The Estie Bestie Tea Time Episode 3: Pay to Play baby!

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Welcome to episode three, we are going to be talking about major aesthetics events. And what we see as individuals that are attendees. I'm also going to give you insight to the vendor sponsor and speaker side, because I have done all four of them. 2022 and 2023 was a wild year. Escapade. I want to say for business for Bestie [00:01:00] because I took a step back, but I delved into the beauty industry from my permanent jewelry business side and learned so much. I met so many people and faced so many adversities when it came to. Events vendors, sponsorship, those types of things that I got a totally different perspective on from being an attendee to the other side of it. 

So let's get into it. A major thing in the aesthetics industry is attending events. Today, we're going to talk about attending events as an attendee, As a speaker, As a vendor and as a sponsor. There are four different ways you can attend events and for me, I enjoy being a speaker and an attendee. Sometimes speaking arrangements come with being a sponsor or come with a booth to be a vendor at. [00:02:00] And we're going to get into the difference between all of those. 

And then we're going to get into the back end of how people get selected or asked to attend these types of events, because it is sometimes an invite only, which is. It makes you feel a little bit special, but at the end of the day, when you see the back end of it, you're like, Hmm. Hmm. It's not really that special. But anyways, here we go. 

We're gonna talk about attending as an attendee, as a ticket holder. So when you're a ticket holder and you go to an event, It's such a different perspective because you have the freedom to go around, travel the different booths, try different products. You get to meet up with your friends. You might also get to stay in a hotel. 

If it, even if it's like out of town or something like that, like it's fun event, vending events and like major events in the aesthetics industry as a ticket holder are super fun. I personally have been to. A few I've been to. E S [00:03:00] C E E. Oh, we say the song. I E C S E. And. Orlando and in, I want to say north of Miami Palm Palm beach, is that what it was? 

I don't know. I've been to PMu world live in Miami. I've been to. A M P M U in California. I've been to UK PMU conference over in London. And let me just tell you. I loved attending events as a ticket holder because I got to actually hear everybody speaking. I got to experience. The room and seeing how people are educated. 

And they're also taking in the information that these speakers are providing to them. And I also get to like mingle and make some friends while I'm there. One of my very, very best friends that I met. This last year. [00:04:00] And like, I'm telling you, she's like a heart of gold. I met Tracy, who is the creator of PMU GOO ( Go order your aftercare if you're an artist!)

And she's known as nurse Tracy on Instagram. She's also become one of my master trainers for my permanent jewelry course. Um, but I met her at AAM PMU and we were both sponsors. Now. Tracy. And I have attended multiple events in the last year as ticket holders, as well as the sponsors and vendors and speakers. And we've seen the ins and outs. 

I personally have seen the ins and outs of the business workings behind it. So like as a ticket holder, when you go to an event, you get to have like the best time, in my opinion. You get to feel the room. You get to see all the speakers, you get all the goodies and you get to shop and there's no pressure. I mean, yeah, you spent a little bit up a little bit on your ticket, but you didn't spend like thousands of dollars like these vendors sometimes do. 

[00:05:00] And that's another thing that we're going to get into. As well, we're going to really, really deep dive into the cost of being a vendor, a sponsor, and even a speaker, because let me just tell you just because someone's speaking does not mean that they didn't pay to be up on that stage. A lot of these events are paid to play. 

You pay for a ticket. Sometimes these people pay to be there as speakers, just to get in front, to get that validation, to get that content, to then market it back to you so that you buy from them. It's. I don't know. It's just like something that I feel like people don't talk about, but it's so, so true. So let's talk about it. So the next way to attend an event is as a vendor or a sponsor. A vendor is someone who pays to have a table set up for them to be able to sell to. The people that are bought [00:06:00] tickets to attending the event. A vendor is a very valid way to attend events and get exposure for your brand and for your products. 

And I think it's highly, highly. More into the marketing aspect of things. And you have to actually like, you have to know how to be a vendor. You can't just go wing it. Like you have to know how to be a vendor. You have to know how to capture these people that want to buy your products, right. That in there, or within the next three days after that. 

So like you have to really, really work. You are working that booth from sunup to sundown from. Setup to take down. 

And vendors. Vendors sometimes have to pay fees of, I mean, I've paid fees, $1,800, and I've been asked to pay a fee of $20,000 to attend an event. It just depends on what events and vendors. [00:07:00] Spots are available. So. If you look at these huge events, sometimes booth tables travel, all of that loss of business. 

