As a business owner, you’ve no doubt made some goals in either sales or earnings as part of your business plan. Chances are you joined the business that you did because you either attended a party or felt that parties are a fun way to do business. No matter if you sell health, home decor, or beauty products, by just adding a few techniques to your party you can build a happy and profitable sales process.

Every person develops his or her own process of creating an amazing party. Check out the following suggestions to make your parties a success and, if you’re a beginner, you might want to check out this app to see if it helps you get your business moving.

Now, let’s create your personal party plan!

Pick a theme

First, remember back to when the world of party plans was new to you, when you were just a guest at a direct selling party. What did you enjoy most? Perhaps it was the decorations, the refreshments, or the social interactions that made it memorable. More than likely it was the sense of community and a fun theme. For some insight into the importance of theme to your party, watch this Julie Ann Jones video. Selecting a theme can take some time. To help you with this process here are a few suggestions.

Create the invitations

When you have your theme, rather than sending out generic invitations, make invitations that promote that theme. Attractive, themed invitations will greatly increase your attendance. Email invitations are great as a follow-up but the first contact for inviting a guest should be more personal. Give your host or hostess a set of invitations and a few weeks to distribute them. Highlighting that the focus of the party is to have fun will give your guests a warm feeling about the event.

There are lots of creative invitations on the web that would be easy to replicate. Check out these cute ones on Pinterest.

Make a list of activities and games

Do you want to infuse more fun into your parties? Well planned party games can not only generate fun, but also create the opportunity to give away goodies and book future parties. Below are a few of our favorite games, but you can also check out the Queen of Theme Party Games, and these Direct Selling Party games on Pinterest.

Here are some games you may want to try out at your next party:

The bag/envelope game

We really love Christina Stainbrook’s version of the bag/envelope game to help increase party bookings. Stainbrook’s method brings curiosity, ownership, and commitment to your party. All you need are some freebies and invitations in an enclosed clear plastic bag. Check out the details in this youtube video.

Flower game

Start with a solid colored vase and fill it with 11 artificial flowers. You’ll mark the stems of these artificial flowers, your guests will each pick a flower, and depending on the marking on the flower they’ll get different prizes. This is a game of chance and honesty. Don’t require your guests to play but encourage them to by offering a grand prize. We suggest selecting an item worth about $30 as the Grand Prize.

Pick two colors of nail polish to mark your flowers. Make sure that the marks lie below the lip of the vase when the flowers are inside it. Mark four flowers with one color. The guests who pick one of these flowers will get a gift from the goodie bag. Next mark six flowers with the other color. Picking one of these flowers means that you’ll be asked to book a party. For those guests who select the “Book a Party” marked flowers consider offering them free shipping, free personalization, or $5 off their order. Leave one flower unmarked. If a guest selects the flower with no nail polish then they get the grand prize.

Chocolate drawing

Purchase a gift bag and 2 to 3 packages of the small Hershey’s bars or Hershey’s nuggets. Then print up labels: 40 that say party, 40 that say $5.00 gift certificate, 10 that say 15% off product total and 10 that say order a free product valued up to $20!

Announce the following before game. “In this bag I have every girl’s best friend—well at least mine—chocolate. You can draw 1, 2 or 3 pieces of chocolate from my bag. I only ask that you do what you draw. In this bag there are about 100 pieces of chocolate and about half of them say party. If you select one that says party, it means you’ll get to have some friends over for some fun. Another rough half of the chocolates come with a $5.00 Gift Card for you to use tonight on your order. Also, there are 10 that say 15% off product total for you to use tonight. Last but not least, are 10 pieces that say free (product name), remember you can draw 1, 2 or 3 pieces.”

The balloon game

As guests enter the party, give them each a balloon. Inside each balloon is a folded note. Tell them that this is their balloon for the night and to hold onto it. As the show goes on, they’ll be curious about this balloon and what’s inside.

At the end of your presentation, tell them that inside each balloon is a bonus/prize. If they book a party, they can pop the balloon to reveal their prize. It can be anything from free shipping, a small item, a gift certificate to a local shop, or a large item that will be given at their show. That’s up to you.

I love this game. Once your guests hear the first pop, the rest want to pop theirs too. At one of my parties, nobody jumped right in to try it. Finally, a guest told me she wanted to book. I got out my pin and popped it for her. After that, the pops were everywhere. It just takes one to get it going.

Create a themed table

Your table is going to be the fulfillment of all you promised on the invitation. Get creative with your theme and create something beautiful to draw your guests’ eyes. Include on the table your games, product information, and a few party favors.

Free drawings

Drawings are a great way to collect customer information. Make sure to let your guests know that if they enter the drawing they will receive an email or phone call inviting them to future parties. By setting expectations on how you will communicate and the frequency with which you communicate you build trust and make it easier for guests to determine if they want to offer up accurate information.

Strapped for time? You can buy premade drawing cards in this etsy store online.

Congratulations to you for taking action to grow your business and create successful parties. Take a few minutes during each event or party to show gratitude to your host or hostess and to recognize that you are creating a fun and profitable business. Put together your party list so that it can be easily replicated and keep all your invitations, games, and party items in a plastic storage bin. You can have successful parties without spending a lot of money!