One thing you need to know about me if you don’t already, is I love Facebook parties. I was one of the pioneers back in the day before things like Facebook Live existed. When I was an Executive Leader, it’s how I built my team, it’s how I grew my business, and it’s where I saw huge amounts of success. They’re just my jam.
Are you like many Direct Sellers who are apprehensive about digging into the crazy world of Facebook parties? You may be intimidated about trying a different way to run your business. Or you may be afraid of technology and not a fan of doing things in multiple ways. But diversifying the way you do business is the only way you’re going to grow.
Right now, and for the foreseeable future, Facebook parties are the way you’re going to level up. They’re the tool you need to transform your business to thrive in this new normal while living in a virtual world.
Don’t be afraid of trying something new. You’ve already mastered the art of the home party, and guess what? A Facebook party is simply a home party done on social media, so don’t overanalyze it! Merely use the skills you’ve already learned and put them to work on your Facebook parties.
Think about what you do at a home party, what images you use, how you sell the product and implement that virtually. It’s not any different, and once you do a few, you’ll realize that, and I think you’ll really love Facebook parties as much as I do.
Let’s dig in…
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COACH YOUR HOST
When you think of “coaching,” what comes to mind? I personally think of my cross country coach from high school. She would be there every day after school at practice giving us our run for the day – how long we had to run, how fast she wanted us to do it when we were supposed to sprint, and when we should pace ourselves. Then she would go running WITH us and talk to us along the way. Change this. Try that. Just little tips and tricks, because SHE was the expert.
Your hosts are looking to you for the same thing. They need to be coached. Unless they’re another direct sales consultant that’s rockin’ their own business, they have no idea what they’re doing. They don’t do parties for a living; YOU do. So it’s part of your job to coach them to success.
I have a phone call with my hosts the week before the party starts. We chat about their family, what they do for a living, what’s on their wishlist. You know, small talk. Then we jump into their party, and I walk them through exactly how to have a fantastic Facebook party. I explain what to expect from me throughout the party and what I expect from them. I ask many questions like ‘have you ever hosted a virtual party before?’.
My number one key to coaching your host is to make sure she understands the importance of personal invites to her guests. And then I make it easy for her to do exactly that.
Some people have never used the event or group functionality on Facebook, so we get to teach them something new! If you’re using a new platform like Sqweee, you want to take some time to chat and walk them through it. I’ve found that when my host coaching game is strong, my party sales average goes up, my calendar stays full, and I build lasting relationships with my hosts. The point here is to not only rock your next virtual party but to help your host do it, too.
SET CLEAR PARTY EXPECTATIONS
When guests attend your party, are the instructions clear? People like to know what to expect. Make sure you’ve asked yourself some questions and thought through the following:
- When will the party start and end? Does my host know when I expect her to close the party? Do my guests know when ordering ends?
- How will guests place their orders? How will they pay? Are there any barriers to order? Are there any extra steps they need to take and are there clear instructions somewhere?
- Am I giving away prizes? How many? What do guests need to do to get an entry?
I like to include this information in a few different places. Everyone is different, and they don’t always read all the things. I like to place brief instructions on how to order, how to reach me if they have questions, and start and end dates in the party description, along with a few posts before the party begins.
It also never hurts to remind guests of these things throughout the party if you do multi-day parties. No, it’s not annoying unless it’s every post. No one will see every post. Over-communicating important info can be helpful and avoid confusion and frustration later.
CREATE A PARTY THEME
This is by far my favorite tip! Every party should have an overarching theme that you stick to. A theme goes a long way in tying products together and making the flow of the party understandable to the guests. You can use just about any theme for any product. When doing a one-hour party, one big theme will do well. If you run your parties over multiple days, you might want an overall theme for the party and sub-themes for each day. Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing:
- Pick an upcoming holiday like Christmas or Easter
- Opt for a popular icon
- Choose a popular party food like wine or chocolate and build an entire theme around it!!
- Go with a current season like Winter or Spring. You can even take this one step further by drilling down into a monthly season. For example, January is perfect for organization, September is good for Back To School, and March is synonymous with Spring Cleaning.
Along with your theme, you need to ensure your brand is strong. Create images to post with the same color schemes, the same style graphics, the same fonts, your name, and the logo plastered right on them.
According to Facebook, over 80% of what people see on Facebook is directly in their newsfeed. They’re not searching directly for your party, and if there is no consistency in your branding, people will scroll right by. Once you start to create a brand presence, they’ll realize it’s coming from you and your party, and then they’ll head back to the party to check out what’s going on!
