Spinning Wheel For Booking Parties

You may want to consider making one of these for parties and events to help you book more parties.   I know events that get alot of people's attention!!!  When they come over and ask what you can win, you can talk to them about hosting an Open House or Boutique.  (Sometimes, a change in wording is all you need to make they want to host a party).     After they set a date on your calendar, they can spin the wheel and get the prize.

What might you write on your wheel?    How about 1-5 FREE pieces of jewelry, free Starlet Shimmer items, half price pieces, 5% more free jewelry at a party, a secret grab bag (that has pieces you want to move), and more.   You can give it to them right then or you can tell them that they will get it at their party.   Your choice.  

Here is a tutorial on how to make a spinning wheel.  It doesn't look too hard.  Find it HERE.

Basket Parties

Basket Parties are the bomb!  Take a basket with you wherever you go.  Call on offices, schools, banks, production plants, retirement centers, gyms, hospitals or anywhere else you can think of.   Let party hostesses take them to work.   Let friends take them to family dinners or get togethers.   Ask customers to share this jewelry with their co-workers at check-out.  Just get the jewelry out and about for everyone to see.

Working women (and men) are the perfect people to sell to - while they are a work.
1.  They have more money.
2.  They probably need to look professional or nice for their job.
3.  They have less time to go shopping at malls and stores.
4.  They make great basket parties hostesses!

What does a basket party look like?
Anyway you want it to.

 This is my upline's.  She has a large fabric bag and has Paparazzi embroidered on it.  She puts a ton of jewelry in it.

 This is one of mine.  I fit it in a round hat box.  It has a lid.  I broke it down so you can see what is inside of it.

When I have a lot of basket parties out at once, I have even put them in Paparazzi boxes.   Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done.

What goes in a basket party? 
This is what I normally put in.  (It varies based on how many people are going to be at the work place/party.
I normally put about 100 pieces.  Basket parties are great for smaller inventories.  They never know that you don't have 1000 pieces at home.   They just are excited about $5 jewelry.

-50-60 necklaces.   Lots of best sellers and neutrals.   At least one of each color that is NOT neutral.
-10-15 pairs of earrings   ( Mostly neutrals with a little color added.)
-10 bracelets
-10 rings
-10 clips
-10 headbands
*Starlet Shimmers (optional)  - ask your hostess.

You notice on my basket parties that I keep all the headbands, clips, bracelets, and earrings in their own separate bags for easy locating, keeping things organized and not getting as tangled and broken.  I keep the rings in the ring boxes.

I also put a mirror, my business card, drawing slips, Top 10 reasons to become a Paparazzi consultant, a money bag with 1 $5, 5 $1 and $2.50 in quarters, and an inventory sheet that tells the hostess how many pieces of each are in the basket. 

On that paper, I also have the price and "Make checks payable to: Michelle Johnnie."  I also tell the hostess if she gets anyone to host a party from that basket party, I will give her a free piece of jewelry - that gives her incentive to talk to her co-workers about hosting parties.  

I recommend leaving a basket at a place for at least 2 days.    If people don't have money, time to shop or aren't taking a break one day, they can look at it the next.

If you would like a copy of the inventory sheet or tracking sheet I have, please email me at jewelryforfive@gmail.com

Invitations and Postcard Invitations

When I book a party with someone, I always tell them I have two options for invitations.   I can send them one via email that has some good information they can print out and photocopy to hand out to friends, I can photocopy that kind for them OR I can give them the postcard kind from the company.    I love it when they say, "Oh just send it to my email and I will do the rest!!!!"  Yeah!!!!  If they say they want the postcards, ask how many and do the following.

If you are using the postcard invitations with your hostesses, I suggest doing two things.  The first is to write somewhere on the invite that everything is only $5!!!! 

I first was introduced to Paparazzi by being invited to a party.  An invitation was handed to me in passing.  It said nothing about everything being $5 and the hostess didn't say anything to me about the price.  I actually don't wear much jewelry and since most parties are expensive, I didn't go.  Had I known the price, I would have attended and bought something and probably joined the company a few weeks earlier.

I used to print two "ALL Items $5" on one label and cut it in half.  I would put one $5 label on the back of each invite by the hostess info.  That way anyone who looked at it knew the price.   You can get a stamp also if you would rather do that.  Just make sure you get the fast drying ink!!!!

The other suggestion I have is to print out the info for the party (hostess' name, date, time, phone number and address) on a label so the hostess doesn't have to spend an hour or two writing it out by hand.  It is a PAIN and I was to make it as painless as possible for my hostess.  If I do, she is more likely to hand out more invites and talk to more people.   If she gets tired and annoyed, she is less likely to write out and hand out as many invites as if she just peels and sticks it on.  This may cost $.50 to $1.00 more per party, but if this makes it so the hostess invites more, it only takes one extra item bought to cover the price.  It is well worth it.  If you need me to explain how to print on a label, please call me at 435-610-1609 and I would be happy to walk you through it.

