Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year.
It’s also a massive opportunity for your direct sales or party plan business.
To make your life easier in the silly season, I’ve collected a bundle of Christmas-themed games that you can use in your in-home or online parties.
Christmas Names
This game requires no preparation, printables, or pen & paper. It’s the perfect fall-back game if you’ve forgotten to prepare anything. This game is easy to play in-home or online!
You play by asking guests to introduce themselves with a Christmas-related word that starts with the first letter of their name and their name. For example, I could introduce myself as “Candy Cane Christine,” while my friend Angela could use “Angelic Angela,” and Stephanie could call herself “Starry Night Stephanie.”
Most people will join in the fun and come up with something that matches their name. If they get stuck on a tricky letter, like my fabulous assistant Zoe might with her name, I tell them to use their last name or middle name instead.
I give prizes to everyone in this game and usually use a bowl of mini candy canes. (Extra tip: have a bag of mini candy canes on hand at all your parties during the holiday season. They come in super handy).
Drawing Games
Drawing games are always fun and get lots of laughs. I have two different versions that you can download below to use at your parties. The game is also easily adaptable to play online.
You provide each guest with a blank sheet of paper and a pen for both of these versions. They then close their eyes and draw according to your instructions. The scoring (which you’ll find on the printable) will them how well they did and determine the winner.
I like to give a prize to the winner but also to the person with the least points – I call them the “winner in reverse” rather than the “loser.”
Download 2 versions of this game below.
Envelope Games
I have two versions of the envelope game for you to use this season. This is strictly an in-home party game.
Depending on how many guests are at the party, you’ll need to prepare 2-3 envelopes. In the envelopes, you can put a card with the prize written on it. The prize could be a small product, an order discount, free shipping, or chocolates. Whatever works in your business.
At the party, hand the envelopes to random guests and ask everyone to form a circle. Explain to the guests that the envelopes are to be passed to the right every time you say the word “right” when reading the story. Whenever you say the word “left,” the envelopes must be passed to the person on the left.
You’ll get lots of confusion and laughter over the directions. The person who holds an envelope at the end of the game gets to open it to reveal their prize.
Fill out the form below to get two different stories for this game.
Looking for more games? Grab the Ultimate Games Bundle for Direct Sellers. It comes with 26 done-for-you games for Facebook & in-home parties. Check it out now.
When I started my direct sales business, I didn’t play games at my parties.
At the beginning of my career, I thought that my guests would find games childish or just not fun.
I had been to party plan events with other companies, and I had been asked to walk like a chicken or sing a line from my favorite song – and I wouldn’t say I liked it. I was out of my comfort zone and didn’t want to do that with my guests.
So I avoided all games for quite some time.
But after playing some games that respected people’s comfort zones and focused on having fun, my results were excellent!
Guests were more relaxed, and I got more bookings and leads for potential new team members. So that’s why I am now encouraging you to try games.
Why do you want to use recruiting games in your direct sales biz?
Recruiting games benefit anyone who is not yet confident talking about the business opportunity more directly.
When you’re planning to play a recruiting game at your parties, this also ensures you don’t forget to bring up the business opportunity (which we’ve all done, I’m sure).
Games are a fun and relaxed way to introduce career options, without being “salesy” or pushy.
Guests are likely to be more receptive to the message when it’s shared in a fun way.
There are two essential things to remember when playing games at your direct selling event:
Have a little fun with it. That means you have to keep up a good pace, don’t slog through it slowly but don’t rush. Make some jokes and be a bit silly.
Make the game yours, so it fits your style, personality (and company and products).
Today I have 2 recruiting games for you that have worked well for me, so give them a try.
Game 1
To play this game, give each guest a piece of paper to keep track of their score as they listen to you recite the following poem. Anyone who adds the 25 points at the end should be followed up about the business opportunity.
You can also add small prizes (small incentives, chocolates, etc.) for high scores.
Game 2: Ask me about my job
This is a game that I play at the end of the party when people have well and truly ‘warmed up’.
I set a timer for 2 minutes to ensure it doesn’t drag on.
You encourage guests to ask you about your job as a party plan consultant. Then, you reward a question about being a consultant with a (chocolate) prize or a raffle ticket (with a raffle prize draw at the end).
Sometimes nobody wants to be first, and nobody asks you a question. The way to get the ball rolling is to act like an auctioneer and ask yourself a question like an opening bid. Make it funny, and guests will pretty quickly join in.
Keep your answers short and succinct, don’t overwhelm people with too much information at one time.
I usually throw (gently!) the chocolate prizes to the guests to keep the momentum going and add a bit of activity.
You can grab the free recruiting rhyme printable below.
Imagine this: You’re chilling out in your pajamas, chatting on Facebook, and making money! Do you want to make this a reality? Then read on because this article is about direct selling parties on Facebook. I want to help you with some tips, hints, and games to help you increase fun, sales, and bookings.
How to Train Your Dragon Facebook
If you want great results from your Facebook parties, you have to “train” Facebook. Or, more accurately, the Facebook algorithm.
An algorithm is a formula or set of steps to achieve something or solve a problem. In Facebook, the algorithm decides what to show you in your newsfeed and in which order. Everybody’s newsfeed is different because the algorithm takes your own behavior as well as other bits of information into account.
So when you open Facebook, the algorithm looks at all the stories posted by your friends and by the pages that you follow. The algorithm then looks at things like who posted the story and how often they publish, any negative feedback on that author, what time it is now, what device you’re on, what engagement stories already have (the more engagement they have the more likely it is that you’ll see it in your feed), if a friend has already commented, and much more.