While you're at these events, you have to calculate all these things in can cost you around 10 grand a piece for me. I can tell you. When I traveled for my first sponsor event. Which was a vendor sponsor split. So like you sponsored the event, but you also got a vending table, which was nice. Um, I spent around, I want to say $12,000 for tickets hotel. Car rental. Product delivery booth set up. 

Um, Babysitter for the whole week for two kids. And then as well as I had, um, to coordinate all of that, to pay for my babysitter's slate, to come down and pay for the time. And, you know, watching my kids. So like vending events can be super, super expensive. And then you get to mingle and make a rapport with the other [00:08:00] people who are vending. 

So like when you're an attendee yeah. You get to meet everybody at every event, but you're not sitting there working next to them, standing next to them every single day. And I can tell you as a vendor or a sponsor, like it matters who your next do. And what relationships you build, because you're going to most likely see these people again. 

And you are most likely going to want to collaborate with the people that you connect with because you're in the same industry. Right? So when you're a vendor, Or a sponsor, you kind of get access to higher, higher level and higher position people within the industry. And that's important. And you want, when you want to start to grow and to scale and make those connections. And invite people onto podcasts and make a rapport with them. You really, really, really, really get to know the person next to you. At events when you are not a vendor [00:09:00] and you're a ticket holder, like you get to go and hang out with estheticians or cosmos or whoever's at the event. 

PMU artists. You get to go and hang out with them. You may go out for a drink after you might go to the pool with them. You might, you know, get to know them on like a friendly level where as, when you go and you attend as a sponsor and as a vendor, you are building relationships at the professional level. And that brings me to the professional level. 

Once you get there, once you get into that, that door. And I didn't know this before I was a vendor, I didn't know people like. Paid every single time to be there. Like, I thought they were invited and they were offered the opportunity to be there. I thought speakers were just there because they were invited to be a speaker and they were like, you know, the ones that people wanted to hear speak. I had no idea that some of these speakers pay to speak in front of people. 

And like, when I learned that I was like, wow. The veil has [00:10:00] lifted on the exclusivity of the industry and it is a pay to play game. And it started to make so much more sense. It started to make so much more sense to me as having been in the industry, trying to get my products out there, trying to build a brand for the St Basti and also, you know, my permanent jewelry business, which was Flash and Fuse is Flash and Fuse permanent Jewelry Training program I got to see, I was like, wow. 

Okay. So half of the speakers actually probably like 90% of the speakers are people who have vending spots and tables. So the people that have. Spots and pay for vending tables. Sometimes get off, offered the opportunity to speak as well. Whereas there's also some people who get to a point where they are paid to speak. 

So let's not get that twisted. So 90% of people pay to speak, pay to have a vending booth pay to sponsor. And then that gives [00:11:00] them an opportunity to go speak on stage. Right. And that's a good way to get in front of the audience and position yourself as somebody who has authority and influence and insight in the industry, whether it be from branding to products, to whatever topic you were asked to speak on. That's another thing you might not get to talk about what you want to talk about. Um, you might be given a list of things that you can talk about. Um, and then pick one. And then we'll even talk about that too, because I've had to do that before, where I've been given an opportunity to speak. And I was given a couple of different options of topics I could speak on. 

Um, and then I had to actually present my presentation beforehand for them to approve it for me to be able to go on stage and speak about it. But. That's out of here. Are there. So one thing that I did learn. Is, this is why we keep seeing the same people at every single event. Is these people pay. [00:12:00] Uh, vending and sponsor fee, and they're given the opportunity to go speak on stage. 

What that means is they've paid to play. 

They've paid to be there. They've paid to be in front of you. They have paid to. Take their time to sell your products, which one? They're hopeful that they are going to make their booth feedback, their vending spot, their sponsor feedback. Right. They're hoping that they are going to build a relationship with you. 

And then also be able to use this content for social media and marketing to prove that they are leaders in the industry. That is one thing that I've noticed like as well in the PMU industry, like as soon as somebody is able to get onstage, they can now say that they are a. International speaker. And I giggle because you know, I've done a couple of speaking arrangements in the last year and I, by no means consider myself an international speaker or educator. 

I just consider myself DST Bessie. [00:13:00] And flash and views. Like I know what I know and I share what I know and I like being on stage so that I can help other people. Um, learn about what I'm speaking about, period. And I'm sure that's what everyone else feels too, but I don't go back and I don't say like, oh, I'm an international speaker. 

I don't use that as leverage to. Boost my business to make it seem like I'm bigger and better than I actually am. And that's one thing that kind of gives me the ethic about this industry is like, we don't know this. We don't know these things until. We are offered an opportunity to pay to play. And. That's how my first opportunity came about. 

