Work at home business interview: August 2004

<Editor's note: Rhonda is a major player in online parties. She does most of her marketing there so I asked her to tell us about her experiences with online parties.>

Free to join.
No Kit Required.
No Monthly sales quota.
No Minimums ever.
Lucrative commissions beginning at 30% and moving upward.
Full Management support. I can literally call the owner if I need to.
But most of all: Freedom to Market and Sell. Enchanted Potions places no restrictions on how, where, or why we sell. We can sell online-offline, catalog swaps, online/offline parties--or we can just use the products as gifts. We can also create our own catalogs, or print them for free from the company files. We are free to advertise how and where we want. For example, several on my team also sell Adult products. Some companies would not let them join, based on their Adult products, however, Enchanted Potions places no such restrictions.
Free Website-Once a rep's sales or purchases total to $25, they will get a free website that tracks their sales, and inquiries for more info--this site is free and is maintained for FREE for as long as they are in the business. However, if we choose, we can also create our own website-as I have done.

Additional perks:

As we grow our team, we earn 5% commissions on each in our downline sales. At this point, we need to make 1 purchase/sale a month-no limits, and it can be a $4.50 bar of soap. In addition, as our team grows, our downline commissions grow as does our own personal commissions. I believe we top out at 40% total-which I am at. Also--we have a point based system in place. We get points based on several factors:
Each new rep we bring in, we get X amount of points. Our total monthly sales, if we sell over $300 in a month we get X amount of points. Participating in trainings will bring in X amount of points. And Our basic sales/purchases will bring in X amount of points based on the dollar amount. X per $1 spent. 

What we can do with these? Cash them in of course!! I just bought a brand new Samsung Digital Camera for $100 that Enchanted Potions paid for. Cost me nothing. And it only took me 9 months to save enough points to get the camera and I had money left  over. I am trying to do the same (but my eye keeps wandering to this DVD player) in Oct or Nov so Enchanted Potions can literally buy my Christmas for me. How Cool would that be!! We can also use them for GC to any major dept store, restaurant or any online store that will accept them. For instance, I might see some Discovery Toys things I want, first Iwould see if DT had a gift certificate plan in place-if so Iwould cash out enough points to get what I want for free!! Helps me because I am not out money, and helps the rep because she still gets paid!! 

How long have you been in the work at home business? I have been in direct sales for over 5 years off and on, however I have never really worked it until this company.

How long have you been with this company? I have been with Enchanted Potions at just 2 years, and am loving every minute of it. I knew I had found the right company after trying so many others and failed.

Your biggest challenges: Selling offline. You would never believe this if you met me online, but offline I am very shy and it is very hard for me to approach people about our wonderful products. I am terrified to do an in home party even with friends that I love--but I really need to practice!! I am proud to say I am finally starting to open up tho and have 1 prospective fund raiser in the works. 

Tell us about your successes: I have just recently been appointed as Recruiting Director for Enchanted Potions. I am so excited!! I also currently have the highest number of recruits under me, I top out at 23 recruits on my team!! My other great success is just that I have stayed with Enchanted Potions, worked it and am finally beginning to see some fruits of that labor. I am finally beginning to establish an stable customer base-which I love, and am having fun meeting new and interesting people as well as learn new marketing ideas and sharing what I do know. Online marketing is such fun!!

Do you advertise your business online? YES!! I tell my girls, 99.9 percent of my sales are from online.

How much do you spend? It would be easier to tell you what I won't spend. I wont spend over $30 for an ad/or placement on a forum. And I am well known to barter for advertisement, however, I am not finding a lot of success in forum advertising--- What has worked for me is--
Sig Lines-which are free--including my biz in my sig line, or better swapping sig lines with someone else. Swapping Banners-this is free and gets us both more exposure. 'Paid to Read Email Programs-I keep an ad going once a month at a different PTR program. I have recruited 2 new reps by using this method, and have sold over $60 for a $3 ad. The people in the PTR programs like going to a new site, and most are at home people, women, some men, and I have found them very perceptive in visiting my site. Plus I have two forum owners who have purchased the larger baskets from me to raffle on their sites.

Online Bashes- A bash is really just a large online party with more than one vendor, maybe an vendor an hour. It usually has a theme and everyone normally offers a good sale.

How I make it work for me:

If I host a bash, I limit the companies that come in to 1 rep per company. And I try my best to limit the types of companies to 3 of similar type. I have found 1 rep/company per hour works out great, and less time is not enough time. This way, each rep can both focus on her company and her recruiting and hopefully still have time for a game.

Advertising is the key to a successful bash. While I do utilize Yahoo groups for advertising, I don't just advertise there. There are many places that will accept banner placement for a small fee. And I always have a banner made for free.

Ryze. I also utilize by advertising on Ryze as well as my Ryze page.

Evites-some of the vendors will send evites out. I haven't tried this service but they have had success with it.

Customer base-since my store keeps email addresses from customers, I do send bash invites to previous customers, always careful to put "if you no longer wish to receive mail from Rhondas Realm, please let me know and I will remove your name from the list".