The Facebook algorithm uses all that information to make some predictions, such as how likely you are to click on a story, watch a video, share a story, etc. This helps the algorithm decide what to show you in your newsfeed and in what order.
How do you get the algorithm to like you? There are some general recommendations:
Complete your Facebook profile.
Publish regularly.
Create content likely to elicit positive feedback from your audience (positive comments, likes, or reactions. Reactions affect post ranking slightly more than likes). But do not ask for shares or likes – this is frowned upon by the algorithm.
When you want to post a video use Facebook Live or upload videos to Facebook directly instead of linking to YouTube videos.
Publish content that promotes engagement and an investment of time from your audience (video content is great for that).
Post content that’s informative and shareable.
You need to teach the algorithm that the people in your event want to see your posts. Next, you need to ensure that you’re getting good engagement (which is measured by comments, likes or reactions).
When posts have good engagement, the algorithm will value them higher and show your posts to your guests in their daily newsfeed. And this means they don’t just see your posts when they choose to go into your event.
Having your posts showing up in their newsfeed serves as a great reminder of your party and increases the likelihood that they’ll come back to the event.
So, in addition to the general recommendations to “make the algorithm happy” (see the Facebook Algorithm Quick Explainer above), you need to publish posts that create engagement from your Facebook party guests.
But, how do you do that?
Videos Rule the Ranking
One way to get engagement is to create videos for your parties.
You can do a quick Facebook Live to get the party started or demonstrate products.
With Facebook Live, you get a chance to show the authentic you – it’s unedited and “raw”. And people respond to that.
Another reason why Facebook Live works so well is that you can connect with your audience. You can talk to them while you’re doing the Live when they comment so they feel valued and “heard”. The audience can also ask questions and you can immediately answer them, so a Q&A session works well for Facebook Live.
Of course, once a Live is over, the video will stay accessible inside your event so people who’ve missed it can view it later—never done a Live? Check out this guide with screenshots.
If you’re not comfortable doing Lives, at least pre-record a few videos that you can stream for your Facebook parties. Videos rank well, and people enjoy them, but Live videos rank even better (and you don’t need any special software!).
People Love to Play
I’ve also collected a few games and posts designed for a bit of fun and engagement. I’ll talk about each of them below, and I’ve included a bundle of downloadable tiles that are ready to go at your parties (scroll down to download).
Tell Us Your Unicorn Name There’s something about these types of posts that draw people in. I always get great engagement when I post something like this.
I use these posts for seasonal holidays (Elf Names at Christmas or Easter Bunny Name around Easter), and generic ones such as Unicorn Names, Tropical Names, Pirate Names, Hippie Names, etc at other times of the year.
Guessing Game Contests For these types of games, I always have a small prize for the winner (the first person to guess correctly), which increases engagement and guests enjoy it.
You could play “How well do you know your host?” Guests have to guess which of four of the options in the image the host likes best.
When you post the image, explain the game and mention the host by name (they may otherwise confuse “host” with you, the party plan consultant). And, of course, tell the guests what the prize is! Then let the guessing begin.
To make this game work for you, create your tiles with pictures of your company’s products. For example, you could have the guests guess which of the products in the image, the host likes best. Another version is to have the guests think about which 4 to 6 products are your company’s best sellers.
These games work well because there’s a bit of competition, and with the product version, the guests will already be thinking about what they’d like to buy!
(Don’t forget to show the host the images in advance so she can let you know what her favorites are!)
Party Points This game really appeals to the competitive people out there.
In the pre-party post, I include the image, explain how it works, and let the guests know I have prizes for the people with the most points (you can choose to give prizes to the top 3 or reward the number 1).
With this game, you encourage engagement, sales, and bookings!
To make this game work better, provide a leaderboard update a few times throughout your Facebook party.
Book a Party, Pick a Prize This is a great way to entice people to book their own Facebook or in-home party with you.
People love mystery prizes! You can choose to give hints about each number. You could tell them the type of prize, give them an approximate value, or keep it a complete mystery.
You’ll find a few versions of this booking tile in the bundle, including a Halloween and a Christmas version.
Key Takeaways
Facebook uses an algorithm to decide what to serve in a person’s newsfeed
You need ‘train’ the algorithm that your Facebook party guests want to see your posts
Use video to increase engagement and increase the time people spend on your posts
Facebook Live ranks incredibly well in the algorithm
You can make your parties more fun and increase engagement with games
I’ve got a whole bundle of tiles for you that you can use at your next Facebook party. They are ready to go, all you need to do is create a fun post for your Facebook party event!
It’s easy to do, it’s low-stress and it’s a great way to involve all the guests, whether they know each other or not.
What you need
A gift
The Pass the Gift rhyme (download below)
The gift can be anything you like. If your company has samples available, that would make a great gift, or some cheaper products, or even chocolates or candles or something similar.
I usually have a few small gift bags handy so I can quickly create a gift and I’m ready to go.
How to Play
All you have to do is read out the rhyme and together with the group decide who should get the gift next. It’s a little bit like the children’s game Pass the Parcel. But with less wrapping. The game works very well as an ice-breaker at the start of your parties.
Grab the rhyme below:
If you try this game at your next party, let us know in the comments how you went!
Do you want more games in your stash? Grab this done-for-you games bundle with in-home and Facebook games. Check it out here.
