Conferences and trade shows thrive because they provide opportunities for expanding business. No company would send representatives there if the event involved mere networking with competitors. Most conferences and trade shows invite companies and individuals related in any way to an industry. The result is an environment where even if a company finds no direct sales, they will have uncovered dozens or even hundreds of new leads.

While conference fees -- including registration, hotel, and transportation, plus meals and other extras -- can put a dent in your business's budget, think of it more in terms of an investment. After all, the goal is to find new business opportunities, so you can certainly calculate a return on investment. The key, of course, is to target conferences and trade shows that relate to your industry, but that will have an abundance of attendees from your target market.

You can search around and find huge lists of conferences that can work for your business.

2. Rent temporary space

Believe it or not, there are people who still prefer to shop brick and mortar stores rather than online. Some of these are adamantly against shopping online for any number of reasons. Others like to physically browse items before buying (and therefore might buy online after window shopping). For many others it's simply a matter of habit. That's the way they've always done it. In these customers lies a great opportunity for businesses that exist mostly online.

Vacant retail space is currently in abundance, and there are tools to help connect merchants with that space. In fact, a big reason why many retailers went out of business is that they couldn't afford rent prices. Commercial landlords also typically ask for long-term leases, thereby guaranteeing themselves income. But with services such as the Storefront, businesses can find temporary retail space. The result is the potential acquisition of customers who would not have found you online. 

Worried about the costs of physical retailing, such as checkout registers? Fear not. Mobile payments, powered by virtual terminal services, let you accept payments on tablets and smartphones. Keeping those ancillary costs to a minimum can help make a project like this viable.

3. Take advantage of AdWords

Search engine marketing holds one clear advantage over other nearly every alternative: people who search reveal their intent. Google emphasizes this heavily when promoting AdWords. If you can identify search queries that signal user intent, you can jump in and take advantage by placing a link right in front of them. If your product or service matches their intent, you'll be more likely to convert a sale. And because you're only targeting terms related to your business, you'll uncover many customers who never knew your company existed.

An additional advantage of using Google AdWords are the tools Google provides customers. Inside AdWords you'll find all different statistics on search volume and keywords. You can then use that data in your organic SEO campaigns. Yes, buying a PPC ad puts your link atop the page, but people tend to click organic links more often. Appearing in both PPC and organic links increase your chances of getting a click. In addition, the organic placement means you might not have to continue paying for the PPC ad.

4. Be helpful on social media

The internet is filled with questions waiting that beg for answers. In the past companies have taken advantage of Yahoo! Answers, having employees spend time answering questions (and of course referring back to the company). These days questions have moved to social media, and it's easier than ever for companies to find who is asking what. A quick Twitter search, using keywords related to your company, can yield hundreds, even thousands of questions that you can help answer.

Here you can read a case study about how one small company built up its Twitter followers almost exclusively by being helpful. This was back in 2008, too, when there weren't nearly as many users on Twitter. With Twitter now brimming with users, there are even more people asking questions -- and even more people who will be thankful if you help them with an answer. If you stick to answering questions in your niche, you'll certainly cultivate new customers.

5. Create authority through content

People are more likely to buy from a person or company they consider authoritative. It's just human nature. We don't want to be taken for a ride, so we stick with what's safe. That used to pose big problems for small businesses. They didn't have many outlets to prove their authority to consumers. In the heady days of the internet, though, companies have opportunities all around. The most prominent way to create authority these days is to create authoritative content.

A content strategy should involve both your own site and guest posts on other authoritative sites. Posting content on your own site can drive people to your site through search engines and other blogs that link to you. Guest posting on other sites can open you up to new audiences as well. Just make sure that you're guest posting on prominent blogs that have high quality readerships. Guest posting for links rarely works, and can get you in trouble with Google.

Author Bio
Trent Jacobs writes and manages the tech blog TechBreach.

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