When your images have a similar look and feel, your guests and hosts will enjoy your party even more! Programs like Canva or PicMonkey are great for creating these or if you want to save time, check out our Facebook Party themes in our Shop.
HAVE FUN
Facebook parties should be fun! It’s a party after all! The word ‘party’ conjures up all sorts of images in my mind, from colorful balloons to hanging with friends to delicious food and drinks. All the FUN things. Sadly, I’ve attended some Facebook parties that were like watching paint dry. Seriously. Every post in your party should not be ‘buy my stuff’, ‘host a party,’ or ‘join my team’. BORING!
Instead, play some games. Post some memes. Guests enjoy learning new things, so focus on “edutainment” and share some tips and tricks for your product or some random hacks that relate to it that most people don’t know. You don’t need to be bouncing off the walls, running through your house with streamers and blaring loud music. Your guests have no idea that you’re sitting in your PJ’s with no make-up on, drinking coffee because it was a crazy long day and your children are lucky to be fed and alive.
And here’s my pro-tip: if you can strengthen your gif game, you will be amazed at how much more fun your guests will have. They will think you’re the best consultant ever! And people will book because they’re sure you’ll rock their Facebook party, too!
GIVE AWAY PRIZES
Prizes add to the fun of a party but you do not have to give away the farm. They are prizes but they don’t have to be big. In fact, my guests don’t even know what the prize is until the end of the party. Why? Because I base the value of my prize on the sales of the party.
If it’s a bigger party, I’m more generous with my prizes. Make sense? And no one has ever been offended because I don’t spell out the specific prize. In fact, they hardly ask! I do let them know several times how to be entered, and if anyone asks, I tell them it’s a surprise! Everyone loves surprises, right?!
BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
Would you walk into a home party and go hide behind the counter and not talk to the host or your guests? I sure hope not. That won’t bring you any success! So, why would you do it in a virtual party?
Building relationships can be a tricky part of a virtual business. We sit behind a screen, and guests don’t really get to “see” us. It’s a good thing, too, since most days I work in old t-shirts and jeans with no make-up. #momlife
Start out fostering a relationship with your guests by messaging each guest as they RSVP for the virtual party. Welcome them with a high-energy note that gets them super excited to join you and hang out virtually during the party.
I have a personal rule that every comment gets a reply from me. I ask lots of questions and then LISTEN. Remember, God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason! When someone replies to a question, engage them in conversation, just like you would if they were sitting in someone’s living room at a home party.
When they comment with their favorite product, ask them what they love about it or what fun ways they’ve used it. If you sell food products, offer them additional recipes that they can make with a product. Sell jewelry? Ask them if they’ve seen that other piece in the collection.
One other thing to keep in mind is you want to talk with people, not at them. This can be an easy trap to fall into for virtual parties. It’s easy to just post and walk away. If you’re being virtually standoffish and not engaging with your guests, you’re not being friendly! Take the time to engage. Respond to comments and tag people. Ask them questions about their day, their kids, their lives.
Think about it in terms of if you were standing next to a guest at someone’s kitchen table – you’d engage in conversation. So do it online, too! Be super friendly, super welcoming, and overall, show the appreciation that they’re hanging out with you virtually. That’s how you’re going to build relationships!
SHARE PRODUCT BENEFITS WITH STORIES
Another great way to build relationships is to share personal stories. To do this, you need to USE your products, like all of them. Try them on. Use them. Test them out. What do you love? Anything you don’t love? Any funny mistakes you’ve made? How have you used your product to solve a problem in your home? Is there a product that your kiddos get really excited about?
Normally, guests don’t care as much about features like size, shape, or material. They want to know how that product will solve a problem for them. By sharing your personal stories, you can help them solve problems from gift-giving to clothes that fit to getting dinner on the table in 30 minutes or less. When we chat with people and listen, we can learn about the specific problems they’re facing and offer them value in their purchases.
All of this goes a long way when building a lasting relationship with your customers. You aren’t just in it for a one-and-done sale. You’re in it to provide them with exceptional service and position yourself as their go-to gal or guy.
AVOID PRODUCT OVERWHELM
Would you bring your entire catalog of products with you to an in-home party? Of course not! That’s why the catalog exists. It just isn’t practical, and it would overwhelm your guests to the point you could lose sales from it. As a guest, if you show me everything, I get so overwhelmed that I don’t buy anything at all.
Your virtual party guests can feel the same way when every post during a party is about products. Think about your theme and what products fit. If you’re talking back to school meal prep, show all the tools you need to make that happen. If you’re talking spring cleaning, only show the tools you use daily that make a difference in your home.