Additionally, I send two different invites via email to my hostesses.  I tell them they can print either of these out for reminders, post on office bulletin boards, post to facebook or send in emails.   Some of them do it and others don't.  I still believe it is worth the 15 minutes that it takes me to change the information and send to hostesses.

In the email, this is what I write:  (sorry that it is centered.  I can't get the post to line at the left.)

Hi __________, 
These are some invitations to the party at your house you can use with email, Facebook and to copy.   They serve as a great reminder when emailed or facebooked the day before the part.  I have attached two different ones.  You do whatever is best for you.   I also am attaching a paper about how to get the most free jewelry (hostess tips).  

The most important thing is to give a physical invite and say the following:
1.  Everything is $5 or less ($5.50 with the tax).
2.  It is cute!!!!!
3.  Bring a friends and daughters.
4.  Stock up for Christmas!!!!  Makes great stocking stuffers and accents to outfits!!!

Let your guests know that they can do their Christmas shopping at this party because everything is cute and reasonably priced!!!!

Something that has worked great for hostesses lately is to send out a text and facebook reminder the day of of the day before the party.

Let me know if you need anything else or have any questions.  

Thanks.
Michelle

--

If you want the invites that I send via email or the hostess tips, please email me at jewelryforfive@gmail.com and I will send it back to you!

The Hidden Box

I take a lot of my inventory to parties with me.   I never know if it is going to be a great party or one that bombs (Yes, I have parties that don't go well sometimes!).   If I think it is going to be great, I make sure I have a lot of different items for people to look at.  The truth is that the more selection you have, the more people will buy because they can find more of what they want. 

I can't put everything I have out on displays.  It is simply too much.   I can have about 50-60 headbands displayed at once, but sometimes I have more of that in my possession.   I have about 40 clips on my display, but I have more on the table or in a box.   When it comes to earrings, I have quite a few (maybe 60 out).   I know that it has been recommended that you only have one earring per hook, but I put 3 or 4 of the same color on a hook because I have so many.   With necklaces, I try to do one per hook.

When guests come to the open house and are waiting to hear my speech, I simply say,  "Hi.  My name is Michelle and I am the Paparazzi consultant.  Everything is $5.50 which includes the tax - except for the little girl items and the price is posted on them.   If you see something you like, but want it in a different color, I might have it in a box.   I can look for it or you can look.  Feel free to look through any of the boxes you see. I don't have room to display everything that I have.   Let me know if you have any questions."   And I let them go shopping and have fun!

There have been quite a few  parties where the ladies will start to open one box and then another and another.  They think they are finding hidden treasures.   It is awesome to see them so excited about a necklace still in plastic.   Pretty soon, they are all going through the boxes.   Women like to rummage.  Don't be afraid to let women peak into your "hidden boxes."   It is a great sales strategy!

Great Ideas At Sugar Bee

When I do parties and small fairs, I wear an apron and walk around instead of sitting at a table to collect money.  That way I can talk to the customers, try to upsell and answer questions.  Utility aprons are diffficult to find.  Sugar Bee has an easy tutorial on how to make one.  It should only take a few minutes.

Check out the utility apron tutorial.

Friend Frenzy

At the corporate training last week, Misty Kirby gave some really GREAT ideas on how to get more people to your parties which will result in more sales, more money made, more parties booked and more consultants to join your team.

One idea was called "Friend Frenzy."
On the invitation, write there will be a drawing for a FREE piece of jewelry to be chosen at the end of party.   You can put your name in the drawing once for every friend you bring.   3 friends = 3 entries.  Let your hostess know that you will be doing this so they can tell their friends when they are delivering the invitations.  

The three things hostesses should say when delivering invites are:
1.  Everything is $5.
2.  Everything is so cute!!!!
3.  Bring friends who enjoy a great deal and be entered to win free jewelry.

It is rare that someone will come to a party without buying at least one piece of jewelry.  This will definitely increase your sales and more.  Also, these are people that you probably wouldn't have access to invite!  Awesome idea!!!

Any more ideas on how to get more guests to parties?  Leave them in the comments.

5 for $25

The first little small town fair I did, I kept pretty good track of how many items each person bought. The majority of people bought one or two items. There was one person that bought four items, and two people that bought 5 or more items and one of them was actually a lady who have 6 teenagers with her. So at the next little booth I did, I put up a sign that said "5 for $25." So basically, I paid their tax.   At that consignment sale, I had 3 people who bought that much to get the deal (and the sales overall were very slow/few). At the other little fair I did, I have 8 people buy 5 items to get that deal. They were all excited and a few told me they would be calling me to order more. One of them, booked a party. While I figure it costs mea little to get people to buy that much, it made me a lot more than it cost. I figure most of those people would have only bought 2 or 3 items each. Plus, they felt they were getting an amazing deal, will be future customers, and moved more product. I charge exact tax per item (including the tax) so I came out ahead the money collected.

