A mate of mine is a Tupperware Demonstrator. She is great at it and has made a pretty successful little business out of it. Don’t worry, you don’t have to come to a party at my house.
I am interested in the business model because, although the world and the shopping mentality has changed dramatically over the years, party plan businesses still do well and Tupperware is one of the biggest party plan set up there is.
So why is it still relevant?
The basis of the Tupperware model (as I’m sure a lot of you are aware) is that a friend of yours invites you to a party, there is a Tupperware demonstrator there, the stuff she shows you is pretty nifty and, although you swore to yourself that this time you wouldn’t buy anything, you walk out of there with a whole load of stuff you never knew you needed.
It is actually one of the earliest forms of affiliate sales because the host, depending on what everyone buys at the party, is also rewarded with product and discounts for themselves.
In speaking with my mate about her business after she read my book, I got to thinking on how party planners could embrace social media to achieve greater social engagement, just like any other small business wants to do.
There are 4 social media platforms that every Tupperware Demonstrator or party plan consultant should be using to engage their community and grow their business.
Blogging
Although not truly a social media platform, blogging is an invaluable tool to party planners – particularly if they are involved in selling more than one company or product.
A blog, literally short for web log, is a great way to achieve good Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) by having regularly updated content. It also provides a more personal aspect to your online presence which people may be more likely to follow and want to be updated on.
The majority of party planners are mums and what better way to connect with people than to share some of your life with them, particularly if the content is stuff that your target market can all relate to: kids, families, juggling work and other commitments. You could write a post on the parties you have coming up that week, where they are, how much travel you have to do for them, how crazy your house will be when you get home, that kind of thing.
Encourage comments, interact with those who comment and hey presto, your blog is up and running!
Facebook Events
Companies like Tupperware are for some reason pretty paranoid about their employees having their own Facebook Pages, but surely there is no reason why you couldn’t list upcoming parties on your own Facebook Profile as Events.
Facebook Events are simple to set up, invite your Facebook friends to and, most importantly, link back to a blog post on your new blog. Include photos, videos, exclusive offers, the opportunities are endless.
The party’s host can also list the party on their Facebook Profile as well as interacting with your event and grow the exposure for your parties and your business that way as well.
YouTube
Wow, the possibilities that spring to mind for party planners utilising YouTube are almost endless! Think about what you do at every one of your parties – get people gathered, go through the products displaying your expert knowledge as well as the amazing features and benefits of each and then in the end, close the sales by asking for orders.
Everything you could do in a YouTube video, but without necessarily having to have a group gathered in one of your mate’s lounge rooms.
There are more than half a billion videos viewed on YouTube everyday and it is the second biggest search engine in the world. Your video can be viewed by a local (or much wider) audience who can then choose to leave a comment about it which might also contain their profile information including contact details. Think about all of the new people you could add to your database this way.
YouTube videos can also be ‘embedded’ in your blog (see above) so that you can link directly to your video from your free online presence. This not only makes your blog look so much more professional but again it is totally free to do so.
Email Marketing
Again, I just think this is something that party plan consultants have to be doing! How easy would it be to grow a database of clients who are actually interested in your products, especially if you have a new range or updated stock available?
All you have to do is gather the email addresses of anyone who is interested in going on your database list (making sure they agree to receive information from you periodically – don’t spam) and then utilise a very cheap email marketing platform such as the one I can put together for you and future parties could be a whole lot easier to plan.
You can always just send out new catalogues or product updates and get bookings and sales without even having to put parties together! And the best part is, it’s really cheap. Let’s say you had a database of 100 people who you wanted to email once every month with a newsletter you have put together with updates or new offers. With my email marketing platform, this would cost you $73 per month, just over $2 a day or less than $1 per customer.
If you would like to see how I can help you grow your party plan business using any or all of these applications for a free obligation-free consultation for your business, or a free 30 day trial of the email marketing software, call me TODAY on 02 4324 2594.
Have you had success growing a Tupperware or party planning business with social media? Do you have any other suggestions that I have missed? Please let us know in the comments below.
