Taking bookings in Instagram DMs, and how to stop

How it usually goes

You post a story about Thursday's cupping. Within the hour there are twenty threads in your DMs. One person wants two seats, another asks the price, a third writes "me too" and goes quiet. You copy names into a spreadsheet and you are still replying at eleven at night.

For one small event it holds up, because your guests are on Instagram anyway. It breaks when you run more events or when more than one person answers. Two people message in the same minute and each gets the last seat in a different thread. The guest list lives in dozens of conversations, and someone is always missed.

Nobody reminds guests in the morning, so whoever forgot stays home and the seat is too late to offer to anyone else. The transfer that was "coming tomorrow" sometimes never comes. And only the phone that is logged in sees the bookings, so the person behind the bar has to ask. A DM inbox is not a list, and it cannot count seats.

What the replacement needs

1. One link for your bio, your stories and your DM replies.
2. A seat count that goes down by itself. When the event is full, nobody else can book.
3. Guests enter their own name, party size and contact. You retype nothing.
4. A confirmation at once and a reminder on the day, with a way to cancel so the seat comes back.
5. One guest list the whole team sees.

A Google Form covers the first and third points. It keeps collecting names after the seats are gone, and you write back that it is full.

Step by step

1. Write the event down

Name, date and time, number of seats, price, and when guests pay: by card when they book, or at the venue. If it repeats every week, note that too. You write it once instead of in every reply.

2. Set up a booking page

The page holds the event and its seat count, and it stops taking bookings when the seats run out.

3. Book it as a guest

Open the link on your phone and book one seat. You see how many fields there are, whether the confirmation arrives and how cancelling works. Then cancel the test booking.

4. Put the link where guests look

First in your bio, and as a link sticker on every story about the event. Next to the sticker, one line: what, when, and "book through the link, no need to message us". Without that line people keep messaging.

5. Answer DMs with the link

The messages will not stop overnight. Keep one reply ready and paste it:

Hi, thanks for writing! You can book your seat here: [link]. The confirmation comes straight to your email.

6. Move over what you already have

Bookings you already confirmed in DMs go into the new list by hand. Otherwise the seat count does not know about them, and you get the double booking you were trying to get rid of.

7. Check the list before the event

On the day, you want to know who is coming, how many, and who has paid.

Where STOL fits

Step 2 is your venue's page in STOL. You add an event or a weekly series once, seats count down on their own, and guests book without an account. You can also set it up from ChatGPT or Claude (how it works).

The list in step 7 is the Board, which the whole team has on their phones, and a new booking shows on it the moment the guest sends it. Guests get a confirmation at once and a reminder on the morning of the event, and whoever cannot make it cancels through the link in it, so the seat goes back on the page.

On Plus, guests pay by card when they book. STOL takes no cut of ticket sales; you pay the card fee. A paid ticket is cancelled by you, not the guest.

What stays in DMs

You keep Instagram. Guests still find you there and still ask about parking, allergens, or whether they can bring the dog. DMs are good for that. The difference is that a booking is no longer one more conversation you have to remember.

If you want to try it, create your page in STOL. The first 7 days are free, no card. For help moving over from DMs, write to support.