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The window of opportunity to capitalized on Black Friday events has just about passed – however there’s still time that you may be able to sneak in if you jump on it now.   Below is an example of a notice you may want to send to your family and friends.

You’re invited to my Black Friday Mystery Hostess Party at my Scentsy site! Beat the rush of crowds and shop from your seat instead! Scentsy has a gift for everyone on your list!

Shop for your mom, sister, best friends, teen and even your husband, plus stocking stuffers for all. You’ll be placed in a drawing to receive AWESOME hostess benefits! Don’t forget to spread the word and have your friend put your name down in the comment section of her order to so both of you can receive an additional entry for the Mystery Hostess Drawing! The more friends you tell, the more chances you have to win! Have your friends place your name in the comment box when they place their order!

Answer the following questions and place in the comment box. For every correct answer, you’ll receive 1 additional entry in the Mystery Hostess Drawing. The answers of these questions can be found at my site.

1. Who is the founder(s) of Scentsy?
2. What year was Scentsy established?
3. Name one of the New Warmers
4. What product eliminates unwanted smells with a clean citrus aroma?
5. What new product line was released during the Fall/Winter 2008 catalog?

Mystery Hostess will receive:

FREE SHIPPING!
One 1/2 off Item
10% Credit good for anything in the catalog

Click on [your website URL] Then MY EVENTS and place your order under the BLACK FRIDAY PARTY listed on 11/28/2008. All orders MUST be placed on Friday, November 28, 2008 in order to qualify to be the Mystery Hostess

OR – just have your friends and family order through YOU instead of the website – whatever floats your boat!

Take what you like ~ and discard the rest.

About the Author: Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan. She started her first home business in 1988. As a single parent, Laurie has supported her family by working at home. She is currently an Independent Consultant and Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles. You can find Laurie at www.IncomeWax.com

Vendor events are called many things – craft shows, expos, farmer’s markets, flea markets, festivals, bazaars or fairs.  Some are one day events and others can last as long as one week.  Some are as affordable to enter as $25 per booth while others can cost hundreds of dollars or more.  How do you determine if it is worthwhile to participate?

Do the math and make sure you calculate all expenses, including your time.  Also consider the cost of goods sold.  A common question is “How much inventory should I bring?”  Bring as much as you can afford without going into debt over it.  Many experienced direct sellers would not do a vendor event without a large supply of cash and carry. People want it NOW; they don’t want to place orders; they won’t give money to a stranger in hopes that they’ll get the product in a few weeks; they don’t want to fill out any contact sheet – they just want to buy the goods and go. They’ll buy whatever you have – impulse purchases.

Some people set up a small display, without much on-hand inventory and choose to do events in hopes of future sales. That’s too much of a business gamble and far too much of an investment of non-income producing time in hopes of orders later.

Below are some factors to consider when calculating return on investments before deciding to do a vendor event or not.

Based on a 25% commission rate, if the booth fee is $50 you’d need to sell at least $200 just to break even on cost of goods sold – and that does not account for your valuable time, investment in business cards, samples, catalogs, and any display pieces (tables, table cloth, racks, cases, signage, etc.)

If you sold $500 at the show then you’d only profit $125 (assuming you’re at the 25% rate and did not invest any other monies) Figure between product preparations, pack up, travel, set up, time working the booth, tear down and return travel, you had 12 hours invested. That’s earning just a little over $10/hr, yet you still have to deduct taxes from that rate.

That said – if you had on-hand inventory and sold $500 product at the event, you’d make about the same amount of money you’d make at McDonalds.

Take the same above example, only this time figure what you would make if you sold $200 worth of inventory.  You’d be working for free and the event would have cost you money.  Now figure this example without the inventory or without the sales?  Pretty glum picture, isn’t it?

That is not to say that vendor events are never worthwhile.  Sometimes they can be very profitable and a great way to advertise to the masses.  It is just vital that you do the math first and actually calculate your incomes to expense ratio.

About the Author: Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan. She started her first home business in 1988. As a single parent, Laurie has supported her family by working at home. She is currently an Independent Consultant and Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles. You can find Laurie at www.IncomeWax.com

Not a Partier in a Party Plan Business? Develop Your Business Anyway!

As you know the party plan and Direct Sales business are going through the roof as more and more people are trying to earn a living and becoming a mom to their kids.

While the party plan business is an awesome place to “work”, not all of us are partiers! When I did a party plan business, I had a heck of a time booking because my DH worked nights and I chose to have no babysitter for my child. So that left me doing parties on Friday night, Saturday afternoons and evenings. While that worked for a while, I also burned out from having no family time to speak of.

So, what’s a non partier in a party plan business to do? Well, luckily, Lots!

Change your Strategy and Focus!

~Change your focus to Book Shows. You can have several going at one time. You are not locked into 2-3 parties a week.
~ Utilize online parties. You can pick the time, date and never leave home!
~ Fundraising is huge! If your company offers it, use it.
~ Book individual appointments with customers to show products and specials.
~ Specialty sales and special priced groupings once a month using Flyers and newsletters.
~ Product of the Month sales.
~ Email campaigns through autoresponders.
~ Utilize helpers to pass out books and take orders for you. Give them a free item or a discount on their order for helping you.
~ Take small orders and create a “party” once every 2 weeks or so. Don’t make it a requirement for your customers to order only through a party situation. Take orders anytime!
~ Gift registry and Wish lists for housewarmings, engagement, sweet 16, new jobs, special holidays.
~ Open houses and vendor/craft shows in town.
~ Join the Chamber of Commerce and networking groups.

These are but some ideas to strengthen your party plan business. Try them all and use the ones that work best for you!

***********Copyright 2004-2006 by Chris Carroll. Chris is a work at home mom that has been in sales for 20+ years. She has a BS in Business Management and is the host of DirectSalesTalk.com as well as her business she enjoys with her son at www.joywithsoy.com.