February
14, 2018
Helicopter Trade Shows
and Helicopter Links Comparison
By Mike Hampson, owner,
Helicopter Links.
 San
Diego, California, USA: Helicopter trade shows are
very exciting. There is anticipation preparing to
attend the show, traveling to the show and to enjoying
the
show itself.
However,
the expense of attending a helicopter trade show
can be overwhelming for the attendees and exhibitors.
Attendees
need
to be able to afford the admission fee, all travel
expenses and be able to take the time off from work.
Also, to enjoy the show further, one needs the finances
for buying gifts, souvenirs or products while
at the
trade
show.
The photo to the right is of Enstrom
Helicopter Corporation's trade show booth from
Heli-Expo 2015. (Photo by Helicopter
Links.)
Exhibitors spend a small fortune
to have a booth at helicopter
trade
shows, from the expensive cost of a
trade show booth, to the travel expenses for
multiple employees, to
design flyers and ship these, purchase trade show
giveaways and ship these, to set up and tear down
the booth (using employees and outside hired help),
to man the booth and there are probably all sorts
of other expenses at trade shows. One helicopter
company told me it cost 1 million U.S. dollars just
to transport
their
helicopter
(a very large helicopter) from the USA to a helicopter
trade
show in the United Kingdom. I've had some other
helicopter OEM's indicate that their large multi-story
trade show booths are in the million dollar range.
Lots of money is
spent for a mere three (3) days at a trade show!
With that said,
exhibitors (from the owners, CEOs, marketing people,
their staff), I hope would be grounded in
the
reality
that not
every key person in the helicopter industry,
from pilots, mechanics, office personnel and business
owners, can afford to attend helicopter trade shows!
In addition, many
helicopter related businesses cannot afford or justify
the time and expense to have a booth at
a helicopter trade show.
I'll always remember the time when
I met the owner of a helicopter operator company
from India, who was
attending
Heli-Expo 2012 in Dallas, Texas, USA. I asked
him if any of his employees were attending, he said
he was the only person in his company who could
afford to travel to the USA for Heli-Expo. He told
me he simply could
not pay for any of his employees to attend the trade
show. Here's a business owner from India and he
can't afford to send even one of his employees to
Heli-Expo! I've also had several advertising clients
of mine, in
the
USA,
tell me
they don't
attend Heli-Expo
too often because of the personal expense and they
don't have a booth due to the expense as well.
Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly
not discounting helicopter trade shows. I'm simply
saying that many people who would like to attend
a helicopter trade show as an attendee
or exhibitor can't afford to. I love to
attend helicopter trade shows (when
I can afford
it)
and I would always recommend that everyone
as possible, in the industry or those who simply
have
a love
of helicopters, to try to attend the helicopter
trade show nearest you.
Besides their drawbacks, helicopter
trade shows are an excellent place to
meet business colleagues, make
friends,
meet leaders in the industry, attend
seminars, find out about older and new companies
in the helicopter industry, see and touch products,
ask
questions to sales
people, see many current helicopters, see older
helicopter models as well, sit inside helicopters
and if you are lucky enough — get
a helicopter ride. Helicopter trade shows are really
lots of fun.
 Here
are some of the attendance numbers of several helicopter
trade shows around the world.
China Helicopter Exposition (5 days)
- 2017: Unknown at this time. (But
in 2015, they had 95,000 Total Visitors. 2015
Breakdown: 20,000 trade, 75,000 public.)
- Month: September
- Tianjin, China
- Reference: www.helicopter-china-expo.com
Heli-Expo Attendance (3 days)
- 2017: 17,778 Attendees.
- Month: End of February, beginning of March
- Dallas, Texas, USA
- Reference: Helicopter Association
International and news sources.
Heli-Russia (3 days)
HeliTech International Attendance (3 days)
- 2017:
5,000 in attendance per their website. (However,
please note that they usually have audit numbers
by www.abc.org.uk
but
the audit
numbers
could not be found at the time of this article.)
- Month: October
- London, England, United Kingdom
- Reference: Helitech
International's website.
AHS International's Forum & Technology Display
(4 days)
- 2017: 1,210 Attendees.
- Month: May
- Fort Worth, Texas, USA
- Reference: The Vertical Flight Society
If you notice above, most major helicopter
trade shows last for about three (3) days. Not a
lot of time to for buyers to find sellers! And the
reverse. And in my opinion, many key
employees
in charge of
purchasing, can't attend helicopter trade
shows. If many buyers can't afford to attend a
helicopter trade show, how can you as a seller be
available to buyers around the world? If a buyer
needs to find a seller, my
guess
is that
most people go online.
In 2017, Helicopter Links had a total
of 58,781 visitors. Our
visitors are from anywhere in the world and can
search online
at their own convenience 24 hours a day and year-round.