Before you do a "deal,"  think it through.   When I have done a deal and people booked a party, they expect the deal at their party.   And when someone else books a party from that party, they expect the deal too.   If you offer a deal at your house when people come to buy, they expect it everywhere and tell everyone about the deal.  I have told people that when I do a Special, it is at a fair, not at a party  (but most don't like it!)

Book More Parties Using This Method

Last week, I set up shop at a consignment sale and a 4 hour, small town fair. From those events, I booked 8 parties there and have 4 people I am checking back with. How did I do it? I printed out a paper on my computer that said,

"Book a party Today

and

get one FREE item today."

People love the word FREE! They were very excited to get that free item! Take a calendar with you of dates you can and can't host a party. Pull it out, write the person's name down, get their info and let them take one item so they can start advertising! It works!!!!

While they back out of a party, that is a risk I am willing to take. At a loss of about $2.75, I am figure the greater opportunity to make $100 or more is worth it.

Awesome Invites

I'm not totally impressed with the Paparazzi invites. Mainly because they don't say "Everything is $5" or something like unto it. If you use Paparazzi's, either write or put a sticker on that says something about "$5." Make sure you are talking to people too about how cute and inexpensive the jewelry is!

One of the Paparazzi ladies made these amazing invites. She said they only cost her $.01 each from HERE!!!! Wouldn't they be awesome to pass out to people.

She wrote "I did their advanced designer and did all the pictures, writing on my own. I got 2500 business cards for only $25, plus the $8 shipping, but totally worth it. " I'm going to try to figure out how to get some invites like these!

Hostess Rewards

How to do Hostess Rewards?

There are several options and you choose what is best for you, but it should be at least equal to 5% of your cost and 10% to what you sell at the party.

I do:
1 piece for hosting the party. 10% for every $100 sold. So for a $250 party, the hostess would get to choose 5 items for the total sold and 2 for hosting the party. That's 7 total items. It "costs" me approximately $20 (after the taxes I had to pay) to earn about $105. Not bad for 3 hours of work. And the hostess feels like she got a great deal. Everyone is happy! ***Actually, it doesn't "cost "that much when you read below about Paparazzi giving you free items for hostess rewards.***

Some other options:
1 item for hosting, 1 piece for every 10 paying customers who come,plus 1 item for every $100 sold
1 item for booking a party (if they book it at someone else's party/fair)
1 item for at least 20 people coming


If you do one out of your home, you could do a "Mystery Hostess" drawing, so whoever gets it, gets to have the 10% or you could split it and 2 people could have 5% each. That might get more people coming. But order to qualify, they must purchase something. Or you could give a set number of items away. Or you can keep the money yourself.

You can also do a raffle for 2 items, plus your business card & comp plan flyer

I have also heard of consultants giving the hostess 1/2 off an item if someone books a party at their party, but they must redeem it at their friend's party (so they might buy even more there, or they may never redeem it, just an extra option)

I also offer 2 free items if they refer someone that signs up under me. Hope this helps. Just find what works best for you & make a sign and frame it saying what a hostess gets, you may get more if they realize how much awesome FREE stuff they can get!

I also write a THANK YOU note after the party is over!


What other ways are there? What do you do? Leave it in the comments.

Just remember: the hostess does a lot of work. Passing out invites, cleaning her house, providing refreshments. If you reward them kindly, they will remember and will make future recommendations for you, host more parties, be repeat buyers and such. Don't be stingy!

I've been asked if the company gives you hostess rewards. The answer is yes AND no.

The following tends to be the case, but not always!!!
Paparazzi usually gives you 1 "hostess reward" for every 20 items you purchase (5%). Sometimes it shows up on your invoice and sometimes it doesn't, but there should be a bag or two labeled "hostess rewards" in your box. These may be discountinued items or current items. They may be beautiful. They may be harder to sell items. They are free! Be grateful for them and make the most of them:)

Business Cards

I recommend having a business card and carrying some in your wallet.  You never know when you will want or need one.

I made VERY inexpensive business cards.  I give one to each person as they check out. 

The following is one way to make business cards.
Go to Microsoft Office.
Select "Microsoft Publisher."
Click on "Publications for Print"
Select "Business Cards"
YOu can choose what template you want and fill the info in.

I just print mine at the regular copy store in black ink on magenta card stock and cut it myself.   It costs me about 1.5 cents each.

I include the following words either on the back or front of the card!

"Want a few? Place an order (or buy some jewelry)!
Want a jewelry shopping spree? Host a party!
Want it all?  Join the Paparazzi team!
Enjoy unlimited income in your spare time."

I'm not having success downloading the business card to this so you will just have to imagine the beauty in your mind:)