What are some ways to fill up down-time between bookings?

[mistym]

Due to a reschedule I am not having a party until the middle of October. What does everyone do when they have 2 or 3 weeks between bookings? I will get DH to do a catty show at his work - are there other suggestions???

TIA

Misty

 

[BethCooks4U]

Get on the phone on the nights you wanted to have shows booked and "dial for dollars'. Fill the calendar. You could offer a gift for those who boo in close to fill the gap.

 

[chefjeanine]

Be sure you are on the phone making contACT the evenings you would normally be working outside of your home. This is probably the best thing you can do for your business.

Make some calls now and see if you can get someone to have a show in close. I once had a gal book a show two weeks out and it turned out great. You can have your Host just make invite phone calls to get the date on their guest's calendars. If you have someone who works at a hospital or in a large office, this could be a great show because of the number of outside orders that can be generated.

Be sure that a reminder phone call is made (by you or the Host) the day before the show.

 

[mistym]

Ok, great advice, but who do I get on the phone too?? I have only done 3 shows so far and I am quite new at this.

Thanks again

M

 

[tlennhoff]

Call all of your friends or family and ask them to either do cooking or catalog shows or if any non-profit they are affiliated with might want a fundraiser. Call local non-profit organizations about fundraisers. Call local religious institutions about fundraisers. Do an open house and send invites to everyone you know as well as put flyers in mailboxes of all your neighbors for the open house. Also put flyers up in supermarkets and other stores that allow flyers about the open house. Do it as a pre-holiday season get a jump on your holiday shopping and get great products to make preparing the perfect thanksgiving dinner easier.

 

[lisacb77]

I like to do out of the box (OOB) calls about a month after the show. You make sure they got everything okay and see if it's "out of the box" and if they have questions...then you can talk to them about booking recruiting etc.

 

[gilliandanielle]

You guys are really productive! In the time between my shows I gather new ideas on here! That is pretty much it, but it keeps me busy!

 

[lacychef]

If you're looking for another show to fill in, you could always try one of those "fabulous friday sales". I'm thinking of doing one on Oct 13 (friday the 13th!) so I can get my santoku at 60% off
(do a search for friday phone sale if you haven't heard of it....a bunch of us did this a few months ago...there's a huge thread about it!)

 

[Pampered Laura]

Week 1: Work on your list of 100.
Week 2: Call 100 of them.

 

[lisacb77]

You guys are really productive! In the time between my shows I gather new ideas on here! That is pretty much it, but it keeps me busy!

Not always! I'm about a week behind on doing the OOBs a month after my shows. But I plan to catch up this weekend.

I am a little nervous about keeping up in November. I have a packed October, so that's a lot of OOB! And I get REALLY busy at my job Nov-mid Jan. Yikes!

Oh well, I will get through somehow! If I ever want this to take over my day job anyway!

 

[chefjeanine]

Misty,

When you make out-of-box calls or call your family and friends, be sure to ask for referrals. Write yourself a BIG note to remember to do this as it can make a big difference.