Open House Successes

Last week I said I would post some Open House Successes that you share with me. Here are some that I got so far. 

Cheryl Munro:  I decided to have a "Fancy Pie Tasting Party" yesterday....Since I am still healing, I had lots of help! 19 people attended, 17 pies were brought! Sales were $350, cash and carry $200, 2 home shows booked BUT I had 10 people pay for my upcoming bus trip on 9/25-9/26! There were 2 new faces, which is awesome....MANY were impressed with the team spirit baskets....a couple of customers have not seen LB in a long time and they LOVE all the new items...The soup/sandwich plates were a hit!..the rest of the customers are waiting to order when we go on the bus...We had a great time!

Linda Cooper:  Had sales of over $1,000 and did very well with getting RSVP's and she had some new faces too.  She also got to show the new Team Spirit baskets and was able to get the new Wish Lists and September Flyers in her customers hands.

Paul McDaniel:  Had sales of $1,200 and Cash and Carry of $700 and booked 9 shows!

That's what I have so far.  Send me your success and i will add it here.  You can also make a comment as a way of sending me your results and I will post them too. 

I did just over $16,000 in sales and booked quite a few home shows.  That makes this Open House my 2nd best ver. Had quite a few new faces too.  That is REALLY important for me.  My Customers loved the new products but it's funny to see what some love and others don't.  I gave away a So Rachel Body Wash or Lotion for the customers that spent $100 or more.

Sold a lot of Chili Bowls and presold quite a few Soup and Sandwich Plates.  I also took orders on the Soap and Lotion so can get those in on September 1st.  I took advantage of the Cutting Board on line special and my customers were buying 2 and 3 of them at a time. It was also a last push on the Fancy Pie Basket and I took orders for the Bread Carrier basket for the On Line Special for Weds.  Was woking all angles of the business!

All in all it was a really good weekend. Now time to get ready for my next one which is the last weekend in October.

Let me know your successes!

Bee 2010

The dates for Bee 2010 have been announced. The Reunion Bee is July 21 - 24 and the Homecoming Bee is July 24 - 27. I am thrilled that the dates have been announced and I love the change in that no Bee will be right at month end or right at the beginning of a month as in the past. LOVE THE NEW DATES!

Take the time right now to make a commitment to be at the Bee this year. You have 10 full months to prepare. You have 10 full months to not have excuses why you can't go and 10 full months to come up with reasons that you CAN go.   

I don't have the money! Well - get some Home Shows on the Calendar NOW and save part of your commissions for the Bee. By sharing rooms and watching for Airline Flight sales you can make the trip more affordable and you have plenty of time to make enough money to go. As you get close to the actual Bee date have your own Home Show or Open House and tell your customers that you need help because you are going to use your commissions so you can go to the Bee to learn about new products and new programs that Longaberger will be offering and that it will make you a better Longaberger Consultant. It WILL!

Something else might come up! NO! - Put it on your schedule NOW. Let all your family and friends know NOW that if they are planning something next July it can't be on those dates or you won't be able to attend. I plan my life around several dates each year - one of them is the date of the Bee. I have had to miss some other important events in past year - BUT - I gave those people notice in advance that if they planned something during the Bee - that's less beer they will need for their event.

So I am challenging EVERY Longaberger Consultant to make that commitment right now. SAVE THE DATE! (hmmmmm - who else uses those) Talk to all your other Longaberger Consultant friends and tell them you are going and make them plan to go as well. Start making plans as a group to get there!

I couldn't do what I do without the Bee each year. It's where I get re energized in my business. It motivates me to continue doing what I do. Most importantly though it's the one time of year I get so see so many members of my extended Longaberger Family!

See you at Bee 2010!

Chili Bowl Opportunity!

The On Line Chili Bowl Special this week is not just a great price for your cusomters - BUT - it's also a perfect opportunity for YOU! The Chili Bowls were originally 2 for $30 which of course made them $15 each. At $8 each your customer SHOULD be buying them up. It's great too because they can mix and match colors. AND think ahead because for all the customers that buy the Chili Bowls - they will want the Soup and Sandwich plate in September.  It's the Bonus Buy for September.

This is one of those times where EVERY Consultant has a great opportunity as well. As a Consultant these Chili Bowls are just $6 each. This is an item that is not going to go out of style. So no matter where you are in your business get a few extra of these. If you are a brand new Consultant 4 of them would be just $24. So figure out what works for you and get them ordered.

OK - now you got them - what are you going to do with them??????

Here are some ideas on how I am going to use them to create sales.

First of all I will have them as a Bonus Buy at my Open House in October. They were originally 2 for $30 and I may have them 2 for $24 and then maybe 4 for $40. That way if they buy 2 they get 20% off but if they buy 4 they get close to 35% off. Regardless - is gives you a way to create some sort of Bonus Buy for your customers.

Since my Open House is AFTER the Soup and Sandwhich Plate Bonus Buy in September I will still show the Chili Bowls at my Home Shows letting everyone know that if they buy the Soup and Sandwich plate that I will have the Chili Bowls at my Open House. This will help get NEW Customers to the Open House.

I will also take these to all of the Holiday Fairs at schools that I do. Tastefully Simple is usually there as well so when someone comes to my booth and has one of their bags I will ask them what they bought from Tastefully Simple (in a tasteful way). If they bought a dip - "Hey I have a great bowl for you to serve your dip in." If they bought a soup mix - "Hey I have a great Bowl for you to serve your soup in." These events sometimes aren't the best in selling a large quantitiy but it's a great way to meet people.  Also at such a low price point for the Chili Bowls it help you get a piece of our pottery in someones hands that may not have any Longaberger Pottery. Once they have the Chili Bowls they will want more.  So follow up after these events is key.

