I am a festival junkie. This time of year I run from county to county going from logger rodeo to seafood fest to county fair. My idea of a perfect day is 4H stock shows in the morning, oyster shucking competitions in the afternoon and a draft horse pull in the evening. And lots and lots of kettle corn

And I’ll tell you something else: I go to these things ready to spend money on an experience. I am mentally prepared to put out a chunk of change for something I can’t get anywhere else or is for a good cause.

If you find yourself with the mid-summer doldrums, check to see what’s out there. Of course, if you’re looking to build your client base you’ll be searching for places that attract the kind of people you want to work with. But, hey, treat yourself. It’s summer. Find a place you want to be. Take a working vacation.

The Sequim Lavender Festival was this past weekend. That’s a good example of a no-brainer. If you have the chance to get involved with a festival revolving around herbs and/or healthy living (berry festivals, farmers’ market anniversaries, wildflower festivals) take a good look at what you can do in the way of cross marketing. Do the people you are working for/next to/contracted with sell essential oil, massage oil, sachets, or beverages? Ask if you can have samples to hand out or products to use in your work that day. When I was hip deep in the Lavender Festival, we provided the therapists at our farm (I still can’t resist plugging them) with our massage oil and water for the therapists and their clients.

By the by, a therapist was enterprising enough one year to ask the owners if they wanted to schedule some table time for the farm employees. Hey, you can bet we hopped to it whenever that therapist asked for anything — change, employee’s toilet, help with her table, shade parking, whatever.

If you’re working a festival, look to see if a non-creepy someone near you does body henna or palm reading or whatever. See if you can set up next to each other. Work out whether it’s better for a customer to get a reading or a massage first (or both at the same time). See if there’s a way you can work together to get a customer taken care of in a reasonable amount of time. Our therapists worked with some local girls to create a Purple Pedicure option. For a little extra, massage customers got their toenails painted purple. Fun stuff.

With summer more than half-way done it may be too late to get in on a festival this year, but now is the perfect time to do some scouting and planning.

Wait! Can you write off your scouting trips? I think you can.

Oh, I love it.

Tune in on Thursday to read about things to consider while scouting.

All my best,
Eileen