Just because your business is in a very drilled down niche doesn't mean you can't attend a variety of industry trade shows and be effective. While it isn't very common, some businesses specifically exhibit at trade shows that are free of direct competition. While the topic of the show might not quite fit your niche, you will be guaranteed to be the only business of its kind at the show.
Now, I'm not saying to go and start exhibiting your hair care products company at a oilfield expo, but there are ways of finding trade shows in industries that complement your product or service. For example, if your business manufactures sunglasses, you could potentially exhibit at an outdoor/hunting/fishing type of show. This is not the same arena, but I guarantee that the majority of people that hunt/fish or engage in any other outdoor activity DO wear sunglasses. There are a lot of opportunities for this method of exhibiting, you just need to think creatively and try to choose shows that are less costly to attend.
Certain industry shows are more expensive to exhibit at than others, so you want to take note of which niches you could potentially complement and not waste your budget on totally unrelated shows. While cost is important, you also want to make sure that the cheaper events you choose actually have the volume of visitors to make your trip worth while, because no event is worth exhibiting at if the potential ROI isn't there.
While this may seem like a risky type of method, it has paid off for many different businesses in the past, as they stood out at the off-topic shows they attended and made some great contacts.
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