So I was offered an opportunity to pay, to play, to have the vending space at vending table and sponsor an event. I was like, absolutely. That's so cool. You know, I'd love to be there. And then it was like, okay, well, it's going to be, you know, $1,800, $2,000, $2,500, whatever it was. Um, I know what it was. 

I'm just not going to tell you. But it was about [00:14:00] $1,800. Right. And so I was like, okay. I mean, that's fine. Like, I can make that back on there. As long as they get to like speak to people and, you know, sell my product or sell my course and just get to know people. But the thing is like, If you don't get that opportunity, if you don't get that invite or you don't ask for that opportunity. 

And that's another key thing too, you can always ask. Ask for these opportunities. Some of them are invite only others are ask a bowl. And that's another thing that I realized that I was limiting myself on. Is that just because I waited for an invite and of course I said yes, because it's an opportunity. 

I wanted to learn how the ins and outs worked from the backend I needed to. I was at that point in my business and just in my life, in the beauty industry. But like once. You start seeing how things work and you make connections with people and you network and you get to know these people, these other vendors, the other vendors that are there, most of these vendors are going to multiple events in the same year. [00:15:00] So you can ask them and be like, Hey, what other events are you going to. They'll tell you, and you can get a contact or you can reach out and say, Hey, are you looking for other vendors? 

I'd like to blah, blah, blah. And this is my budget. Or what's your sponsor fee or what's your vendor fee? Or do you have any speaking spots available? This is the topic that I am very well educated on and present your topic. It's almost like you can pitch them, but you don't know that you can pitch them because you never had the experience and knew that it was an option. So that's a lot of stuff that I kind of figured out in the last year, um, of being a sponsor. Being a vendor being a speaker and then even just attending from events. But I think it's super important to know that when you see these people on stage, You should be considering. Are they paid to play? 

Do they pay to play and is their content valuable? Do you vibe with them on a [00:16:00] business level? Or are they full of crap? Uh, may have enough money to get up on stage and woo everybody with a 10, 15 minute performance. Sometimes it's really hard to tell the difference. Sometimes. It's just really good person up there on stage. 

And they had a really great opportunity and they are just smashing it and they're doing so well. It is. Something that you have to take into consideration when you're attending these events. Whenever I go and I attend an event as an attendee, I always look at the speaker lineup. I look at the lineup. I look at the topics. 

I look at the materials that are going to be provided from those people. I E the speakers. And then I also look at the sponsors for me, knowing what I know from this industry and having worked with a lot of people in around a lot of people. At that level in this industry. I have personally been exposed [00:17:00] to. Things that I really, really like and enjoy, and also things that I would absolutely just avoid because of affiliation. And that's something that you learn as you. I attend defense. 

As you become a speaker, as you start to sell products and you become a vendor and a sponsor. And these are just things that you learn as like, not as a new SD or a new cause or a new PMU artists. Like these are things that you learn. As you get to the point of like four or five, six years into business. 

Okay. These are not things that I even knew about like four years ago. I just thought, oh my gosh, they're so amazing. They're going to be speaking at this event or just donating all their time. Not only are they donated their time, they're paying to be there. And there was always some questions of like, Well, I wish I could really see this versus speak and it would be like somebody that I follow or somebody that I talk business with. Or things like [00:18:00] that. 

And they would never speak, they would never do any of these types of events. And then I would just see other people just get in front of them and their career trajectory because they were going to these events because they were paying to play because they were getting in front of these people because they were attending events, making those networking connections. And I never thought at any point. Could that be me until I was presented with an opportunity. 

And I said yes to it. That opened the door and lifted the veil on a completely different side of the beauty business industry and the beauty entrepreneurship industry, especially for aesthetics and PMU and that industry that I didn't know, I needed to know. So I'm happy to share all the tea with you guys. 

I hope, I hope, I hope. I hope that you have an opportunity to learn for yourself in every single aspect of attending events. I hope we have an amazing time at your next event. I hope that if you do become a [00:19:00] vendor and a speaker, and even if you are paying to play, you make the most out of it. And you provide really, really, really good information and you stay genuine. And you work with integrity. And you have ethics when you're functioning. At every type of business level that you achieve. So, yeah, so I that's the T that's the T on events for me. 

And I hope to see you in the next episode, episode four. And I'll give you a little sneaky Peaky, um, on what the topics going to be on my Instagram at the Estie Bestie. Talk to you guys soon.