Good luck with this sale and I hope you all take advantage of it for yourself as well!

Woodcrafts Cutting Board On Line Special

The On Line Special for the Woodcrafts Cutting Board is at a GREAT price for your customers. Make sure you Customers get one for EVERYONE on their Holiday List! This is a great size cutting board for use during parties for cutting cheese and sausage and other snacks but it's also great at the bar for cutting fruit for drinks. This also makes a great corporate type gift.

Also sell it to your customers as a Fall Wish List PREVIEW special! Tell them to be the first to get one.

This is also a GREAT opportunity for Consultants because for you it's just $15. In my class at the Bee I spoke about having more cash and carry on hand and creating Bonus Buys for your customers at Open Houses. This is a perfect item for that. At just $15 EVERY Consultant can get at least one. I know I am going to get a handful myself and offer them as a Bonus Buy at my Open House and offer them at 20% off when someone buys an item at full price first.

This item will be so easy to sell a handful of them so also remember that when you sell at least 3 of them - you earn enough commissions to get yours for FREE!

Good Luck and I hope you all take advantage of this great price point!


REMEMBER - this is just my opinion!

Scratch Off Tickets

In my class I taught at the Bee I talked about the scratch off tickets that I have made and used at my Open Houses. These scratch off tickets I make my self on my computer and I print them on a card stock. I have an actual designer program that I design all my printed materials with but I'm sure you can make them in Word also. You can make them any size you want. Have as many on 1 sheet as you can get and then cut them out after they are all printed. Then place the scratch off label over the scratch off area.

I use the 1 inch round silver scratch off labels but you can use any size you want. There are so many options so you can really get creative with what style of scratch off tickets you want to create. I get the labels at http://www.easyscratchoffs.com/. I order 1000 at a time and they ship pretty quickly. I will tell you that it was confusing the 1st time I ordered because I thought I had ordered 1000 but the way it looked on the invoice it only looked like I ordered 100. My contact person there was Terra Williams. She can help you.

The first one here is one I did for my Open House in March. The tickets were sent out with the Open House Invitation and they had to come to the Open House to then scratch the ticket to see what they had won. Under each circle was some sort of prize. I have done $5 and $10 coupons and those are coupons they can use at the NEXT Open House. This gives them reason to come to the next Open House.

When someone scratches the card they could also see a letter A or a letter B. The letter A let's them pick out of basket A which would contain smaller Longaberger type trinket things. The letter B would let them choose something out of Basket B - larger Longaberger type trinkets. We have access to so many things that could be put in a basket for them to choose from.

What you put under the scratch off area can be endless. Think of something that works for you. You can really be creative and it can be a lot of fun.

I also created a Scratch Off Ticket for my Frequent Shopper program. I had to come up with a way for my customers to be able to earn some sort of reward for doing business with me often. It had to be easy and couldn't be an accounting nightmare. SO! I made this 2nd scratch off ticket. Each time a customer does business with me - at an Open House, a Home Show, an On Line Order or just calling in an order they one of these tickets. On each ticket is either a B, an E, an N or an O. They need to collect the letters to spell B E N N O. Once they do they get a $20 Gift Certificate to use at any time. They have to hold on the cards that they collect so I don't have any type of work to keep track of who has what.

You can use any amount for a certificate. Maybe the $20 is too much for you to give away. Then maybe use $10. My customers shop VERY well at my Open Houses though and for me the $20 is what I am using. Again - use what you are comfortable with.

I think this covers the scratch off tickets. They really are fun and gives you a way to be creative and come up with some fun ideas that your customers will like. If you have any questions - leave me a comment and I will get back to you.

Please send your Consultant friends to my blog!

Sell 3 get yours for Free - #2!

Need something to help your month of August?

The Fancy Round Pie Basket is EASY to sell this month. I am selling it as BRAND NEW item and am offering it at a SPECIAL PREVIEW PRICE of $42. (Reg. $62) Tell your customers to be the first to have this Brand New Basket and save $20 while doing so! Correct me if I am wrong but it's also the very first basket we have offered that has featured the braiding around the top band.

AND REMEMBER: If you as a Consultant Sell at least 3 - you earn enough commissions to get yours for FREE! If you went to the Bee and got yours for FREE and don't want another one - then when you Sell at least 3 - take those earnings and use them towards the Liner and Protector.

If you haven't seen this basket in the deep stain - wait until you do. Seeing it in the deep stain is what really reminded me of the history that this basket represents. LOVE IT!

Sell 3 Get Yours FREE!!!

Don't forget that when you sell at least 3 of the Blanket Baskets today you earn enough in commisions to get yours for FREE! Commisions on the sale of 3 would be $74.25 which is the Consultant Price for this GREAT basket.

Sell at least 3 - get yours for FREE!!!!!!

Welcome to my blog!

I have had so many great responses to the class I taught at Bee 2009 but there have been a lot of questions that people have had as well. SO - I thought this would be a great way to share my ideas. Although this is the first post - it really doesn't have any information yet that you need. So check back soon and hopefully I will have something useful for you out here. In the meantime let me know what you want to see me post out here. What questions to do have? What can I help you with??????

Let me know and I will post those answers and ideas on here.

PLEASE NOTE IN ADVANCE: I'm am way too busy for this to be a daily blog. So be patient in between posts!