Virtual Party – Real Fun…?
Janice Horton escaped a city-chic lifestyle and a career in
corporate brand placement to live in a remote cottage on the side of a hillside
in Scotland. Previously traditionally published and now writing as an Indie,
Janice writes fiction with humour and heart and with a hint of tartan. Janice
is a regular blogger and you’ll often find her partying on Facebook and
Twitter. Her latest nonfiction title ‘How To Party Online’ is available now
from Amazon for Kindle.
When I tried to explain to my husband that I was planning to
host an online ‘virtual’ party to celebrate the launch of my latest book, he
thought I’d gone completely crazy. When I told him about the music, the games
and the virtual food and drinks that I planned to offer my guests, he could
hardly move for laughing. ‘How can anything virtual be fun?’ he scoffed in
disbelief.
Well, firstly, let me assure you, dear friends and party
peeps, that online parties can indeed be fun. In fact, with a bit of careful
planning they can be an absolute blast, entirely capable of sending your online
popularity through the virtual roof and your next book zooming up the Amazon
bestseller charts!
As well as being lots of very real fun - online parties are
environmentally friendly and cost effective. They take advantage of today’s
technology and make it easy for anyone to organise a truly global event with an
unlimited guest list. Plus, you don’t have to clean the house before or
afterwards and you can attend dressed up, dressed down, or not dressed at all
(who’s to know unless you’re using a webcam?)!
Since hosting my very first online party I’ve organised more
and I’ve attended lots. I love the clever fun themes and the involvement with
other online party peeps. I enjoy virtual parties all the more if the fun
spills over from Facebook to the Blogosphere and to Twitter. I’ve even ended up
in Twitter jail! But how to you go about hosting and organising an online party
you may ask? Here’s a few tips:
Decide on a date and time
Pick an online venue – eg: Facebook, Blogs, Twitter,
Pinterest?
Think up a fun and original party theme
Create a guest list
Send out invitations
Ask your guests to ‘do something fun and specific’ on the
day
Start organising
Plan party spot prizes, a prize draw, or a giveaway
Think about a music playlist – use Spotify or uTube
Think about virtual drinks and food – yes, really!
Mmmm… still not sure about the virtual food and drink?
Then try out these suggestions for virtual ingenuity!
Order a virtual and totally free party pizza at
http://www.superpizzas.com/ – choose your toppings and simply email them in to
your guests!
Get your ice creams – cones or sundaes at
http://www.cybercones.com/– there’s even a variety of flavours and topping s
with m&m’s as a choice and it’s all completely free!
Still not sure…? Then why not start an online virtual food
fight using http://www.foodfighting.com/
How To Party
Online:
Online
parties are a fabulous and fun way to launch your book or introduce your
product and to engage with your target audience. Social media applications are
perfect forums for parties - the venue capacity is infinite, the guest list is
global, and the fun and games can lead to bestselling success!
This
book aims to show you how you can produce measurable results from your very
first online party while you are still working towards building up your social
network.
The
purpose of this book is to walk and talk you through each step of the planning
and implementation of four very different online promotional parties. We will
look at how much work and effort is involved in implementing each step and we
will experience the party format, explore the outcomes, and quantify all the
successes.
And
I’ll show you how to make it lots of fun!
Find out more:
Janice’s
Author Blog: http://www.janicehortonwriter.blogspot.co.uk/
Follow her on Twitter: @JaniceHorton
Follow her on Twitter: @JaniceHorton
Like her on
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JaniceHortonAuthor
Link to
Janice on Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Janice-Horton/e/B004S6DKRC/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1/278-4553972-9740221
* * *
Many thanks, Janice - with the popularity of virtual parties increasing at a rate of knots, your expertise here is invaluable.
9 comments:
I've got the book! I can attest to Janice's fun online partying success and fabulous organisation! Well done, Janice, and thanks for sharing! :) xx
Great post from Janice! Best thing about on-line partying is you can do it in your pyjamas...or not!
Mandy :)
Great tips, thanks Janice. Here's to the next virtual party!
I've read it from cover to cover and also made notes when attending some of Janice's infamous virtual parties! A must-read for anyone self-publishing a book.
I've read Janice's book from cover to cover, too, and attended her virtual parties. What fun they are!
This book is definitely a must for anyone self-publishing a book.
Thanks for the lovely comments, ladies! You are all such fun party peeps!
Janice xx
I bought Janice's book a couple of weeks ago and put many of her tips into practice on Wednesday this week when I held a virtual party on Facebook and my blog to launch my new book Love in a Hopeless Place.
(you can check out the final blog link with all the activities that took place in that hour - the music, the gifts, the book excerpts etc here: http://emmacalin.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/love-in-hopeless-place-live-launch.html)
There were some great ideas and check lists that helped me to get organised and it was good to find out how to get music at the party.
A really useful guide to anyone planning an online event Thanks Janice!
Emma x
I've been to Janice's virtual parties and they've been so much fun.
Well done, Janice on your book. Look forward to seeing you at conference.
xx
Thanks for your comment, Emma, and congratulations on your latest release. I'm so glad your launch party went well and you found 'How To Party Online' both useful and helpful!
Thank you also to Sue!
Janice xx
Post a Comment