How to Host a Successful Home Business Expo

You are in direct sales or network marketing?

No doubt you are having parties, luncheons, meetings or other events to showcase your products and business opportunities.

But have you ever thought of hosting a larger event that is open to the public? If you're building your business primarily on the Internet, you may shy away from activities not in line, but I hope to convince you of the many benefits of hosting a Home Business Expo.

The advantages of planning a big event in line are the following:

You can potentially get a lot of targeted leads for your business opportunity or product.

It will be seen as the "go-to" person in your community to work at home information.

If you work well, you get a lot of media attention.

You're providing a service that benefits people in the community.

The level of credibility is higher when people meet you face-to-face.

It is strongly recommended to include other moms in business when planning the event. After all, your business is not right for everyone! Invite other Moms work at home means that you do a lot of new friends, expand your network, and even do a little 'too much money, which will more than cover your advertising and other associated costs.

Ok, so we covered the "why", we try to work on the "how".

Choose a location

I have hosted events in public libraries, and these are great for a couple of reasons: They are free to reserve and most of the people in the community will know where they are.

Disadvantages: May not be able to serve drinks that can not be a big deal to you, but may make it harder for the Pampered Chef lady asked to sell his product. However, this can not be a factor in determining whether the event is designed more as a lead generation tool for recruitment. Hotel has conference rooms beautiful, but often carry a hefty price tag, although in some cities you can only pay $ 50 - $ 75 for the room. The advantage of booking a room in a hotel is that it is usually able to serve food and also send signals to the outside of the room. Gyms and leisure centers are good too.

Choose a theme

Since space is limited and you can not include everyone, it's a good idea to choose a theme for your business expo. For example, sellers may want to limit Moms in direct sales, or you may want to choose homeschooling parents in the business world. A friend of mine hosted a Natural Moms expo, and invited the women who made herbal products, midwives, yoga instructors, massage therapists and the like. Having a theme also makes your advertising efforts easier because it clarifies what your event is "everything."

Other suggestions for planning

To my events, I have always asked each vendor to be responsible for their table. (Most of the moms in business have a so this was not an imposition.) You will not have to worry whether the venue has had enough.

Encourage your suppliers to have a lot of information on their business at hand - prints, catalogs, business cards, etc. It 's also a good idea for them to have a small door prize as a way to collect the names and numbers of people who look at their business.

Decide how much you're going to charge suppliers. I always kept my vendor fee very low, since it was not so much interested in making a huge profit while I was reporting my activities to the community and help mothers to obtain information about legitimate work from home.

I have participated in events that I had not planned and was very disappointed at the poor attendance, when I paid a good fee to participate. You do not want your suppliers to become resentful. If you decide to host another Expo, you'll have a lot of people who want to participate again and can assist you if the first is a success. So keep those things in mind when deciding how much to pay suppliers. I also strongly recommend that you keep the event free to the public.

Early Start Advertising

I am a big believer in press releases because they work! Local media is likely to invite you to ask questions about an event, especially if you live in a small town. Some tips on press releases:

1) emphasize that your event will help the public. Are you going to educate women on how to avoid work at home scams? There will be free information and samples available? Gifts and door prizes? Are children welcome? Etc.

2) Make sure you send your press release online (do a Google search for "submit the press release"), as well as fax or e-mail to local newspapers.

3) Call the first newspaper to see how you prefer to receive the grant and always follow to make sure they got it!

You may be able to advertise your business expo for free online at some of the work at home websites, as well as websites of interest. Doing an Internet search for "submit event", with the city name in the search. This should give you some places to submit your event at. You'll likely find that as few women know about the event, you will not have trouble finding the suppliers! Especially if you hold down the cost for inclusion. In order to keep in touch with vendors for upgrades and communication, consider starting a list of on-line newsletter just for this purpose. Otherwise you end up answering phone calls and e-mail and say the same things over and over again.

Getting a lot of participants

If your press release is picked up by some local newspapers will probably be a lot of people show up for your event, but it is also a good idea to diversify your advertising. Pull out a small ad in a newspaper if there is a community event near you (but be sure to send your first press release to see if I give you free advertising!). Enter your event on the online forums that allow you to do so. Encourage your suppliers to invite their customers (it's great if you can have some product on hand at retail, thus saving the cost of shipping customers) and the hot market. Post flyers at local businesses, always ask permission first (I almost never anyone say no). And be sure to have large and well positioned signs that indicate your event as you would if you were having a yard sale.

Well that is it! I hope you plan a business expo that brings tons of new and potential customers, and establishes you as a work at home mom in your area! ......