Estimated read time: 2 mins, 12 secs
By now, you’ve probably seen the super depressing birthday party photo making the rounds on social media this week of a 6-year-old Tucson boy named Teddy sitting alone at an empty, communal-style table—except for pizza, drinks and paper plates.
Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever been left hanging at an event?
His mother, Sil Mazzini, told AZFamily.com that she invited 32 of his classmates to attend the party at Peter Piper Pizza, a local pizzeria, but not a single one of them showed up. Mazzini even put together 32 different goodie bags in case the party was packed.
She shared a picture with AZFamily.com, which asked its readers to give the birthday boy some love on Facebook. The sad scene has gone viral and the comments came pouring in—reaching at least 4,800 by Wednesday morning.
But, things have gotten better for Teddy as he now has a couple of sweet invitations of his own. The Phoenix Suns NBA team stepped up and reached out on Twitter to offer him a couple of tickets to Wednesday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers to “celebrate with thousands.” Phoenix Rising, a Major League Soccer team, also offered Teddy free tickets to their game this Wednesday with “7,000 of his closest friends.”
How about we celebrate with thousands at our place! Tickets to Wednesday’s #SunsVSLakers game are all yours Teddy! Talk soon! https://t.co/YL3zjDX9JW
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) October 22, 2018
The one thing no one is talking about, though, is how the parents’ wait-and-see approach didn’t quite pan out. This is the main problem most Network Marketing professionals face in their own event planning—they fail to build for the event. Whether building a guest list for a local in-home party, a corporate training, convention or other destination event, you’ve got to promote it.
Teddy’s mom and dad informed people about the event; they didn’t actually promote it.
They didn’t solicit RSVPs, they didn’t push traffic to a Facebook event page with more information and details, they didn’t share excitement and passion or features and benefits; they didn’t properly promote the poor boy’s own party. They didn’t build interest for the can’t-miss experience and they didn’t pick up the phone to personally contact parents.
They clearly didn’t understand that people hear your music, not your words, and that informing is not the same as promoting. They simply shared information and crossed their fingers. They coasted. They didn’t follow up.
Does this sound familiar? Have you ever been disappointed by no-shows at a LIMU Experience party you were hosting at your house? Have you passively posted a party flyer or event graphic on social media hoping it would result in new guests or other attendees only to be let down by crickets?
It all comes down to building for events by promoting versus informing.
Learn this one important lesson from Teddy’s parents and apply it to your own business-building efforts. The fortune is in the follow up.
