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Thinking of becoming a SU demo - need advice please!
I don't know a SU demo to talk to yet - after the new year I hope to get together with one in my area. But I am dying to know the following:
1. How do you become a demo? What does it cost? Do I have to buy some sort of kit? What's in the kit? I will mostly be a hobby demo/sell to friends so don't really need doubles of things I already have.
2. Is there a better time to wait to become a demo?
3. What has held me back is the fact I buy now from a friends friend in another state. Then she ships it to us. I feel bad taking her business. If I signed up through her would she get some perks from that? Is there a reason to have your upline in the same town as you?
If you can offer any other advice or provide a link with tons of demo info I would love it (the SU site doesnt have very much info) thank you.
The advantage of having a demo nearby is the support you will get if you plan to make this a business. If you are planning on just meeting the minimums yourself to get the discount, you could sign up under your out of town demo.
The kit is $199 and in it you'll get all kinds of goodies. I don't have a list in front of me, but this is what I remember off the top of my head (please someone correct me if I get something wrong).
6 ink pads
A Versamark pad
2 assorted CS packs
1 WW CS
6 stamp sets
Stampin' Pastels
Stampin' Scrub and mist
Craft & Rubber Scissors
Regular wheel and handle
Snail Adhesive
Blender Pens
8 catalogs, a pack of mini catalogs
Assorted business forms
Jan & Feb is a great time to sign up. You get to pick a free stamp set (up to $39.95) and you'll also get a free stamp set from the next mini catalog.
__________________ Jeanne S - Inky Paws SCS Moderator
I would go with a demo in your area, because just from personal experience, I enjoy going to the downline get togethers that she holds every now and then. (I have a friend that is also a demonstrator and she gets together with her demo/upline once a month.) I too am only a hobby demonstrator, but I enjoy stamping so much that I always look for an opportunity to get together w/other stampers, and through my demo/upline being close by, she creates a lot of opportunities to do so--besides the above mentioned she will arrange stamping nights. (she reserves the conference room at a hotel and we all split the cost and each stamp cards each person brought, or she'll make it just a get together to stamp whatever, have movies, food, etc.) Also through my upline I've become part of a monthly stamping group that's a lot of fun. I've meet a lot of new people, some have become friends. And the invites don't stop at my upline, her uplines also have tons of stuff that they have going that I'm welcome to attend. Another thing to mention about having your upline close is that if you ever have the opportunity to go to a regional event held by SU (it's a mini convention w/tons of stamping ideas, a huge amount of people in attendance, free stamping stuff, and there's a lot of energy/postitive motivation created by all of the speakers...a ton of fun) it's nice to be able to go w/a lot of people you know, of whom you've met through your upline. I could go on, but you get the idea.
I think selecting your upline is very important. This person will benefit from your purchases and sales (at least some of the time) and should be willing to answer your questions at the bare minimum. I think all of our instincts are to sign up under someone we already do business with and that often makes the most sense. But, I think it makes more sense to figure out why you want to be a demo and then find an upline that fits your needs.
If you are looking to grow a business, then absolutely find a demo that emphasizes that aspect and is knowledgeable about sales, recordkeeping, etc. If you are looking for fellowship, then find a local demo who hosts get togethers and who has a warm personality, etc. If you are just looking to buy for yourself, then to with someone you know and like. Hopefully, you'll have the opportunity to interview several before signing up.
January is a great time to sign up as I believe you get an additional stamp set -- any one -- for signing up. Enjoy!
__________________ Dear Paperlicious is my blog...with a series on how I'm learning to improve my cardmaking by studying others.
If you just want to be a hobby demo and have been doing SU! for years and have all the stuff, can you substitute and not get the items in the kit? I just don't want the hassle of buying the kit and then have to sell/ebay the duplicates since I have it all. Is there an advantage to being a hobby demo then if you have to sell everything in the kit?
__________________ Stamper...Scrapper...and a lot of other things!!!
If you just want to be a hobby demo and have been doing SU! for years and have all the stuff, can you substitute and not get the items in the kit? I just don't want the hassle of buying the kit and then have to sell/ebay the duplicates since I have it all. Is there an advantage to being a hobby demo then if you have to sell everything in the kit?
You can substitute different stamp sets. You can choose which inks and CS assortments. The Snail, scissors, pastels, blender pens and Scrub and mist (all of which is nice to have extra) cannot be substituted.
