So, you're calendar is not quite where you want it to be, and you need to add several bookings in a pinch. We've all been there at one point or another in our businesses, and I'm about to show you how to add SEVERAL bookings that will give your calendar the jumpstart that it needs!

What's more, is that one of these doesn't even involve asking another person & depending on their response, you can add it to your calendar right away!! Read on, and get your calendar ready to mark down all the new bookings you're going to add! I also have a BONUS TIP for you at the end, you won't want to miss this!

1. Host Your Own Mystery Host Party

This is one that you can use right away IMMEDIATELY to boost your bookings. Invite all of your past hosts from the prior year, and your most loyal/frequently buying customers. I recommend doing this one first, putting it on your calendar as soon as you can, because it will lead to other, later bookings if done right.

So, how exactly do you do a mystery host party "right"? You use the incentive of the free product/host benefits that one lucky party guest will receive as leverage for getting them to book. Basically you are going to give tickets for things, like:

• rsvp'ing - 1 ticket
• being active in the party (whether that be in person or virtual, give a ticket for comments/questions etc)
  
• making a purchase - 3 tickets for every $25 they spend
• booking a party for the following month - 25 ticket
  
• booking a party for a later date 10 - tickets

Do you see how the incentive lies in them doing what you want most?! Getting that close booking to stock your calendar!

2. Offer a Fundraiser to a Local Community Group

This is a party in which you will choose to leverage a portion of your profits to benefit the host who agrees to hold a party and thereby introduce you to a whole new group of customers & POTENTIAL NEW HOSTS! While you will make less money than usual on this type of booking, it's often an easy one to land because you are not asking for a party, you are offering a service! It will also grow into more loyal customers, and new bookings if done right! Think: girl scouts, church missions groups, a school sports team, the local gymnastics club, a teacher (bless her with some free product AND money for extra classroom supplies!) 

So how do you do a fundraiser successfully in your biz? Using the same method as you do with the mystery host party, you're going to give those profits in return for the outcome you want to achieve. Since in this case it's bookings (you can use this to achieve goals with retail or recruiting too, if that's what you need, BUT pick only one thing per party!!) You may choose to offer 25% of your party profits to their cause as a baseline, regardless, and then increase that percentage based on parties booked. For example, 50% of profits if 2 parties are booked, 75% of profits if at least 4 parties are booked, and 100% of profits if 6 or more. Make sure to have your fundraiser host working with you on obtaining these bookings, even before the party starts, she has a huge incentive to do so, don't forget that!

Make sure to clearly spell out for your potential fundraiser hosts that the portion they will receive is from your profits, not the total retail, and let them know what that profit percentage is upfront.

3. Do a Giveaway

Gather up some retired, or bonus product that you've received from your company, make it very desirable & package it in a cute but inconspicuous way so that everyone is wondering what all could possibly be in this amazing bundle of products!! (I recommend $100-$200 worth of product if you can). SELL THE SIZZLE on it girl! Post about it on your social media, in your groups etc that you are holding a giveaway for this "excess" amazing product that you have on hand, and that they can enter by commenting "I want to win this!". 

You have just now identified those in your social media circles who would really love to get some free product!! (Umm, hello, that's our hosts every day of the week!!

Send those who comment a message with the contest rules outlining that to get a ticket to win this AMAZING bundle, they will just need to hold a party in the next month to be in the running. Let them know how fast, fun & easy it is to do this, and of course make sure to tell her how much free product she will be able to get at her own party! You may even give these hosts extra tickets in the drawing for doing certain things, like:

• having $100 in pre-orders before her party starts
• having at least 3 people book parties from her party
• having 10 or more guests who attend/participate & shop online.

(Once again, you are incentivizing the behavior you want to see! Have you noticed this recurring theme?! It's a good thing to weave into your biz!!) 

Hold a facebook live at the end of the month to recognize all your wonderful hosts for their efforts, tell about the amazing free stuff they got at their parties and then draw the winner of the Big Bundle giveaway. (You may not realize, but you've just laid the groundwork for anyone listening to that live to start thinking about having their own party too!)

4. Post Your Featured Party Themes for the Month

In this other blog post, I give you the whole scoop for using party themes to make your parties more successful. Go check that out to see what a HUGE psychological effect a simple party theme can have. Then pick 3 or 4 to feature according to the season (here are some great ones for Fall!) and post a cute graphic for each one in your social groups/pages with a caption "Which one would you pick?". When people comment or "vote" with their likes on a particular image, it lets you know that THAT party theme appeals to them. Reach out to them to let them know how easy & fun it would be to plan this party for her & her friends, and find a good date to put on the calendar with her.

I also like to find some cute and inexpensive gifts (My favorite spot to find such items is the Target dollar spot, or TJ Maxx!) that go along with the theme, and offer those special thank you's to the first 3 hosts to put a date on the calendar after you post! For example: a cute blanket scarf for the party theme "All bundled Up".

5. Use a Great Booking Activity at your Parties

This one is so crucial if you don't want to be constantly starting your calendar from scratch every other month. Ick! NO direct seller wants to do that!! Hands down, the EASIEST way to book parties is AT OTHER PARTIES!! Don't let these opportunities go by just waiting for someone to tell you that they want to book a party, because, spoiler alert, that doesn't happen very often.

The purpose of a booking activity is to help people come to a decision about booking a party (and you know, us gals can be an indecisive bunch a whole lot of the time!!!) before they leave and go home, never to think about it again!

You need an activity that works well for your product, offers an extra incentive to say "yes" right away, and is FUN!! If you plan something that makes people uncomfortable, you won't book anything! I really love the dice game, and had great success with it in my time as a direct seller.

The bottom line is, you need to look around and find one that works for YOU, (pinterest has many ideas and options, or ask your upline to suggest one that is tried and proven !), because if you aren't comfortable playing the booking game, it will show through, and people will not book.

Following the booking activity, you need to make sure to put down that party date with the guests who said "yes". DO NOT wait to call them another day and set this up, make sure to get that commitment while her excitement level about her party is high. (Then keep her excitement high until the party with effective host coaching, but that is another post for another day!

I hope these booking ideas have given you some really practical ways to add 4-8 bookings to your calendar in a pinch! So, go get on with adding some of these to your calendar!! Which one will you try first?

Bonus Tip!

Now that you have oodles of new bookings on your calendar, I wanted to tell you what all of the cool direct sellers are using to manage their parties for success!! If you haven't yet signed up for a free trial of our web-app, This is Dot, you're gonna want to do that right away. It has an automated reminder system for all your host coaching tasks, so that nothing will slip through the cracks that would cause any of these valuable bookings to fall of your calendar! You can sign up here to begin managing your parties (and all the other parts of your biz!) LIKE A PRO!! 

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