~Avon Hints and Tips~(Part 5)

linzilp

Mummyof2girls wrote: »

Don't panic!!! I was but it all went so well I soon relaxed, although my guests were close family / friends, which always makes it easier.

For the party I just took the great advice from the links at the front from Aureol's first post.
I laid my dining room table witha pink cloth with shoe boxes under for varying heights, this table had all my accumalted Demo products. I laid a smaller table out (my daughters table!) & this table had products on that were available to purchase on the night. (Carefully ordered the products from cheaper books previously so that on the night they were cheaper to buy from this table than to order from the current book).I also made up a raffle prize using clearance products from HT.

I started by giving a brief run through of the book, highligting some "special deals" (by back ordering cheaper) I offered the cheaper price to my guests on 5 different items, this way a party seems a little bit more special than just getting what's in the book.

Guests then had the opportunity to test the products, purchase from the sale table, ask q's & place an order from the book.

Then sold the raffle tickets, had a glass of wine then drew the raffle!!!

I did notice that, although my guests always order with me anyway (they were my party guniea pigs!!) they all ordered things out of their normal comfort zones! Plus they all ordered something for the other half, as I did a selection of "for him."

I did each guest a party bag; medium paper bag with a book, pen, ring sizer, sample perfume (different one in each bag so they all smell eachothers) anew eyelift sample (suitable for all ages, steer clear of offending anyone!!) & a business card.

I now have three parties, one for September & two for October so hopefully will learn more as I go along!!!

I would never have done anything like this 18months ago, but actually really enjoyed it, it was very relaxed & I kept it informal so that the guests got to really look at & smell the products. Oh they loved that bit, smelling shower gels, getting perfume samples etc, at least they knew what they were ordering!!! Hope this is of a little help!!??


***typed out on an i-phone, so please excuse me if I ramble & have poor spelling & grammer!! So much easier to do all this on a laptop!

Thanks for the great advice. Only 20 days to go:eek:. How long did your party last for?
Linzi

MarsdenCuckoo

johanne wrote: »

i wasnt having a go at marsden or implying she has done anything wrong - i merely saying she might want to check a second time and get it in writing if there WAS any comeback!!

AND just for the record I wasnt claiming any benefits/tax credits or anything when i started avon!! havent always been a "Poor single mum" having to claim benefits/tax credits to keep my head above water!! i had a partner who earnt a good wage and i didnt have any other income etc but still needed to register and fill in a SA even though it was my only job and i wasnt getting anywhere near the £2k mark!! Infact that was the year i only made £588 profit!

YES my circumstances are very different to you on all here i suppsose now but i was trying to make sure Marsden didnt get duff into off some idiot at the tax office and then get walloped with a fine etc!! Ive seen it happen to people i know and witnessed the fines/debt collectors as a result of HMRC and SA not being filled out for a business that was only running 6 months and made a LOSS!!! So doesnt matter if you make 10p or £10,000 or even lose £1000000 if your running a business as far as i was made aware you HAVE to fill in a SA! But obviously im totally wrong and need to shut up....

*crawls back under her rock*

Don't think anyone did think you were having a go at me (or anyone else), J, and hope none of my replies insinuated that. Your posts are always full of good advice and, of course, it's better to be safe than sorry.

It's MY circumstances that are different to probably the rest of you and I hadn't realised until now that that may be the reason why I was given different information by HMRC.

As ever, it's only by discussing things like this that people get reminded that they need to do x,y,z so sure this exchange has been useful to lots of people. (Don't forget, am sure, even though we are such a nice bunch on here that for every person posting there are probably 10 more, who don't but they still read the posts and get help that way i.e. without having to 'put their head above the parapet' so to speak.)

Keep up the good work and no reason at all to crawl anywhere!

MarsdenCuckoo

lita wrote: »

Help please!

Just got my delivery and a black SuperMagnify mascara that I ordered from HT13 is missing. It was part of my creative ordering so was in fact for a customer. It is showing on my online invoice but not on the paper invoice.
There is one 'item unavailable' but it only says 'Previous campaigns clearance items'. I'm not missing anything else so I'm assuming that it is referring to the mascara? What's the best way to get one? I've got until Thursday to come up with something before I have to go and see the customer.
What a good start for my second campaign/first customers!!!

Per PMs/emails, mascara's in post; hope they arrive OK and your customer's a happy bunny.

PS: Thanks; monies arrived already - Internet banking is great (nearly as good as this thread! LOL)

J_pink

Can I ask a silly question...when you do "creative ordering" are you saying that sometimes a customer might want to order from brochure 14 (say, a foundation) at full price but you order from brochure 15 where it is 1/2 price - so you actually get billed 50% less by avon?
How would I start to build a demo/party pack or freebies box in my first few orders? I don't want to spend my own (pittance) profits!

I,_Geek

I didn't take a photo of my stuff in the end because, as usual when you order things online, there's always less than you imagined by the time they arrive.

Following the advice on here, I've mentioned to people when dropping orders that ordering full-size items can be better than asking for a sample, then waiting a few weeks for your full-sized item. I had some freebie samples from hitting MOV in my last campaign, so I was still offering them, but I think I'll stress the returns policy on items as well as offering samples if people really want them. I suppose samples can be useful if you're trying to find a foundation - there are several types and shades so you could end up paying out a lot initially (even if you do returns and get your money back for the ones you don't keep).