__________________ Jeanne S - Inky Paws SCS Moderator
I used the extras in my kit that I already had (black ink pad, Versamark) as door prizes at my first events. And I really wish now that I had two pairs of scissors and two Stampin' Scrubs and Mists for bigger events!!! So don't be concerned about duplicates.
I didn't really think about it when I signed up, who would be my upline, but I lucked out and got into a really on the ball group. I was my upline's first recruit so we learned a lot together, but now we have a nice little group and the parties and meetings are so much FUN!!! So do a little research into the available uplines and see if you can get with a fun group.
Good luck and hopefully we'll see you over on the demo side really soon!!!
__________________ Lyssa Griffin Zwolanek, Gold EliteSong of My Heart Stampers14-time incentive trip earner
Does anyone know why SU won't let anyone in the UK be a demonstrator? Stamping is really popular here, but SU has no UK representatives at all, as far as I know. I wrote to them once and just got the answer that they had none at that time. What a missed opportunity!!!
I agree. Decide what you want from an upline. Monthly meetings? Help setting up you business? Help with finding customers? Someone who will get together with you and hang out and stamp? Someone who does monthly classes you can attend?
Once you figure out what you want, shop around. Use the demo locator to find a few names and interview the demos. Do they want downline? What do they do for their downline? How many downline do they have? Were I to do it again, I would have selected a downline who has a larger DL base and does meetings and the like. That type of upline would have better suited my needs.
Does anyone know why SU won't let anyone in the UK be a demonstrator? Stamping is really popular here, but SU has no UK representatives at all, as far as I know. I wrote to them once and just got the answer that they had none at that time. What a missed opportunity!!!
SU! is slowly expanding into the international market; the latest was Australia that opened this year and I do believe that the UK is going to be next year! So keep checking with SU!; it's only a matter of time!
Does anyone know why SU won't let anyone in the UK be a demonstrator? Stamping is really popular here, but SU has no UK representatives at all, as far as I know. I wrote to them once and just got the answer that they had none at that time. What a missed opportunity!!!
They are working on it! It takes a lot of work to open up in a new country!
Jan/Feb is an AWESOME time to become a demo....you get some extra sets that you wouldn't ordinarily get and people are usually more inclined to purchase product to get a free stamp set during SellABration.
As for the decision of who to sign up with, that is a very personal one. I am the anomaly, I live in IL but signed up under a demo in CA (she had lived here before and that's how I was introduced to stamping and we became VERY good friends) for the sole purpose of attending SU convention with my friend. Yes, honestly! People laugh at me when I tell them that but it's true. Later, I realized that I had so much fun (and things went way better than I expected as I had never planned to do anything but purchase to make my own minimums) that I love being a demo just for the sake of teaching and sharing stamping with others. Never in a million years would I have believed that if you had told me before I signed up....it was just my pass to get into convention!
Anyway, I say that because I have never for an instant regretted my decision to sign up under my friend. We have become even closer and have so much fun talking to each other, e-mailing ideas and samples and of course, she's the perfect convention roomie! But if you are not particularly close friends to the gal from whom you have previously been purchasing then it would be good to investigate the options in your local area. I have a downline member who was previously ordering thru a demo in another state who was a friend of a friend of her mom but they had never met. She had a local demo who had moved away but she wasn't that fond of her, I guess. Anyway, we met thru another venue altogether but she knew that I was a demo and after the other lady moved away (or maybe quit) she sought me out and attended a class I had. Then she called me up one day and asked me about signing up and what SU had to offer and what sort of things I was able to do for my downline members....well, other than being a fun person, I was able to tell her that I hold montly meetings, we do local group swaps and if she needs help with something or needs to borrow something, I am right here and at the ready. She told me later that she had actually talked to the out of state "friend of a friend" who told her that she would be happy to sign her up but that she might prefer having someone closeby if she had that option. And thus I got a new friend and hopefully she feels the same way about me. (are you out there listening, Margaret? lol!) so there are benefits to both depending on your situation. For the most part, if you don't have any strong connections with the gal you know, I think that most people do better with someone nearby but I have other friends who have signed up with someone local and then discover "personality conflicts" so again, it all depends.
At any rate, this is a great time to sign up and I would strongly encourage you to go for it...what's the worse that can happen? You get to keep the kit with all the great stuff, you might find that you can easily earn enough to offset your personal stamping expenditures (and some people do way better than that!) and if it doesn't work out then you walk away with some awesome stamps and product that you wouldn't have otherwise had. And yes, if you already have the sets in the kit then you can customize your kit to substitute something you don't have but would like to get.
Thinking of becoming a SU demo - need advice please!
