4. Planning your Business during the FairIt is essential for you to develop your Business Plan if you want to sell rights or expand your export sales or pursue another form of sales. The potential for sales and the size of the fair in attendance and number of exhibitions are too great to go and expect to carry out your activities without a plan. It is imperative to make appointments well in advance as the key people will see customers or publishers or agents for only fifteen and thirty minute time spots. The days are taken up by tightly scheduled meetings that have been set up one, two or three months before the start of the book fair. It is almost impossible to goaround the first day expecting to set up appointments. This important process has become especially easy in these days of the e-mail and the Internet.You want to start with your present international customers (publishers, agents, orbooksellers, etc.) to build growth of your business with known accounts. Prepare a matrix of accounts, countries and regions to establish priorities for building your global business.Write these accounts or send e-mail communications to establish appointments with each as your initial core of present customers. It is easier to build growth with known accounts or clarify problems, solve collection issues with present accounts before you move on to develop new business with new accounts.Network, network and then continue to expand your network. Start by contactingcolleagues, associates and members of your industry association that have visited the Frankfurt Book Fair. Learn from their experiences, gather suggestions and special recommendations. Once you have arrived in Frankfurt, develop a network of newcontacts, information resources as part of a continuous learning experience.The “Who’s Who” directory on the www.book-fair.com website provides youwith 16,000 names and contact addresses of key people, the management, the decision makers in companies around the world. Use this information tool to set up your appointments and related work schedule two or three months before the fair opens.The second step is to develop a list of countries and/or languages that could provide the best growth potential for your business. You want to pursue a strategy of developing new business in new market segments. You can access the Frankfurt Book Fair Catalogue online to determine what publishers, agents or booksellers are exhibiting within your area of interest and in which of the halls. You can search the most comprehensive publishing industry directory to find your target customers, carry out market analysis, and read the latest news by visiting www.book-fair.com on the Internet.It is your reference resource and market research source for more than 8,000 detailed entries for publishing and media companies located in 112 countries. The listings include 6,300 active e-mail addresses and 5,200 websites. It will be possible for you to identify your potential customers, research their websites and then communicate your interest in making an appointment via e-mail. Please do your market research as thoroughly as possible before you make your appointment with potential new customers. You do not want to waste a valuable 30 minute time slot just to find out that the company your are meeting is active in another market segment or inappropriate client and, therefore, not able to do business with you.Once you have registered to have your own exhibition in the Frankfurt Book Fair,then your company will be listed in this comprehensive directory or Frankfurt Book Fair Catalogue that is accessible everyday of the year from any part of the world.The third step is to identify your market research or new business research agenda items to prepare for and then explore while attending the Frankfurt Book Fair. What special events, sessions, national collective stands do you want to visit to explore new business in new markets? Review the list of more than 2,800 cultural and special events on industry related topics to determine which are important for you to attend. The “Calendar of Events” can be found at www.book-fair.com/calendar/.In setting up appointments it is important to determine if you will meet in your booth, their booth or other location. There are more than six halls and then more than eleven levels or floors within these halls which results in a huge exhibition site to move around from appointment to appointment. Are you the seller or the buyer – or – do you want to show your books in your exhibition area or do you want to visit a publisher to look at their books for possible acquisition of rights? There are shuttle buses that connect the different exhibition halls. There are also moving walkways to help you get around.The bottom line is that this is THE largest international book fair and it takes time and energy to get around. Your experiences based on current revenue sources will allow you to make projections of new income as
đang được dịch, vui lòng đợi..
