Ok, I have been to about 10 trade shows in the past 4 years and a topic of discussion is always regarding what is the best swag to give away. I have it narrowed down to a few of my favorites with a few tips on how to select which one you should give away.

Top 5 Best Trade Show Giveaway Idea's

5. Flashing Super Balls. It sounds cheesy, but odds are really good that your clients have kids and kids love toys. Most of the people at the conference won't have much time to get their kids anything, so they seek out the cool freebies to bring home for their kids. The first time I saw these used the company giving them away was out of them in 4 hours and it was a 3 day show. That is why the flashing super ball is on the top freebie list.

4. Novelty Pens. Cool pens are highly sought after, but not just a bic with your name on it, it has to be a special pen. I have seen pens that unfold when you click on the button, pens that glow neon colors, and the really nice executive steel pens do really well. Almost all booths will give away pens, make yours the best or don't bother.

3. Chamois Computer Screen Wipes. If your demographic is corporate, sales, executive, or c-level than you can count on two things....they have high tech screens like touch sensitive hand held devices and/or they have LCD monitors and TVs. You can also count on the fact that they lost the soft lint free wipes that it came with. Help them out by providing them with a new one that they won't lose this time...with your logo.

2. Power Squid Device Extender. This is like a power strip but better. It can be used for all large adapters and is flexible to be used behind a desk and offer a few more precious inches of slack. If your clients have a desk with as much crap on it as I do, they will love this little device and see your logo whenever they plug something new in.

1. USB Flash Drive. Who doesn't need a USB drive as a key chain or in your pocket? No one I know actually burns CD's or DVD's unless they need to and the floppy is long dead. USB hard drives are too bulky and you look really nerdy pulling one our of your desk to move a 1mb file. This is the crowd pleaser and is guaranteed (not by me directly) to get the most use from your client and something they will keep handy. If you need to get people to flock to your booth and keep your swag forever, go with this. They will run you a pretty penny for larger ones or custom shapes but they are worth it.

Honorable mention...Foreign Money. This is the coolest thing I have got at a tradeshow, but doesn't work for everyone. I got a Chinese Renminbi with the sales rep's name and email address writen on it. It is a banknote, but only worth approximately $0.30 but it was really cool and my kids loved it too. I only included it as an honorable mention because it doesn't work unless you are from that country or have a direct tie, otherwise it just brings up other questions and makes for an akward conversation.

I hope this has been helpful. To find some of these great products, just visit my sponsors on the left column under the 'popular' heading.