There’s always considerable debate among acupuncturists when I bring up the topic of whether health fairs are worth the effort. I personally think that whenever you have free time (i.e., you’re sitting in your office puttering around wondering why you have fewer patients this week) is a good time to get outside and meet some new people. Going out into society and sharing what you do is more likely to bring you new clients than doing nothing. If you’re so busy that you don’t have time for health fairs, then perhaps you don’t need them.

However, I do think there are things you can do to make your time well-spent at a health fair. To be brief, the purpose we’re aiming at in all of the following advice is to engage as many people as possible in a professional yet fun and approachable way. The more people you speak to and make a good impression on, the better. Obvious, right?

Let’s start with an opposite exercise: If you want to waste your time at a health fair, here are some ideas for you to try. In other words, if you want to have a successful experience at a health fair, do the opposite of these:

• Stand by your booth and don’t engage people as they pass by.
• Stand partially behind your booth texting.
• Don’t put anything on your table except brochures and cards.
• Don’t have anything to engage people or catch their eye.
• Or have way too much random clutter on your table, giving it a disorganized and confused look. (You know you’ve seen this table at health fairs.)
• Don’t bring a banner or large sign to let people know what the heck you do.
• Don’t have your “What does acupuncture do?” elevator pitch prepared.
• Don’t talk to your neighboring vendors. Don’t ask for their business cards.
• Don’t bring any giveaways or prizes.
• Look bored. Sigh heavily. Text more on your phone. Don’t smile.
• Leave as early as possible, before any other vendor, and don’t speak to anyone on the way out.

I used to go to so many health fairs where people just seemed bored and unprepared. Don’t be that person! You stick out like a sore thumb, in such a bad way! Why do people think it’s going to help?

You can probably extrapolate from these non-suggestions how to be successful at a health fair.

Here’s a list of the things to do to have a great experience at health fairs and to bring in more patients:

1) Have the following elements at your table:

• A)   Something fun and free to give away
• B)   Something for patients to read quietly that will generate questions (or in case they’re too shy to ask questions)
• C)   Something for them to interact with if they chose
• D)   Plenty of cards and brochures
• E)    A tablecloth!

2) Engage people who walk by your table. Just say hello! Ask if they have questions! Comment on the weather! Make eye contact, even if people are avoiding it, and smile. Be your regular pleasant-human self, even if you’re tired of standing there.

3) Donate something if a donation is requested for the health fair raffle. Make sure all of your office information (brochures, cards, etc.) are attached to it. The host of the health fair will really appreciate your donation and think nice thoughts about you. You could donate a gift certificate for a few NADA protocol smoking-cessation treatments, for example.

4) Take time to introduce yourself to EVERY other vendor at the fair. Give them your brochure and card and ask for theirs. They’re there to sell something too, so they’ll be happy to trade business cards with you. Don’t be intimidated by being the one to approach. Most people are nice and will be grateful you made the effort.

5) Use social media to let people know you’re at an exciting event. Post the week before to let people know when/where you’ll be, and again the day before. At the fair, get someone to take a picture of you in front of your awesome table and post it while you’re there. This is a great social-media-posting-opportunity that shouldn’t be missed!

6) Thank the person or people who hosted the fair before you leave and send a follow-up thank you card or email letting them know you thought it was useful and you’d like to be invited back again next year. Don’t want to come back the next year? It takes a lot of effort to put together a health fair. Send a polite thank you note anyway and include your business card. And don’t be too harsh a judge on newer health fairs. It takes a few years to get the word out and perfect these things. You might be surprised how much the following year’s fair improves.

Let’s elaborate on the first suggestion, 1) Have the following elements at your table:

A) Something fun and free:

Confession: I used to bring candy with me to health fairs. I know, I know. Not what we’re going for as acupuncturists, right? Sugar = boo, for some people. I would try to bring candy from the Chinese market when possible, so it seemed marginally related to the Chinese medicine theme. But to be honest, I always got a more enthusiastic response when I brought chocolate. If anyone made a comment, I would remind them of the old adage, “Everything in moderation.”

Why do I think the candy helped? –> I really believe that people’s love for free stuff, especially candy, is greater than their fear of talking to a “weirdo acupuncturist” about needles. Right? ‘Cause some people are seriously scared to talk to you, because of the needles. They have the wrong perception. You just need to get them close enough to explain how small our needles are, if they give you a chance. Consider getting that chance through candy.

Also, when people come to your table to swipe a piece of candy, hand them a business card without asking if they want it. Most people automatically accept something you hand to them. Their guilt about nabbing a piece candy and not wanting to talk often makes them take what you hand them out of guilt anyway.

