Anita's Day Out - The Home Business Job Fair

A few weeks ago I had come across a home business job fair located right in my very own backyard listed at CraftLister.com. I quickly noticed that not only were the vendor spots all filled up but I also noticed that both companies I represent were already being represented by a fellow distributor/rep. I planned to visit the job fair because I was really interested in meeting with fellow direct sales women in my own area. I contacted the coordinator, Gwen Cleck of Country Bunny Bath & Body to introduce myself and hopefully build a friendship with her (as networking with other direct sales representatives can be a wonderful business building too). As we started to get to know each other a little better via email it occurred to me what a wonderful opportunity was brewing right before my eyes. Quite a few of the questions we see often are about holding offline events. The questions vary from both coordinating one and being a vendor. I thought that interviewing Gwen herself and some of the vendors would be a wonderful way to share how to coordinate your own event and/or attend as a vendor. I must say that it was a fantastic idea and I think I had a better time talking, interviewing etc than I might have had I been a vendor. Here's the scoop...

Wow! You know, that’s the very first thought that comes to my mind after my visit to The Home Business Job Fair, at The Clarion Inn, Burnham, PA. I had an absolutely wonderful time! I am so glad I thought about it! I honestly think I had a better time interviewing than I would have if I had been a vendor there! I met with so many wonderful and talented women who were more than willing to share their business experience with me!

First of all before I go on I want to thank each every one of the vendors at the job fair. Everyone greeted me with a smile and made me feel right at home. Thank you all! It was certainly my pleasure!

Now I want to mention a few things that really need to be brought up. I picked up a few “tips” from a few vendors who really aren’t that much into the “online thing”.

First and foremost … ladies, those ads you’re sending out … they aren’t working! Wait a minute, let me back up and explain here. Let’s look at this ad for example:

“How would you like to earn $500 a night? What if I told you that you could do it in your own home? No selling! The products sell themselves...”

Okay, I could go on here but I’m sure you get the point. These ads don’t work! Do you know what that ad says? SCAM! Sure, I wouldn’t doubt for a minute that you earn $500 in one night at a home party. And I’m sure your products sell themselves. I’m not saying that it’s not true … I’m saying the ad doesn’t work. If you’re marketing to folks offline with these types of ads, they have scam written all over them and you’re not getting your message across.

If you’re pushing the “online sales” and “online recruiting” to the “offline network” be careful of how you approach your market. Let me explain how I set this whole project up in the first place. I searched online at www.CraftLister.com and found out about HBJF. I contacted the coordinator, Gwen Cleck of Country Bunny Bath & Body. I told her who I was what my intentions were. Now keep in mind, people hold their email addresses near and dear to their heart. With all the spam that’s roaming around the internet you have to be super-careful about how you approach some via email. So, I asked Gwen if she could personally pass on my email to her vendors explaining what I was interested in doing and then had each of them email me personally if they were interested in participating. This way Gwen wasn’t just handing out email addresses without their permission. The response was fantastic.

So, much to my surprise, when I arrived at the HBJF there were quite a few more people there than those who replied to me. My initial thoughts were that these ladies just weren’t interested in what I was doing which of course was absolutely fine by me. I worked the room with my list of those who were interested and started speaking with each one. I of course didn’t want to be rude so I did at least try to stop and visit each vendor. Eventually I’m sure I started to be the “talk of the show” because here I was this woman walking around with a notebook, attaché case and to top it off I was taking pictures also. So unsurprisingly the questions started coming to me first. Can you believe even though my email was forwarded to them from the coordinator of the event they were attending that there were still some that had simply deleted the email. There were even a few who had replied which I believe strictly out of curiosity that still weren’t exactly sure what I was doing. These women weren’t accustomed someone online actually doing something like this. Not to mention I had to get it across that I was a “real person” behind a website. Of course once I explained who I was and what I did … my list of participating vendors grew.

Oh, and I almost forgot, guess what one of my most asked questions were? “How much does this cost?” I really hadn’t thought about that. Well, let me explain, I had absolutely no intentions what-so-ever to charge these ladies to place their info in our newsletter and blog. Ladies, folks nowadays are on “lookout”. And really if you think about it … what do we get for free anymore? This really was a valid question … just one I hadn’t expected to be asked so many times.

So, lesson learned … Is your message getting across or are your emails getting simply deleted?

Now, back to the event itself… Gwen had done an absolute wonderful job coordinating this event. The room looked fantastic and was laid out very nicely. The vendors didn’t look too crowded and there was plenty of walking room from one vendor to the next.

When I first walked through the door I noticed a table set up with pamphlets listing each of the vendors, their contact info and a blank space on the back for visitors to make notes about the companies and/or their representatives - a very thoughtful touch. The companies represented were Arbonne International, Bead Retreat, Big Yellow Box by Crayola, Cookie Lee Jewelry, Creative Memories, Country Bunny Bath & Body, Discovery Toys, The Greeting Cake Company, Heartwarming Creations, Home & Garden Party, Home Interiors, Lia Sophia Jewelry, Longaberger, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Pampered Chef, PartyLite, Passion Parties by Kenya, Princess House, Mia Bella Candles, Signature Homestyles, Stuff a Friend, Tastefully Simple, Tupperware, Usborne Books, and Weekenders USA.

Okay, okay … onto the good stuff! Let’s hear about the wonderful women I met at the job fair. Let’s hear about how they run their businesses, how they found out about this event, and even about the companies that they work with! Oops! I forgot, you’ll have to wait till next week to hear about all of that … stay tuned till next week!

Keep up with the stories here... (Links will open in new windows)
Gwen Cleck, Home Business Job Fair Coordinator
Laurie Fischer, Home Business Job Fair Vendor
Pat Noll, Home Business Job Fair Vendor
Tina Leininger, Home Business Job Fair Vendor
Karen Huber, Home Business Job Fair Vendor
Deb Barlett, Home Business Job Fair Vendor