Without getting too deep into the weeds, what is a blog for? You can do pretty much anything you want on a blog: write an article, interview someone and transcribe it, put photos and photo galleries in a post, embed videos and podcasts.  But to me, the bottom line is: are you helping people? Or are you promoting yourself? It's easy to promote products and services in a blog, but people really don't want to read about you. At least not much. 

 

I've seen corporate blogs (so-called) that are nothing but promotional arms for the company, including nothing but press releases about how cool their company is, about awards their management have won or conferences they spoke at. It was all "us, us, us."

 

But I learned early on in the days of TradeshowGuy Blog that the things that get read aren't self-serving missives, they're articles that actually help people. Articles that answer questions, show people how to do something, help them get information that they've been seeking. Those articles get read.

 

If you offer your readers enough good information that helps them, that shows them how things work, that give them insight into challenges they're facing, you can certainly drop in a few promotional posts along the way. But just don't overdo it!

 

This week on TradeshowGuyBlog.com, a new video about how to be a great client, an article on goal-setting at tradeshows, and an interview with Jamie Young on, among other things, finding the right promotional product. Good stuff, I hope you get something out of them.

 

Soundtrack for this week's issue: Neil Young's most recent studio album, Colorado, released in October 2019. I've never been a huge Neil fan, although I love and appreciate a lot of his music. Maybe it's because he's so damn prolific that keeping up with his releases is difficult. Colorado is either his 39th or 40th studio album, depending on what source you trust. It's typical Neil Young music, backed by Crazy Horse which this time around includes long-time Springsteen guitarist Nils Lofgren. In any case, if you're a Neil Young fan, it's a good listen. Click the link above to find it on Spotify.

 

Aikido instructor George Leonard on mastery:

​"How long will it take me to master Aikido?" a prospective student asks. 

"How long do you expect to live?" is the only respectable response. 

Ultimately, practice is the path of mastery. If you stay on it long enough, you’ll find it to be a vivid place, with its ups and downs, is challenges and comforts, its surprises, disappointments, and unconditional joys. You’ll take your share of bumps and bruises while traveling – bruises of the ego as well as of the body, mind and spirit – but it might well turn out to be the most reliable thing in your life. Then, too, it might eventually make you a winner in your chosen field, if that’s what you’re looking for, and then people will refer to you as a master. But that’s not really the point. 

What is mastery? At the heart of it, mastery is practice. Mastery is staying on the path."

 

>>>

 

Scott Monty:

 

In a bull market or a frenzy, we see people falling over themselves to buy in and be part of the trend that is gripping the investment community. It's the ultimate in FOMO.

We’ve seen the results of this play out numerous times in memorable history, such as the Dot Com bubble in 2000 and Black Friday in October 1929. But go even further back, and we find the Dutch Tulip Craze of the early 17th century and the Mississippi and South Sea bubbles of the early 18th century.

It’s tempting to think that we’re living in unprecedented times (we hear that quite a bit these days). A global pandemic, a stock market seemingly without a ceiling—as if humans have never experienced such events.

 

Expo West 2019 TradeshowGuy Exhibits Projects. Maybe because it was such a great year and a fun show, and things have changed so much. Maybe it's looking ahead to see what will hopefully be again. But I thought it would be fun to look back at Expo West from just a couple of years ago.

 

The Ultimate Cheat Sheet on Tradeshow Exhibit RFPs. The most popular post on the blog deserves another look.