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I might be taking SU up on their wonderful offer! I just need to talk to the DH and confirm with my demo! I'm so excited about it and already starting a wish list!
I'm so torn with what to do. I was very tempted to sign up last year when they had the free family of ink pads special and now this one is even more appealing. It's such a good deal and since I'm relatively new to stamping I don't have a lot of the items in the kit ie stamp scrubber and scissors etc and who couldn't use another versamark or blender pens.
The thing that is tearing me up is that I don't want to hurt my current demo. She is an amazing person who I have gotten to know really well over the last year and I know she is a hobby demo only selling enough to basically pay for her own supplies. I know she was worried before christmas about making minimums when she lost another client (who took her friend with her) with the last sign up offer and I don't want to do the same to her. I am a good customer and that's part of the reason I want to sign up so that I can same myself some money and who knows maybe make some. I'm looking to be more of a hobby demo but who knows what will happen. When I mentioned the sale the other night at stamp class she told me that she isn't an upline and would refer me to someone else if i'm interested in pursuing this.
I just don't want to leave her struggling to meet her minimums. Any advice on how to approach this?
Thanks
Kristy
I think it is nice that your demo was so clear with you about not being an upline. She does not want to be an upline, but wants to help you get in touch with someone else.
Why don't you return the favor? Tell her how much you want to be a demo and why....you want to save money, you are excited about the extra benefits....etc. You can also tell her about your worries. Very few demos think a customer owes them business. Most likely she will wish you luck...you guys can bond over being demos together. Hope this helps.
The thing that is tearing me up is that I don't want to hurt my current demo. She is an amazing person who I have gotten to know really well over the last year and I know she is a hobby demo only selling enough to basically pay for her own supplies.
I just don't want to leave her struggling to meet her minimums. Any advice on how to approach this?
Thanks
Kristy
I had a very similar concern since I want to sign up to be a demo once we get our tax return (this week I hope!). My upline is a hobby demo who is a demo mostly to discount her own supplies and provide stuff for a few close friends. Those quarterly minimums can be tough if you don't have workshops or stamp camps!
I approached my demo about signing on and was very upfront about my intentions and what I wanted to do -- hopefully turn my demo into a small part-time business and help pay for my stamping addiction. I asked if she would be interested in being my upline. She was extremely supportive and excited for me. Her own upline is more business oriented and she has promised to get me in touch with her after I get my starter kit.
I think as a demo it would be great to have repeat customers, but you should continue to expand your contacts in case customers move away or can't purchase stamps that quarter, etc. Maybe you guys can share a couple of workshops or something, could be fun to demo together. :mrgreen:
Well, after an awful lot of back and forth, I sent my papers in today to my upline. My poor upline had to put up with me changing my mind at least 4 times.
My determining factor was MONEY. I spend too much and the only time I was able to keep control of my very bad spending habits was when I made a solid decision to stick to SU. I really like the changes that SU has made in its selection of patterned papers, embellishments, change to angel poilcy, etc.
So, I signed up, but also gave myself a very small budget for some non SU essentials such as Papertrey's white cardstock!
Good luck to everyone else!
__________________ Dear Paperlicious is my blog...with a series on how I'm learning to improve my cardmaking by studying others.
I'm so torn with what to do. I was very tempted to sign up last year when they had the free family of ink pads special and now this one is even more appealing. It's such a good deal and since I'm relatively new to stamping I don't have a lot of the items in the kit ie stamp scrubber and scissors etc and who couldn't use another versamark or blender pens.
The thing that is tearing me up is that I don't want to hurt my current demo. She is an amazing person who I have gotten to know really well over the last year and I know she is a hobby demo only selling enough to basically pay for her own supplies. I know she was worried before christmas about making minimums when she lost another client (who took her friend with her) with the last sign up offer and I don't want to do the same to her. I am a good customer and that's part of the reason I want to sign up so that I can same myself some money and who knows maybe make some. I'm looking to be more of a hobby demo but who knows what will happen. When I mentioned the sale the other night at stamp class she told me that she isn't an upline and would refer me to someone else if i'm interested in pursuing this.
I just don't want to leave her struggling to meet her minimums. Any advice on how to approach this?
