You can't have a better business than this – A home party related business where you don't really buy anything and you really don't sell anything.
We are talking about organizing home party shows. No, no, this is not about hosting home parties. This is about hosting a trade show where 'Home Party plan' companies/businesses can display their wares.
The thrust of the show is not to sell products but to recruit representatives to have their own home parties. You make money by selling space at the show (say, $25.00 per space/ stall). You can also charge a small $1 – $2 entrance fee for people who come to attend the show.
The first thing is to get information about 'direct selling' (i.e. home party plan) businesses and get them to enroll for the trade show (i.e. buy space at your trade show). Look for this information in yellow pages, ads section in local newspapers and on the Internet. Use a template, e.g. a spreadsheet, to collect all this information. This will become your personal database for future reference. In the same way, you can prepare your own personal database of possible trade show venues.
Your next task will be to decide on the venue. Depending on how many businesses/companies you expect to enroll, you might need a big or a small place. Besides that, you also need to look for some basic things like:
1. Ease of access to the place.
2. Population living in and around the location.
3. Reviews of the venue (ask the venue owner to provide references)
4. Number of trade shows/expos/exhibitions held previously and the number of people who attended them (a higher number will mean that the place is good and the people know the place already)
5. Cost or the fee charged by the owner.
6. The facilities available and whether they provide all the services and staff required at the trade show. (You don't want to get bogged down in managing all such aspects)
Once you have decided the venue, or are left with two or three to choose from, you can start calling the home party plan businesses. Use a well-rehearsed summary to describe the trade show to them and ask them to get enrolled.
Tip: To establish credibility and trust with the home party plan businesses, you should try to get some industry contacts, which you can quote as a reference. Membership-of or affiliation-with a commerce association can help too.
The last thing is getting the crowd to your show. You can run catchy ads in local newspapers and get pamphlets distributed at local clubs and other busy places in your locality. The ads should be concise but informative and should have directions to the location.
You will need to carefully calculate the amount that you can spend on advertising and arranging for the show; after-all any business is good only if it yields good profits.
Resources:
Organizing shows:
http://www.expoweb.com/Show_Management_101/0693_rules.htm
Guide for exhibitors:
http://www.sideroad.com/Trade_Shows/trade_show_marketing_mistakes.html
February 16, 2009
