Schools, Inc., Makati City

June 20, 2007, Wednesday
Marketing Your Business Online Workshop
Philippine Trade and Training Center
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Venue: PTTC, Pasay City

June 24, 2007, Sunday
Google Marketing Secrets
Fil Negosyo Expo
Time: 4:30 to 6:00 p.m.
Venue: Megatrade Hall, Megamall, Mandaluyong City

June 26 to 28, 2007, Tuesday to Thursday
Promoting Investment in Asia (as panel)
Cebu ICT 2007 Intl Conference & Exhibition
Time: June 26, 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Venue: Shangri-la Mactan Island & Spa

June 29, 2007, Friday
Marketing Your Business Online Seminar
Department of Trade & Industry - Davao
Time: TBD
Venue: TBD

June 30, 2007, Saturday
Google Apps for Education
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Venue: Blugre Cafe, Davao City

This post will be regularly updated.

Secrets Revealed: How to Profit from Trade Shows

I’ve been joining trade shows for more than 8 years now and I had to learn everything from scratch.

Joining trade shows is an effective means of marketing products and services, especially when you have new stuff you want to introduce to your market. Aside from generating leads for sales, it also gives you a chance to test how your market will react to new products. A booth also helps you network and do PR for present and future use.

But, the key metrics to a successful trade show participation are: (1) ROI and; (2) PROFIT!

As a product manager to get budget approval I had to determine the number of accounts we had to close in order to break-even. I was always nervous about spending money for trade shows because I had to promise, no swear, to my boss that it was going to profit. I had to because I didn’t want to get beaten to a pulp. Yes, the pressure was that high. Anyway, I did, I always did.

Having a great looking booth (aesthetics) and appropriate collaterals is never enough. The secret really lies on tracking the development of your participation. And this is what you have to do:

(1) Define your success factors i.e. break-even point, goals.

(2) Brief your salespeople/booth attendants how many leads they have to generate or accounts to close. It’d be great if you already have the leads conversion rate.

(3) Make sure all the leads are logged into a visitors log. Encode everything and put it in a system.

(4) Determine conversion rate. In my past work we even created a salestracker system and had separate tags for trade show leads. That’s how we managed to determine the leads conversion rate per trade show. (So now I know which trade shows I should really join and which I shouldn’t). It doesn’t have to be really fancy, what’s important is that you can determine where your sales are coming from.

And remember, the system will not run by itself. You still need to monitor closely the movement of the leads generated from the trade show. After the show you have to closely monitor if your sales people are utilizing the leads. Breathe down their necks if needed (I used to LOL). Determine whether it is a hot lead, under negotiation or if the account declined. Tracking the reasons for decline will also help a lot in defining rejection points.

A successful trade show does not lay with a great product manager. It is a team effort. Motivation is important and if everyone has the same objectives, understand the objectives and has passion for the product, then your show will be quantitatively and qualitatively successful.

Trade shows don’t need to be boring. Have fun in it. Find out from “An Apple a Day” how.

January Schedule of Activities

January 5, Friday, 3:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Digitalfilipino.com's Blog and Social Computing Forum

January 17, Wednesday, 10:45 to 11:15 a.m.
Google University at Lyceum of the Philippines

January 22, Monday, 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. (postponed to February 15 [tentative])
Google University at PUP Sta. Mesa

January 26, Friday, 2:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Google University at the Science Week of University of the Philippines, Manila

January 27, Saturday, 2:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Blog Parteeh 2007 at Makati City

January 28, Sunday, 4:15 to 5:00 p.m.
Google University at the iTech Event, AIM