In fact, about 80% of Helicopter Links visitors
are
from
people
performing a search online and typing
two (2) or more search terms from the helicopter
industry, such as "helicopter manufacturers", "helicopter
engine repair", "helicopter
trade shows", "helicopter heavy lift companies".
Then, when people find Helicopter Links website,
they use it to find helicopter suppliers, products
and services in the helicopter industry.
People who use Helicopter Links, are
those who need information, researching before buying
and those ready to buy. In
a sense, one can say that Helicopter Links is like
a worldwide helicopter trade show.
 The
fact that
anyone,
at
any time, and from anywhere in the
world, can go online and find a supplier or
service in the helicopter industry is
an great value to the buyer and to the seller.
The banner ads are ready for the buyer to find,
when
the buyer
looking to spend money with a seller. And there
are no entry fees!
Helicopter
Links advertising fees are a mere drop in
the bucket when compared to the
expenses a seller has to dish out at a helicopter
trade show.
Helicopter Links Visitor's Numbers
for 2017
- 47,175 Unique Visitors
- 58,781 Total Visits
- 77,575 Pageviews
Total Visitors means
to grand total of visitors to our website, including
repeat visitors, per year. Unique
Visitors is counted the
number of individuals who visited our website, regardless
if they visited our site once or 10 times - per
year. Pageviews is
the grand total web pages everyone clicked on, per
year.
The
pageviews tell us how many extra clicks were made
by people going from one web page on Helicopter
Links to another web page, using our site to look
for more information. The more pageviews, if you
are advertising our Helicopter Links website, the
people will see your banner ads!
Helicopter Operators:
We Have Visitors From *OUTSIDE* The Helicopter Industry
These
next two paragraphs are for the helicopter operators: One
thing which might
not be apparent to the helicopter operator is this:
Helicopter
Links has people from outside the
helicopter industry, such as general contractors,
pipeline and utility
companies,
fire
departments, governments
and other industries in need of hiring helicopter
operators, visiting our website. We know this because
we get emails and phone calls each month from these
types of visitors. My guess is that these companies
rarely if ever, attend helicopter trade shows,
trying to find helicopter
operators.
But they certainly go
online and find Helicopter
Links website to find helicopter operators for
hire.
I've also asked some of these contractors
(when they are on the phone with me) if they know,
by name, of some of the big helicopter operators
(which typically attend
Heli-Expo)
and not one of these contractors has ever
heard of these companies - by name. I know personally,
that Helicopter Links is useful each year, to companies
outside of the helicopter industry, which are searching
for helicopter operators to help them complete their
jobs.
Helicopter Suppliers
& Service Companies/Manufacturers: We Have Visitors
From INSIDE
The Helicopter Industry
Our web statistics also tell
us that many Helicopter Links' visitors are from inside the
helicopter industry. Many of the major helicopter
parts and engine suppliers such as BAE Systems,
B/E Aerospace, Cobham, Goodrich, General Electric,
General Dynamics, L-3 Communications, Raytheon Company,
Rolls-Royce, Pratt and Whitney, Safran, Thales,
etc.) visiting us, all the major helicopter manufactures
visit our website, banks, private individuals, many
different branches from governments (city, state
and federal and military agencies) and oil companies
(probably searching to purchase helicopters or find
parts and services, for their helicopters) visit
our website.
From helicopter operators
looking to gain new customers and jobs, to companies
selling directly to helicopter operators, will
benefit from advertising on Helicopter Links website
because
with Helicopter Links and unlike helicopter trade
shows, we have visitors from both inside and outside the
helicopter industry, searching to find a seller.
======== Helicopter Trade Shows VERSUS Helicopter
Links Website Comparison =========
Helicopter Trade Shows
- Short duration, from 3
to 5 days.
- Mostly regional visitors.
- Only visitors with
a budget can attend.
- Very
expensive for the exhibitor.
Helicopter Links Website:
- There is no entry fee to use Helicopter
Links website.
- Available to anyone worldwide,
365 days per year.
- You can expand your customer base
with local, regional, national and international
customers.
- Visitors
from both inside and outside the helicopter
industry visit Helicopter Links.
- Affordable for the advertiser.
Helicopter Links Visitors:
- 80% of our visitors
are from performing an online searches - using
two (2) or more search terms, looking for products
and services, and then they find Helicopter Links
website.
- People are using Helicopter Links for
the same reason why buyers use Amazon and eBay.
They are buyers searching for sellers, either
researching before buying or ready to buy.
- Your return on investment with
Helicopter Links is allowing you to advertising,
market and brand
your company directly to the buyers in the helicopter
industry. Buyers can find your company and then
your employees have the leads they need to make
the sale!
For more information about our advertising
options and rates, please call or email us at +1
(858) 413-7074 or staff@helicopterlinks.com. Helicopter
Links is located in San Diego, California, USA.
-End article.
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