In a post at the Lunch Pail blog, bride-to-be Casey Barto recounts a visit to a bridal expo. "On the day of the show with pen in hand, I scribbled my email address and name on the contact lists of vendors who interested me most," she says. What happened next taught her a few best-practices about following up with prospects met at tradeshows.

Here are four key tips based on her experience:

Follow up promptly. "After the show was over, I was ready to receive at least a few welcome emails," she says. "I checked my email throughout the first week after the show—nothing. Didn't they want my business?" Then, nearly two weeks later, they flooded her inbox en masse. By the time she got all the messages, she had a hard time remembering who was who.

Explain why you're making contact. Jog a recipient's memory with a quick reminder of how you met or why you're touching base. "I can't tell you how many emails I've received … that have gone in the junk folder because I didn't remember talking to someone or signing up for something," she notes.

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