By utilizing all of these advertising methods, and not just one, I have had a lot of luck with online bash events.

Online parties- Normally I will do a combined party, which is say a Rhondas Realm/Discovery Toys party.

We will book a free party room for 3-4 hours. She will invite her customers/friends and I will do the same. Again, I will utilize the above advertising methods, except I wont email the customer base-so that I don't repeatedly bombard them with emails. We both try to offer a good sale to entice sales. And with this time frame, we split the party time in half. This will give each rep time to address questions, play a game with a prize, talk about products and also recruit if she is wanting to do that.

I stress to my hostesses and vendors, keep the conversation flowing but on business. Because if you ever lose the control of the conversation, you will not get it back. And if you lose control of the conversation, topics such as other vendors will begin announcing their specials, sales or biz which is totally rude and unacceptable. I have mentioned to a few they need to have their own party if they want to promote themselves.!!

Also conversation has a tendency to turn to the latest illnesses,,,ect. 
Basically, you do not want a new guest popping in and learning all about Aunt Hazel's eye surgery in depth detail when you are selling Watkins Vanilla.--Not cool. One thing I like to talk about is the best selling items in double. I will talk about the best selling products throughout the company-we get a list every month with top ten products and scents sold. Then I will mention what I have sold the most of both on and offline. I keep a list monthly on my site with my Top Ten Sold items and scents also.

Games--I always try to tie my game into my site. I might do a Scavenger hunt where they have to find a funny picture. This gets them all over my site. I have done a game with my scents on sale page-this page I keep my scents on sale featured. So say Cherry Limeade is on a list with 15 other scents on sale. I would say "pull up the scents on sale page we are going to be playing a game with that page" then at game time, I might ask "something to drink on a hot day" and it would be obvious out of 15 floral scents that would be the answer. I have done word scrambles but I would rather have people looking at my site and since I have my own site I can add or take away as needed.

Sometimes I will do Jingles- I will put up an Ad Jingle, and they tell me the company/logo. "Like Sands in the hourglass so are the ___ __ __ ___"
Days of our Lives

I like to use games like these because not only do you have to be a good typist but also you have a bit of thinking to do. And by mixing the jingles with several year spans- I have a couple from the 60's and on up--everyone who comes really has a chance to get a point--.

How do you balance work and family? This is not easy because I also work outside the home. What I try to do is only party on Fridays-and Keep Saturdays open for family and Sundays for housework. Doesn't always work out that way but it is my goal. 

How about some advice for people who are looking into a work at home business?
Find a company you love!! You must love the products, the management and the perks. Your enthusiasm will carry you a long way!!

Be wary of any company that places too many restrictions on how or where you can sell. There are many fine companies that still do not allow online advertising or online parties. I fail to see the sense in this, since my online parties are turning into bigger sales than other home biz in home parties.

Whether these companies know or realize, the internet is here, online sales are here, and any company that does not utilize the internet or online world for sales/advertising I feel will be left behind.

Make sure the company/product you choose is sellable. There are many companies out there with great commissions, but of course to purchase any of their items, the customer has to spend a small fortune. Or the rep has to place a very large order every month.

Don't be afraid to tell friends and family what you are sellling, however, don't rely solely on them to support you totally either. Friends and family are great for support--however, to really sell, you need to broaden your horizons.

Find new avenues to market your product or service. Check into fundraising to smaller groups or in home day care centers, ect.

And--most of all---Have fun!! When it quits being fun, it is time to leave!!

What are your business goals for 2004-2005? My goal is to get more established locally and begin some local fund raisers.

What is your commission on your own sales? My current commission is 38%. Generally, what is your experience with online parties? They are a great incentative to get your products/services seen by some who would never see them/it, however if not done correctly, it becomes a 3 ring circus and everyone involved is left out.

What is your average sales volume at an online party? I am topping out at over $100. With Online bashes, I tend to top out at $30-$50 because there are so many vendors to choose from. However, we tend to have from 5-20 or more visitors all day. The bash group I am in, we are still perfecting our bashes and events so I hope to see an increase in both sales and attendance!!

About how many people turn out for your online party days? I average between 5-8 attendees.

Do you get any new recruits from online parties? yes, I also get new recruits once they see how easy it is to sell for us. In fact, every party online I have held, I have had at least 1 interested person, and I normally recruit at least 1 person.

I also get extra bookings--because to book a party with Enchanted Potions, the hostess begins winning free products with just $30 in sales. These are company paid benefits.

Getting bookings is not the problem, finding the time is!! And since I do combined parties, it is getting even easier to do parties!!

Another thing that has worked for me is I am loyal. If I find a rep/company I like-I am loyal to them. I will only buy from them, and in turn, they will only buy from me. This has been a major breakthrough with my online experience. It is like sharing the wealth type of attitude.

And it is always a win win situation!! Because we all represent different companies, there is never that negative competition feeling like in some circles!!

I love it!!

Rhonda's website: http://rhondasrealm.com