The Smart Start (I think that's what it was called) leaflet I got was a bit unclear. I thought you only got the samples after 2 campaigns if you hit MOV/HOV in both, but I got my first lot of samples after the first campaign. And I'll get some more with the second now I've hit MOV.

Can you return samples? I ordered some because I wasn't sure if I would get some free ones with my first order. I've got some duplicates and might return them if there's not much interest. The skincare ones are still in their clear, sealed bags.

Aesop

johanne wrote: »

i wasnt having a go at marsden or implying she has done anything wrong - i merely saying she might want to check a second time and get it in writing if there WAS any comeback!!


YES my circumstances are very different to you on all here i suppsose now but i was trying to make sure Marsden didnt get duff into off some idiot at the tax office and then get walloped with a fine etc!! Ive seen it happen to people i know and witnessed the fines/debt collectors as a result of HMRC and SA not being filled out for a business that was only running 6 months and made a LOSS!!! So doesnt matter if you make 10p or £10,000 or even lose £1000000 if your running a business as far as i was made aware you HAVE to fill in a SA! But obviously im totally wrong and need to shut up....

*crawls back under her rock*

Johanne, I apologise if you thought I was saying you were having a go at MarsdenCuckoo or implying she had done anything wrong.

I wasn't doing anything of that when I posted. I just realised from MC's post that I assumed we all had to register as Self employed as that is always advised by Avon, if it was our only job, our second job, etc.

Just something in her post made me realise that people's circumstances are different and I hadn't thought of all the possibilities.

I wasn't referring to your situation, you work blooming hard to do as well as you do, and we all admire you for that. This has nothing to do with you being a single mum.

I was just thinking of my situation. We all rely on your knowledge, you have been doing Avon a lot longer than me, and know a lot! Like you said, you taught yourself as your ASM wasn't any help.

And no way are you completely wrong. You do need to notify HRMC that you are running a business or working as self employed and then they advise you of the next steps. So you are absolutely right to tell people that they should register as self employed.

Please don't hide away. Keep posting.

Money_maker

Just another quick mention on tax, this thread https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2600607 for mystery shopping has some really useful information on it (thanks to Becles) on first posts.

Had a rotten day. Bed at 2am - thanks Avon, though really my fault for not being organised. Got a yucky cold. Half my customers either out or not got any money today. 'Lost' one of my new rescue hens - discovered she had been hiding under the henhouse as she is being horribly bullied by all the others. Last day of the hols tomorrow so if need be it will be sod Avon so I can take the kids somewhere nice.

Will be in a better mood tomorrow I hope!

lozza1985

J_pink wrote: »

Can I ask a silly question...when you do "creative ordering" are you saying that sometimes a customer might want to order from brochure 14 (say, a foundation) at full price but you order from brochure 15 where it is 1/2 price - so you actually get billed 50% less by avon?
How would I start to build a demo/party pack or freebies box in my first few orders? I don't want to spend my own (pittance) profits!

Yes thats exactly right about creative ordering - get the current brochure, and the previous campaigns brochure to hand. Then sit and check through your order forms to see if the products are cheaper in the other brochure - or sometimes they are the same price but you can get something free so worth doing - especially as that would give you the start to a party pack / freebies box! I tend to jot it down onto a post it note and stick it onto the order form so that I know which campaign to order the items from when I start entering my orders online.

In the last couple of campaigns I've gotten an mega impact lippy free, grow potion free, superfull mascara for only 75p! They've been put aside (not the grow potion lol I'm using that!) towards my sisters Christmas present so that she can have a much better present without me having to spend loads extra!

Also it's a good idea to keep an eye out for when items are really cheap - the 99p pages are good for this, I think in C16 it is, the senses 250ml shower gels are going to be only 75p - so after a 25% discount they would only be 56p each so worth getting a few in for stock / freebies or for a party pack - afterall they can smell the shower gels and that means they know what the matching hand washes & deoderants smell like.

J_pink

lozza1985 wrote: »

Yes thats exactly right about creative ordering - get the current brochure, and the previous campaigns brochure to hand. Then sit and check through your order forms to see if the products are cheaper in the other brochure.

Wow brilliant! I've just got myself another £3 comission due to some Half price body products in the previous brochure.:rotfl:
I have been brave and ordered the clinical eye lift sets at £3.50 sale as I can use the tan spray and shower gels as incentives/gifts too.

As my first order won't have arrived in time for a little party I'm throwing, my lovely SL is lending me her demo bag and loads of fragrances etc to show my friends and get them ordering.

angelatgraceland

Picked up another £40 of orders today but annoyingly I literally ran out of time to collect my brochures in my new road. I really hate letting someone down when I say a day and don't arrive. Having a lot of work done in the house so fitting in Avon is a pain this month. I will just have to collect tomorrow instead-trouble is the people may be out and the brochures inside as a result now! I normally do a pickup on a Saturday but apart from 3 customers I know well(already) who Ive explained to, I will collect the books on Tues next week as Im having new heating fitted on the weekend. Determined to get a decent order though and hit HOV whatever happens! As Ive taken on 100 new houses this campaign and am living in total bedlam Im satisfied that Ive not done it perfectly but sometimes thats the way it has to be! I will call tomorrow evening and hope to find them in and apologise.
Hoping for some more creative ordering tonight and crossing my fingers that the bras and lippys my cousin took for her friend are suitable and I dont get any more blessed returns! I spoke to one of my friendlier coustomers today and told her I have a nice freebie lined up for her-she is so chuffed-its nice to make people happy!