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Let’s Party – Continued

GIVE OUT GOODY BAGS your next event.

There’s nothing like free stuff to get people’s attention. As I shared PLAN THE NEXT ONE
at the beginning of this article, we gave out Coffee Cups with the
When it comes to hosting events, I strongly emphasize the
phrase on it “Diamonds and Chocolate … My Two Best Friends!”
importance of frequency and repetition. “You can’t just hold one
and on the other side of the cup was our logo. If you have room
event a year and expect people to remember or look forward to
in your budget, see if you can give out goodie bags at your event.
it. Shoot for monthly events initially and work up from there if
Put together a bunch of freebies and be sure to talk about your
necessary.”
goodie bags when marketing the event. For best results, you should
consider giving out your goodie bags to your early birds. “Make
‘goody bags’ that are to be given to the first 50 to 100 people to
RITA LANE WADE
arrive. I’ve seen this implemented so successfully, that for an event
where the first 50 people were to receive a $20 to $40 value goody- CEO, Wade Designs
bag, we had over 200 people wait in line for the doors to open.”
A wise man once said,
“behind every good
After the Event man is a great woman.”

Rita has been the vision
and inspiration behind
DOCUMENT THE EVENT her husband John for
close to 20 years. She
Take pictures and videos at the event. Aside from giving you content has a passion for people
and promotional materials for the future, doing so will give you the and a great apprecia-
opportunity to take a closer look at how things went. Review the tion for life and her loved ones. In 2006 Rita was
photos and video footage after the function and keep an eye out for selected as the Rocky Mount Chamber of Com-
things that went right and components that can be improved. I even merce Small Business Women of the Year. Rita,
hire a photographer for the evening because everyone is so busy fondly known as the “Queen of Marketing,” has
with all of the people that they forget to take pictures and before you been the driving force behind Wade Designs for
know it, folks are gone and the moment is lost. the past 20 year. Her energetic spirit and love for
people elevated Wade Designs from a few hun-
SHARE PHOTOS AND RECAPS ONLINE dred customers to over 10,000 customers nation-
wide who recognize Wade Designs as a leading
Remember those pictures and videos that you took? Post them on custom design jewelry store.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and any other social networks you
belong to. Thank everyone who attended the event, mention the
people who took part in it, and tag individuals you know personally.
If you send out emails and newsletters, be sure to include those
photos in your next issue and include a write-up summarizing the
great things that happened.
CONSIDER “SECOND CHANCE”

PROMOTIONS

We ALWAYS extend special opportunities to people who couldn’t
make it. “If we had a an open house event with a storewide discount
that night, we might extend the discount portion for the weekend
and offer other people a chance at the sale, who could not attend.”
If it makes sense for your business, see if you can do something
similar.
FOLLOW UP WITH YOUR STAFF

Round up your employees and discuss the event. What went
right? What didn’t go according to plan? Let everyone have their
say. Take note of insights and learnings so you can apply them in Thanks to JHJ’s Matthew ‘Monty’ Montonati for sharing this meme!
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