Prepping for Party Time

Last night I did a candle party at Marie’s new home. Her family just moved in about a week ago!

What fun! Marie made some delicious pepperoni rolls and had fresh fruit and other snacks for dipping in chocolate fondue. She had two outside orders already for the party, and everyone who attended ordered something. There are a few more orders still coming in, but already it is a very successful party.

I do a little prep work for my parties. Some demonstrators don’t do as much, having different styles for presentation and ordering. I just like to be as organized as I can. It is helpful for me and nice for my customers as well.

Catalogs
I put inside each catalog four things: an order form (stamped or stickered “Thank You” on the last page), a Deal or No Deal envelope (a booking party game), a Customer Information card (used for a drawing), and a business card. Depending on how many people are expected at the party, I often put the catalogs on clipboards. If there are more than a dozen people expected, I offer the clipboards at the party.

Products to display
Of course it is important to pack up products to show and tell! I try to have at least the following key items:

• Scent Pod Warmer, with both empty and new scent pods.
• Candle for Kids candle (Baby Powder).
• Essentially Soy Aromatherapy candle.
• Comforts of Home candle – usually Warm Welcome, as it is my favorite in that line.
• One box of tealights, plus one extra tealight candle to burn in the Polished Square Tealight Glass Candle Holder
• One box of votives, plus one or two extra to burn in the Straight Votive Glass Candle Holder.
• Apple Lantern Autumn Candle Holder and a 5 ounce Heritage candle to put in it.
• One each of the 8 ounce, 16 ounce and 26 ounce Heritage candles. Usually the 26 ounce candle is also one I use to illustrate the even wax burn of our candles.
• Crystal Candle Stands Candle Holders. These are great for showcasing items, as they lift them off of the table.
• Scentmate - one of our newer items, this was so popular that it went on backorder (for nearly a month) the first day it was available!
• Emerge Raise Your Hand Silk – so each customer can try it out.
• One item from the Homeology line. This varies, as I have several of the cleaners – all of which I use at home!
• Assorted items from the Suddenly Scented line, like Auto Air Fresheners, Scented Bookmarks, Room Spray, Linen Spray, or Diffuser.
• Candle Care items, such as a Wick Dipper and a Wick Trimmer. I also use these items on my candles while there.

Sometimes I have other items as well. I always ask my host if there is anything that she or he would like for me to focus on from the catalog.

Scent Samples

Of course I wouldn’t be a candle demonstrator worth much of anything if I didn’t offer a complete line of scent samples! Once upon a time I kept the samples separated by their type. I’ve since found that there are several great reasons to just put them in the containers however they will fit.

• If there isn’t much room to put out the containers, having the scents combined instead of separated by scent line or family means less containers to find a space to place!
• Children of all ages LOVE to check out the scents, but they rarely put them back in the correct spots. Since many of my hosts have young children, I try to set up my products to keep them safely out of the reach for little hands. However, the scent samples are something they are still drawn to. That’s OK. It is actually a lot of fun to share the scents with a little one. Also, who wants to get a candle that they think smells great only to have their child loudly proclaim that they don’t like it?
• It is actually easier for me to keep track of the scents. I now know that we currently have 100 scents available. If I am missing one or two, I can easily tell.

Other goodies

I do games at parties if they are requested. If not, I still do two – less involved – “games”: Deal or No Deal, and Customer Info Card drawing. Because of the drawing, I always bring a few prizes for the winner to choose from: Scented Bookmarks, Auto Air Fresheners, Wick Dippers, Polished Square Tealight Glass Candle Holders, and a few other fun things.

I also bring along the following:

• Host packets – for anyone who takes the Deal or No Deal offer!
• Fliers - to advertise my Party Perks, the Gold Customer Program (only available through me), the current and next month’s Promotions, and other important information.
• Extra order forms – in case we need more!
• Host Gift – always important. Sometimes it is something that I use as part of my display as well.

Seems like a lot, I know. It really isn’t though, and it takes just a small bit of time to put together. The items may vary, depending on the amount of space available and whether the host has any requests. The most important thing I bring, though, is my excitement for Gold Canyon and all of the products.