Or, sometimes a little trick I would do was to staple a business card to the packaging of each piece of (larger) candy, so they had no choice but to take the business card with the candy.

As for a giveaway, you don’t have to do candy, of course. A clever chiropractor friend of mine brings a box of Clementines or a few bags of apples arranged in a nice bowl. He says this catches peoples’ attention and to be honest, it does fit better with the image of a healthcare provider. I must admit I have a weakness for sweets, so I feel like it fits with my personality to bring them.

And you don’t have to do food. You could bring other giveaways, like pens, keychains, reusable grocery bags all printed with your logo, website and phone number on them. But I do feel like these typically cost more. It just depends on whether you think the expense of purchasing lots of these items is worth it. I never did this, but if anyone has, please share your thoughts in the comments section!

B) Something for patients to read quietly that will generate questions: 

Sometimes people want to learn about acupuncture but don’t necessarily know what to ask, or are too shy to ask what they worry are “stupid” questions about a foreign medicine. I always felt like providing people with something to read quietly takes the pressure off them to make conversation and ask questions right away.

I made several tri-fold posters on different topics to set up on my table depending on the audience of the health fair including, What is Acupuncture?, Acupuncture for Women’s Health, and Acupuncture and Multiple Sclerosis. These were bright, colorful, and made from printed Powerpoint slides so they looked organized and professional, with pictures. These trifold reading boards typically generated great questions.

I also set up a few small plastic sign stands letting people know what kinds of insurance I accepted, as well as one answering the question “What Can Acupuncture Treat?”

You could also have a Powerpoint or DVD (I like 9000 Needles, a powerful documentary about acupuncture in China for stroke patients) running on a laptop or flat-screen desktop on your table. This really brings people over. If you chose to show a continuously running Powerpoint, make sure the print is large and you only put a few lines of text on each slide. Most slides should have pictures. For example, you could do a “How Can Acupuncture Help You?” Powerpoint, or you could show professional pictures of your office space.

C) Something for them to interact with if they chose: 

Have a drawing or giveaway where you collect contact information for your email newsletter list (yes, you have one of those now). You could give away a free treatment (if you feel comfortable with that), a gift certificate donated by another practitioner (massage, chiropractor?), a mini foot massage (say, 10 minutes) to attach to the end of an acupuncture treatment, or something else of interest.

I would suggest a bottle of White Flower Oil, but unfortunately most people at a health fair aren’t going to know what that is, so it might not garner too much interest. You could do BioFreeze instead, which most people are familiar with. At the same time, I’m not sure a bottle of BioFreeze is significant enough or worth enough money to really make people want to take the time to enter the drawing. Sometimes these things take trial and error, though, so I’d recommend trying a few different things and seeing what garners the most interest.

You could get creative and have a game for people to play. For example, a local fitness center would always bring a spinning prize wheel that I will openly admit I was jealous of. They would let everyone spin for free, and have giveaways ranging from t-shirts, water bottles, free training sessions, or a grand prize of a free half year’s membership to the gym.

I don’t know if you want to pay for such large prizes, or to give away such an expensive grand prize, but the bright, colorful prize wheel attracted lots of attention because it made a loud tic-tic-tic noise when spun, so that people just had to go over and see what was going on. That’s a win all by itself.

You could also bring a game like corn hole (why is it called that? What an absurd name!) but you could paint the board to be related to acupuncture. You might want to have a few t-shirts or something similar to give away as prizes. Side note: Consider that you may have to carry this into a fair by yourself. If you know a crafty person (or are one, good for you), you might consider asking them to make one of these out of plastic for you, on wheels, so it travels better. The wood is pretty but seems like it would be hella heavy… The one below is from Etsy.

D) Plenty of cards and brochures:  This one’s a no brainer. Just bring enough stuff.

E) A tablecloth:

Obviously this is not as important as the other items, but you are going for a polished look, right? One that indicates you’re really making an effort. Bring a tablecloth or something to cover the ug-lay white tables that are usually provided. Sometimes the hosts will provide plastic tablecloths. My personal opinion is that cloth ones send a more professional “I’m-making-an-effort” image, but that’s just me. Of course, a tablecloth printed with your logo is very professional and ideal, but if not, a regular one is great too.

Overall, to bring in more patients from a health fair, you just have to use it like any other networking opportunity and try to interact with as many people as possible. Try fun, different ideas that attract more people to your table, and make sure your table and set-up looks professional. (It’s okay to be fun and professional at the same time. That’s the kind of place I want to go!)

What has your experience been like at health fairs? Yay or nay? What do you bring? What works (or doesn’t) for you?