Booth Event Best Practices
Let’s talk booth events!!! Booth events are one of the most fun aspects of my business. I love doing booths and have found a ton of success when having a booth at the right events in my community. Before we dive in, go read the UBAM booth policy to make sure you’re clear on the policies in place on booths. These policies are put in place to make sure we *ALL* have successful events — yourself included!
Why add a booth event to your calendar? Booth events allow you to find new customers, hostesses and team members! Many times you get stuck in your friend circle and events are a great way to break out of that circle. It’s also a great way to get out in your community and share what you love to do with others. While booking parties is a priority at a booth, you also have the potential for a very profitable event.
Where do you find booth events? So many places! Go search on facebook for upcoming events in your community. My personal criteria for selecting a booth is: 1) family-friendly, kid-oriented events, 2) traffic – how many people will be in attendance and 3) vendor fee. Before signing up for an event, ask questions and make sure it’s a good fit for you! Check out this video from last fall about finding booth events.
What do you need to bring?
- Square card reader (it’s free!)
- 1-3 tables (depending on booth size)
- Racks, cubes, branded boxes, bookshelves to display books
- Tablecloth
- Lead forms for raffle entry
- Jar or bucket for a raffle
- Catalogs with your contact information
- Calculator (or use your phone)
- Pens
- Usborne Banner
- Cash Box or Zipper Pouch with $80-100 in change
- Your calendar – know your availability to book parties
- Booking incentives (Booking Bags are fun!)
- Business Cards
- Flyers, Brochures on the Biz Opportunity
- Receipt Slips (I use square for this so I’m paperless!)
- Order Forms
- BOOKS! (Cash & Carry Inventory, Consignment or Sample Books from your Starter Kit or personal collection)
- Stickers
- Plastic Bags
- Signage (Specials, Box Sets, Special Features)
- Canopy for Outdoor Events
- Kids activities
How do you get guests in your booth? Have some eye candy! My go-to is busy books on a bright green cart. It captures adults and kids attention. Setting up a kids activities table might also invite them in. Once someone is lurking outside your booth, invite your guests in. Everyone enjoys an invitation. Once guests are in your booth, be helpful and offer recommendations. Also, give them their space while they’re browsing! Be sure to mention your raffle and invite them to enter.
How do I follow up with guests after a booth? I typically follow up with my “hot leads” within 24 hours. All of my leads get added to my email sequence in ConvertKit to nurture that relationship and stay in front of them over time!
Most of all, HAVE FUN!Â
SHARE WITH YOUR TEAM
Good Morning! I am doing my first booth event and I was wondering what logo you use for it? The event needs me to submit a logo and I want it to be awesome. Can you help me out?
Hey Emily – Do you have a personal logo for your direct sales business (like Becky had with Becky’s Book Corner)? If so I would use that. If not you could use the corporate logo with your name underneath. If you need help creating a personal logo there’s a few options I would recommend: DIY it in Canva, find a pre-made logo on Etsy or hire a graphic designer. Hope that helps!
Hello would you mind sharing which blog platform you’re using?
I’m looking to start my own blog soon but I’m having a difficult
time making a decision between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal.
The reason I ask is because your design seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for
something unique. P.S My apologies for getting off-topic
but I had to ask!
I highly recommend WordPress using the Divi theme. It offers more than just a site for blogging, but would allow you to grow with your business! Check out Jeremy’s post on building a website here: https://moderndirectseller.com/website/.
If you aren’t interested in going through all the steps and want a shortcut, learn about Launch Your Website in a Weekend template website and eCourse! (https://courses.myconsultanttraining.com/course/website/) Enrollment is currently closed but we’ll be opening it again very, very soon!
Thank you for this training. I feel a little less nervous for my first booth event this month. I would also ask if you can provide examples of you follow up emails, notes.
Thank you
Diane
Coming soon, Diane! I will have some examples in the near future on email marketing in an upcoming blog post. Sounds like there’s a lot of questions on this! 🙂
Look forward to seeing that!
Thank you
Hi Becky,
I have my first vendor event in May. I was looking into a town fair that happens in September. It seems really reasonably priced but the hours are kind of crazy. It is open Friday and Saturday from 9-10:30pm and Sunday from 9-7pm. Obviously I couldn’t possibly work all those hours but it does say in the literature that is supposed to be someone manning the booth at all times during those hours. Could I have someone who gives me breaks and takes over the booth? Or is that frowned upon? Tens of thousands of people go to this fair so I feel like it is a really good opportunity. I just wasn’t sure of our companies rules on that. Thanks!
Wow, what an exciting booth opportunity! Yes, of course! On those long days, I always have a teammate helping out to give me breaks or even bring my hubby along to help. I also make friends with my booth neighbors so if I need a quick potty break, they’ll keep an eye on my booth for me! 🙂 Best of luck!
Awesome awesome training, thank you!
Are you able to provide examples of what you include in your 12 follow up emails over the 8 weeks?
Hi Sass! I’m actually working on a blog post about my email follow up sequence from events. Check back soon and I’ll share more! 🙂 Thanks!