I hold regular soap home parties, as well as Virtual Soap Parties (like a home show, but held online)...it's a great way to meet new customers and network in reaching even more customers by getting the hostess's friend to hold their own gathering later on.

I thought I'd put together some tips for the first-time seller thinking about branching out and doing some homeshows---the Holiday season is the perfect excuse to ask your friends/family to host your first show!

So first things first: How the heck do you get people to host? Family and friends are always a good start but if you're like me, they may be the LAST people you'd ask..lol I started snagging hosts by putting out info flyers on my craft-tables at shows. I also put an ad on Craigslist. Yes, some people really don't mind a complete stranger coming to their house to sell their friends something.

Prepare invitations for the hostess. Include all the info they'll need to know--time, place, date, but also describe what kinds of items will be for sale and forms of payment you accept. You don't want everyone showing up with credit card in hand if you don't take that form of payment. Make the focus of the invitation about the social aspect
of the party, rather than the sales. Don't worry---people know that when they get invited to something like that, that they are expected to spend a little money---so they'll already be prepared for that when RSVP'ing with the hostess.
Clear it with the hostess first (for space constraint reasons, etc.) before including in the invite whether or not you want to suggest to each guest to bring another person they know..the more the merrier, and more sales for you!

Arrange in advance what YOU will need from the hostess..if you are going to need her to provide you with a surface to set up on, tell her beforehand---the last thing you want is showing up to her house and scrambling to find a suitable table. Tell the hostess if you need a place with a lot of light, so she doesn't stick you in a dark corner (although a dark corner might be cool if you sell shirts that glow in the dark), if you need to be near electrical outlets, etc.

Even though it's common for the hostess to provide light refreshments, I always find it really impresses them when you bring one as well to share with everyone. You can do something simple (and easily transportable) like veggies with dip, a coffee cake, or small finger sandwiches. It also shows that you are again trying to make everything
easier on the hostess, and that gesture will go a long way when she's talking about how easy it was to be a host with her friends. Ensure that the food you bring is on a disposable tray that she can simply throw out afterwards instead of having to be bothered with cleaning it out and returning it.

Have a timeline of when the actual "show" part of the party will end. If you're dealing with someone else's family and friends, rather than your own relatives---they will most likely stay long after the party is supposed to end..I let the hostess know in advance that the first half hour of a home party is reserved for "waiting for stragglers, chit-chat, getting a drink, etc.", and then there's a short 10-min presentation where I'll talk about handmade soap in general, my products, benefits of ingredients, invite them to browse and let them know how to be a host too at their own party. I also try to do at least 2 ice-breaker games as well with prizes.
After that, I allow an hour to two hours (depending upon how large the group is) for shopping while socializing, and then I'll quietly ask the hostess to announce that I'll be leaving shortly so if anyone wants to still make a purchase now is the time to do so. If it's your own family, I'm certain it's alright to stay as long as you want and socialize
all through the night----when it's a stranger's family, it can become a bit awkward so you may want to set a time-line with your host beforehand as to when the show is officially at an end and you will be leaving.

Give out as much info about your business as you can to each guest...make sure EVERYONE, no matter whether they bought or not, leaves with a business card, an info sheet/pamphlet on how they can be a host of their own party and the benefits of such, etc. You may also want to include little gift bags of samples for each guest if it's feasible for you to do so. Hopefully some will contact you to be a host, or at the very least return to your shop online later on.


So what about incentives for the host? Here's a short blurb on what I offer taken from my pamphlets:

*Receive a hostess box filled with Bath & Beauty products and other goodies.
*Get 20% of the Total Retail Sales during your Home Show in credit to use in my online store.
*Raise your credit by inviting lots of friends and family, and having them invite at least 1 other person.
*Receive a $5 credit towards future soap purchases for every person that books and then subsequently hosts a Soap Home Show, or web site show from your show. +Credit not given for those guests who later cancel hosting a home show or web site show+

If you're a jewelry/clothing seller you may ask your hostess to wear something that you made while hosting the show, as it encourages your hostess to talk about the piece with her guests, and make sure you wear something you made too!

Giving an incentive depending upon how many others sign up to host a party is important---you don't want your first show to be your last, so your hostess may help convince her friends to host their own show later on.

Lastly, don't concentrate so much on the hard-sell aspect of home shows..don't worry, people WILL shop, and they realize they are expected to spend money when being invited to these sort of things---just like you know you're expected to spend money if someone invites you to a Pampered Chef party. The main goal of the hostess it to have fun and hopefully get some free items in the end...the main goal for you as the seller should be to not just to make sales, but also to get booked *again* for another party.

So don't just hide behind your table waiting for people to hand you money---get out from behind there, socialize, have some fun, grab a drink, and party too!

Posted at 9:09 am Jul 19, 2010 EDT