Well, not necessarily. If you're already doing a lot of the "right" things, then it may be that you are not doing them well (no insult intended but there's being at a show but being there with a less than impressive booth, for example). Passing out flyers is fine but how professional are the flyers themselves? How good are the images you are using to sell your capabilities? How professional is your booth at shows?

I realize that a lot of this is a Catch 22: you need clients to get good work to show but you need good work to get clients . That's why a lot of us do volunteer work to build our portfolios either at shelters or with Rescue Groups. You can't sell potential or promises. You have to have portraits that show what you can do and that are good enough for potential clients to visualize in their own homes. I'm not suggesting that you don't have those images. I'm merely emphasizing that you need to have them.

And, yes, the process does take time. You can decide that a particular venue isn't giving you access to the right people but if it does deliver the right audience and they still aren't buying, then it's something else. And maybe it's merely the opportunity to see your work again. We have major, national corporate clients that sell through trade shows and they understand that being at one show once isn't going to necessarily provide them with the sales opportunities they need. So, they budget for all the shows and they go back at least twice before they even consider pulling the plug on a show. In advertising, the formula is Reach X Frequency and it holds for shows as well as media advertising. If you reach your audience at one show and they don't buy, there's a chance they'll be more receptive at the next show if you are also there. Or the next one.

Jim