Are Baby Fairs worth it!

scarborogal · 05-30-2008, 04:08 PM

So I've been wondering if you think baby fairs and expos are a 'worth it' expense. Do you get business from them or are you just out there to promote the Doula Cause.

earthgirl · 05-30-2008, 05:07 PM

Haven't done one yet.

Precious_Partum · 05-30-2008, 07:31 PM

I haven't done a baby fair, but we did have a doula booth set up when we brought "The Business of Being Born" to our community. I had our table all decked out and even held a raffle (with prizes that I ended up paying for... let's not get into that), but we only got a couple of bites. One mama I think has hired a doula and I know of 2 other potential clients that I've met again but who have not made the doula decision yet. We'll see.

I think it was good for getting the word "Doula" into people's brains, and for promoting the idea of doulas, but it was pretty lame as far as reeling in clientele.

DoulaCBE · 05-30-2008, 08:46 PM

If you have to pay, I'd say no.

We have a huge baby fair here in town each year and it costs big bucks to have booth and we've been lucky to go for many years now free by being invited by one of our local hospitals to share their space.

In all the years we've been doing the fairs, handing out brochures, samples, etc I can only think of one client we've had hire us that told us where they first heard about our services.

On the other hand, since I ask every person who calls where they heard of our services we're learning that the more your materials are "out there" and the more times they come across your materials the more likely they are to hire you. 2 to 3 different locations is the average for clients who hire us.

Some start online, see us, don't call, then see our brochure somewhere and don't call, then they have one of our doulas come speak at their childbirth ed class and call. Or they call when they find our brochure or fliers the second time, etc.

AmandaB · 05-31-2008, 11:16 AM

I have done the TRU shows, Welcome Wagon, and the CAPPA Canada Walmart show.

I have gotten zero biz from any of them. I almost feel people are there to shop and they tend to look the other way. For all the money and time I have put into shows and to have no interest, it doesn't make it worth it for me personally. However I do feel like I am fueling the interest and public knowledge of Doulas, so there is a greater good even if they don't call me, they may call someone.

I have debated the bigger shows, but again expense is a HUGE factor and if we don't recoup the money put out, then what is the sense? I think once our collective is up and running then maybe we will have "business" money to put towards shows and write it off.

GentlerBirth · 08-19-2008, 04:12 PM

Some friends and I just started a doula group specifically to share costs at fairs like these. There are 6 of us. The one we most recently considered was $600 for the booth. I was all for it, as was one other gal, but the rest were not. $100 was too much to shell out. If we really wouldn't get business from it, I guess it's good we didn't do it. My personal feeling was that if I could get even one client from it, I would have made a profit.

What about farmer's markets? Anyone tried those? I imagine they are less expensive.

Ohio Doula · 08-21-2008, 07:25 PM

Well, I just did a tiny fair at our local hospital. The turn out wasn't that great, but it was nice to get out there and at least tell a few moms in my community what a doula is since it is VERY foreign here. I haven't gotten any calls or emails but I've had a HUGE jump in traffic to my website since that day. The fair was free and I feel great that I was able to network with other organizations and do a little community education even if I don't get a single client.