A Bag of Gold or the Golden Goose

Which do You Want from Your Party Plan Company?

Is your dream to quit your job and stay home with the children or to provide extras for your family? Are you a stay at home mom who would like to do something for yourself? Perhaps you are looking for a career with flexibility? Then it is time to look at party plan companies.

When searching for the company that gives you the perfect fit, look for the golden goose instead of the bag of gold. Remember Jack and the Beanstalk? In this fairy tale Jack traded the family cow, which had quit giving milk, for a bag of magic beans. His mother, deeming that the beans were worthless, threw them out the window. When Jack awakened the next morning, a huge beanstalk had grown to the top of the sky. Jack raced up, curious to see what was at the top. Jack ends up stealing a bag of gold from the ogre and his wife who lived in a mansion at the top of the sky. The gold provided for Jack and his mother for quite some time, but it eventually ran out. Jack climbed up the beanstalk again. This time he stole a goose that laid golden eggs on command. The next time Jack climbed the beanstalk it wasn’t because he was broke.

Kimberly built a business with a ‘bag of gold’ party plan company. She shows her wares, takes orders, and delivers them to the hostess. She isn’t likely to see her customer again unless she hosts a party or shows up at a party that someone else is hosting. She is successful in her sales and has steady income as long as she steadily works.

Stefanie has found the goose that lays the golden egg. She sells home air freshening products. Her golden eggs are the reorders she gets for additional fragrance. She has found that she makes almost four times more on the reorders than she does the original party orders in one year’s time.

There is no trick to this other than her own organization. She hands out catalogs regularly. Each guest at her parties, whether they order or not, is given her business card with the website of her company and her advisor number on it. She is making money day and night whenever her customers go to the website, enter her number, and place their orders.

As they begin the party, each of Stefanie’s guests fills out an entry for a drawing. These forms are her source for further contact. She enters each email address into her computer’s address book. At the end of the month she sends a mass email that contains a short message from her and lists the next month’s specials. The customer can click on a link and be taken to her replicated website where they place their order. For the small cost the company charges, the replicated website brings her large returns.

For those customers who don’t use the computer or whom she hasn’t heard from for a time, Stefanie uses phone calls. When she began her business, it was part of her plan to spend a certain number of hours a week working it. She decided then that her time with family is valuable and wouldn’t be traded for finacial reward. But, she also realized that the financial reward helps determine what her family can do during family time. There was a way she could have the financial benefits without compromising the time with her husband and children. She hired a high school girl at a low hourly wage to make the calls. More often than not, when she tells them why she is calling, she is greeted with an “Oh, I was just thinking I needed to call.”

Stefanie’s sales are consistent year round, not because her phone is ringing off the hook. She is the one that takes the initiative to incorporate the programs that her “golden goose” company provides for her. Like the goose that would lay golden eggs on command, Stefanie’s customers buy when they are greeted in an email or phone call, “Hi, this is Stefanie. Just calling to let you know the specials this month areÂ….” Now that is a golden egg!

Written by Deborah J Merrill
Co-founder of Cierra Ashley-Fragrance for Life