I wrote yesterday about how boosting your social life can help boost your business and I wanted to share that I believe entertaining can often help expand a home business as well. You might consider hosting an open house to introduce people to you home business and give yourself the opportunity to chat with many people in a short time span.
Open houses are used for all sorts of purposes—real estate agents use them to open the doors of a listed property and let people wander through; others use the open house as a means of entertaining or introducing themselves to a neighborhood after they have moved. Hosting an open house to celebrate the opening of your home business or to celebrate an anniversary or just because you want to invite people to see what your operation is all about is a perfectly reasonably way to promote your business.
Consider the timing for your open house—business open houses are often held immediately after typical work hours (4:50 pm – 5:00 pm.) Since you have a home business, you may be able to exercise some flexibility but keep in mind that many people like to kept work things within work hours (or immediately after.) You can have a weekend open house but know that you may be competing with family and other social activities.
Allow yourself a couple hours but do not allot too much time for an open house—you want it to feel full and well-populated and if you allow too much of a time spread, people will trickle in and leave and while you may get the opportunity to talk to people more in depth, it will not be a networking advantage for them and they may get the impression that your business is sparse and struggling.
It can be a good idea to have some sort of a raffle or give-away at your open house as a way of collecting the names and contact information of the people who attend. Be sure not only greet each person who attends, but follow up after the open house. Finally, make sure you have plenty of food and beverages and encourage socializing and interaction. While you are introducing people to your business, you want them to remember it as a good time too.