Successful Online Parties – How to Have a Successful Event Online
There has been a lot of talk about Online Parties and how to have Successful Online Parties with the release of Facebook Live which is now available on Facebook Pages, Groups, and even Events! You can also now Live Stream on Instagram and of course YouTube – you can even have two streams at once!
There are many benefits to both the Consultant and the Hostess for an event like this, and Online Parties can be run at any time, from anywhere, with just a few days notice. Read below to learn how to utilize and maximize Online Parties with your Home Party Plan Business!
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Why have an Online Party?
Online parties are beneficial and convenient for both the Party Plan Consultant AND the Party Plan Hostess.
For starters, a Hostess will not have to really “Host” anything – meaning no pressure to clean the house, get a babysitter, cook hors d’oeuvres, etc. A Hostess can earn the same free rewards without having to do quite as much of the “work.”
Likewise, the Party Plan Consultant can do the party from the comfort of her own home, opening up endless opportunities for long distance parties, multiple simultaneous parties, and more.
In fact, with an Online Party, you have the option to have a Hostess or not – you can “Hostess” your own party just as easily.
Organizing Your Online Party
Set up the event and Invite people just a few days before the party and send a reminder. Unlike the In-Home Party, an Online Party is much more easily forgotten. Do not invite too soon!
Invite EVERYONE from your Address Book. With an Online Party, there is no reason not to invite everyone you know – regardless of location, time zone, etc. Everyone can take advantage of an Online Party.
Use all of your Social Media outlets to advertise your event. Post on Facebook, Tweet about the event, put a link on your blog or website, put your event on open forums and message boards – the sky is the limit!
Reward people for Referrals. Consider giving discounts to anyone who invites someone you do not know to your Online Party!
When you close out your party, send EVERYONE a Thank you email (whether they attended or not) with a coupon to use at a later time and an invitation for them to stay connected with you – whether it
Running The Party
With Online Parties you have a little bit of flexibility for how you actually run the party. With Facebook, you can create a Facebook Event which lets the party stay “open” for several days.
People can visit the event page at any time to see your posts, links, and testimonials as well as to watch your Facebook Live in action or after it is over.
You can create the event and send out invitations asking your guests to RSVP. Make sure to set up all of the details of the event (including the description, images, etc) BEFORE sending out the invitations – that way you do not annoy the guests with notifications right off the bat.
As they RSVP you will get notifications and can engage before the Facebook Live portion begins.
You can also create a Facebook Group specifically for each party. Benefits of using a Facebook Group including being able to utilize the Files section, moderate the members, and you can keep the group active long after the event is over.
On Instagram, you can “Go Live” by yourself or with a guest for a super fun,
If you are on a Business Account with more than 10,000 Followers, you can insert links into your Story for an easy “swipe up to order.”
Online Party Games
Games are fun at any party – even an Online Party! Play two or three parties during your event to increase participation. Offer “real” gifts such as add-on products, travel size products, etc.
Games should involve looking at your website or shopping cart, in order to encourage guests to look at as many products as possible.
Try doing a “Word Scramble” where you scramble the letters of the names of your best selling products and give a gift to the person who can unscramble it first.
Another idea is an “Online Scavenger Hunt” where you give a list of 5-10 products and the first guest who can give you the
Thee online party games are fun, no pressure ideas to encourage your attendees to peruse the site.
There are many variations of “Duck, Duck Goose” which are tons of fun too!
Also be sure to check out this post which has 50 Facebook Party Images that will help increase engagement with your online parties!
A few more quick tips
Create more excitement around your party by planning it around a New Product Launch, Holiday Shopping Extravaganza, or another special occasion.
Reward your Hostess for sales outside of the online space as well. Since every Party Hostess is a potential new team member, you want to show her how easy it is to sell the products online and offline.
Make sure you send her a great Hostess Packet with catalogs and order forms as well as information on the Business Opportunity.
If you do not have a set Hostess, put a spin on “Mystery Hostess” parties with Online Parties – randomly choose one purchasing attendee to be awarded the Hostess Rewards from the entire party! Repeat and post your website URL, ordering instructions, and incentives several times during the party and for any late arrivals.
Make sure guests understand shipping charges and expected shipping date. If you are keeping the party open for several days or longer after the online party, make sure your clients understand that and know when they can expect to receive their products.
Be prepared for possible problems and handle them calmly and effectively. What will you do if you start having computer problems in the middle of your party? How will you answer a guest who keeps asking off-topic questions? Or what if there’s a disruptive intruder or someone starts promoting sales of her products?
Be as graceful as possible when handling such issues. If your computer is making participation nearly impossible, ask for email addresses and email everyone an apology and a discount coupon.
Confrontation with rude and disruptive intruders will only escalate the problem and make your other guests uncomfortable. Most chat rooms have an ignore feature that you can instruct guests to use for the disruptive intruders.
Offer to contact someone by email after the party for off-topic discussions. And ask the person who is promoting her products to wait until the end of the party and invite anyone who is interested to stay for a few minutes.
And finally, as with anything we do in our Home Party Plan Business – FOLLOW UP! Keep in touch with everyone who came, ordered, played games, or just “hung out” for a little while. If they were interested enough to come visit, they are interested enough to become a client.
Online Parties are a great way to add to your monthly volume, reach new Customers, and meet new potential Hostesses and Recruits. Done well, you can make a significant impact on your Home Party Plan Business – without ever leaving home!
Check out more tips for using Facebook Live for Your Online Parties!
