Not into Networking? Try Fairs and Conventions!

There are many ways to build a business, but the fastest by far is with in-person interactions. There's just no better way to bond with potential clients and referral sources. When I was just getting started, I went to networking meetings (grudgingly) and, as I was used to doing art fairs, I naturally gravitated to health fairs. Here's a picture of one of my first health fairs. I have almost nothing of note, but it was very successful.

Here are the critical pieces of my health fair setup:
- A sign to attract attention to my table (VistaPrint).
- A beach chair and headphones to give everyone a demo of my relaxation audio file.
- A guest book or strips of paper for people to enter a drawing for a free prize by providing their name and email address.
- Business cards (you can get these from VistaPrint, too).

That's really all you need. You can also take products to sell and/or have some little promotional gifts for visitors (I had stress balls at the event pictured here - again, VistaPrint has lots of possibilities and lower minimum order quantities than other companies), preferably with your name and logo on them, but it's certainly not necessary. It costs almost nothing to do these fairs and you can meet a LOT of potential clients and other practitioners who may become project collaborators and/or power partners (part of your referral network).

Another similar type of event is a convention focused on what interests your ideal clients. Conventions for Fantasy/Horror/SciFi entertainment are perfect for Spring with her fairy tale branding, as many of these folks like to avoid their real lives by diving into fantasy - so they really need sessions! Dress up and have fun with them! You'll likely be the only hypnotherapist there. Find what interests you and go enjoy hanging with your peeps. Want more athlete clients? Be a vendor at some sports conventions or sponsor a hole at a golf tournament. These events can be enormous (and perhaps expensive and difficult to get into) or small local gatherings. The important thing is that your prospective clients will be there. Sometimes the smaller ones give you more opportunity to have really great conversations with people.

Start small and sparse, and if you want to keep doing them add more cool stuff to your vendor area as you can. Get creative and enjoy it - these events can be a lot of fun and you can meet some really interesting people.

And don't forget that everything related to participating as a vendor in an event like this is a tax write-off! Travel, entry fees, food, signage and other display materials, costume or uniform (if applicable) - absolutely EVERYTHING. You can pick somewhere you want to go on vacation, do an event there and write off that part of your trip! 😊