By being selective about what you show, you won’t overwhelm your guests, and you’ll leave more fun things to show at the next party! Mix up your content with some videos, virtual party games, and engagement posts to give them a break from the ‘buy my stuff’ posts. Make sure your products have a flow and that the party works to tell a story. Shotgun posting of random products with no connection can confuse guests. Trust me. I’ve seen it. It’s painful to watch.
MIX UP YOUR PARTY POSTS
To keep it fun and engaging, you also need to mix up your content. If you only post images or videos, this gets real old fast. Once you have a rough outline for your party, mix up the type of posts between the following:
- Engagement Posts – something that just gets people chatting! Think about your theme and what kinds of questions you could ask. If you’re doing a rainbow theme, ask their favorite color. If it’s a summer theme, ask what’s on their summer bucket list.
- Product images – these can be stock images from your company or ones you create by making a collage. You can also post multiple images in one post. If your company allows it, add some text and your personal branding to stock photos to make them even more unique and specific to you!!
- Games – It should be a rule that every party has games. Do a quick search on Pinterest, and you’ll find a long list of games that you can play at virtual parties. You can also check out our blog post with 8 different Facebook party game ideas to help you get started.
- Educational Posts – What can you educate your guests on about your theme or product line? Are there ingredients that they need to know? Do they need to see how a specific product works?
- Video – Video is a great way to break up the monotony of just image posts. If your company makes quality videos, don’t hesitate to use them. And don’t be afraid to get on camera yourself!
SHOW YOUR FACE
This one might make you stop reading but stay with me here. Guests can feel disconnected from you as the consultant with a virtual business if you don’t show your face and engage with them throughout the Facebook party.
My favorite way for my guests to get to know me is with video. (Don’t leave yet. Keep reading.) This can be via Facebook Live or a pre-recorded video from your phone. You don’t need fancy equipment or an amazing backdrop because they want to see YOU and get to know YOU. So let them see the real you.
I mean, make sure you have on clean clothes, and that pile of laundry from 3 days ago isn’t sitting in the background. But you don’t need professional lighting or glamorous makeup (unless you’re selling makeup) to be authentic. Trust me. Your hair and make-up look fine. Just show your face!
In my Facebook parties, I do what I call “Magic Word” videos. This is a fun and easy way to get guests to see my face, hear my voice, and engage with me outside of the actual event. I have many pre-recorded videos that show how to use specific products or offer quick tips. At the end of the video, I give them a Magic Word. I encourage them to private message me the word for extra entries into the party prize drawing. They LOVE these videos!
Not only are they seeing my face, hearing how excited I am about whatever I’m using, and learning something new, but guess what else happens! Most of the time, when someone messages me, it turns into a full-blown conversation! They can’t wait to tell me about a product they have and love or ask me a question about something they’re thinking about ordering. Because they’ve seen my face and connected with me outside of the party, I’ve taken a huge leap into building a long-term relationship with them.
TEST EVERYTHING
Have you ever heard the saying, there is no such thing as failure? I’m a firm believer in this. Even as an Executive Leader with a million-dollar team, I had some flop situations when I was new to Facebook parties. And you know what? That was OK because it allowed me to learn how to do it better next time, ultimately leading to success.
In the beginning, I just kept throwing mud at the wall until I figured out what stuck. I’m not gonna lie. It took some serious grit to get through the parties that were less than amazing and pick apart what was working and what wasn’t. I tested posting times, types of posts, themes, length of the party…literally all the things.
The only way to grow and evolve as an individual and a business owner is through trial and error. Try something new. Did it work? No? Well, scrap that and try something else. Yes? Awesome, keep it up! And not only is it about trial and error, it’s about evolving with the technology and embracing change, so that you’re up-to-date and trying out the newest features and methods of selling.
Eventually, you figure out the perfect plan. What works best for you, your guests, your family – it’ll all come together! Just keep testing!
I cannot wait to see you start implementing the above 11 Tips in your business – I promise you’ll see success!
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Want a proven plan for growing your direct sales business without feeling like you're chasing your tail? The Direct Sellers Business Blueprint explains the 4 key areas you must master to build a simplified, systematic business. It will even tell you which area to tackle first, so you can stop feeling overwhelmed or confused about what to do next. The best part? It's completely FREE!
Mary Haynes is a highly successful direct sales leader turned strategist and coach. Her passion is helping party plan people streamline and scale their businesses using simple, proven strategies. Her goal is to eliminate business overwhelm so direct sellers know exactly what to do and when to do it. Mary is also a homeschooling mama that lives in sunny Florida with her husband, 4 kiddos, 2 dogs, and various other backyard animals.