Thanks
Kristy
Kristy,
You've gotten some wonderful advice already but I just wanted to say that it is not your responsibility to run your demo's business for her. Customers do not stay arouns forever. Some move away, some leave to become demonstrators and some leave to focus on another hobby (hard to imagine, I know!). Most demos understand this business cycle and know that they need to be constantly actively looking to find new customers, at the very least to replace those that will leave, if not to grow their business.
Every demonstrator who tells herself that she is not a business demonstrator and that she does not need to be actively seeking new customers is making a very risky decision for her business, and the risk is that if her entire (usually small) customer base were to leave or whatever reason, she might be unable to replace them all at once. That's a risk that's perfectly fine to take, but i would hope that every demosntrator would also be very happy for her customers if they wanted to join Stampin' Up! for exactly the same reasons she did. And I would hope most demonstrators would not want their customers to feel the responsibility for supporting their business. I mean what if instead of wnating to join SU you had a finacial crisis instead and was no longer able to make any purchases? I would hope that neither you nor she would make you feel like you were letting her business down by no longer being a customer.
All this to day that your demosntrator soulds like she knows exactly what she does and does not want to do with her business and is taking responsibility for those decisions (like referring you to another demonstrator to sign up with becasue she does not want to be an upline) and like everyone else said, I'm sure if you were to ask her she would be happy that you want to do what she does. But even if she wasn't happy, you should still pursue being a demonstrator if that is the best thing to do for you and your family.
One other thing. Since you are not going to be signing up with your current demo, I would encourage you to interview the demo she refers you to, to make sure that it's the right upline for you. The choice of upline is more important than a lot of people redcognize, so it's worth it to do a little legwork up front to make sure you are choosing the right person, especially now when you have more than a month to go before the special expires. If you feel the person that you are being referred to and you just don't click or that she would be unable or unwilling to provide you with the kind of support you'll need as a new demo, it's OK to go to the SU site and use the demosntrator locator to look for other demos to interview. Good luck with your decision and see you in the demo forums!
Well, after an awful lot of back and forth, I sent my papers in today to my upline. My poor upline had to put up with me changing my mind at least 4 times.
My determining factor was MONEY. I spend too much and the only time I was able to keep control of my very bad spending habits was when I made a solid decision to stick to SU. I really like the changes that SU has made in its selection of patterned papers, embellishments, change to angel poilcy, etc.
So, I signed up, but also gave myself a very small budget for some non SU essentials such as Papertrey's white cardstock!
Okay, I'm starting to get excited... I just wish I hadn't already spent a bunch of money on stuff and that it could have gone towards my own quarter. Although, there always seem to be new things I decide to "need".
A couple of questions...
What is the everyday discount for demos? Is the 30% discount an all the time thing or just for your first workshop order?
When does the next catalog come out? I know about the mini in March... but I'm talking about the real deal catty... b/c that might help me decide if I could spend $300 before June.
Do you count your quarter time from the time you sign up? (Like from the 15th of this month until the 15th of June>) Or is it, sign up in February... you have Feb. March, April, May? (i.e. need $300 by June 1st?)
What is the everyday discount for demos? Is the 30% discount an all the time thing or just for your first workshop order?
The normal discount/instant income for demonstrators is 20%. Additionally, you can earn a volume rebate of up to an additional 20% based on monthly sales. That rebate begins when your monthly sales reach $400. It starts with 5% at $400 and goes up from that. Your upline can fill you in on the details of the volume rebate.
The 30% discount is just on your first order of $150 or more (U.S.) as long as it's placed within the first 45 days after you become a demonstrator.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DJanuary
When does the next catalog come out? I know about the mini in March... but I'm talking about the real deal catty... b/c that might help me decide if I could spend $300 before June.
This year the new catalog will be unveiled to demonstrations at the Stampin' Up! convention and will go into effect in the middle of August. I think the exact date is August 17, but I'm not 100%sure on that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DJanuary
Do you count your quarter time from the time you sign up? (Like from the 15th of this month until the 15th of June>) Or is it, sign up in February... you have Feb. March, April, May? (i.e. need $300 by June 1st?)
the quarters are regular calendar quarters. 1st quarter is January, February March, 2nd quarter is April, May June, etc. New demonstrators have until the end of their first full quarter to meet their first quarterly minimum, so anyone signing up during Sale-A-Bration will have until June 30. After that the minimum must be met every 3 months.
Thanks Diane for the info... I'm going to go get out my catty and do some thinking. And hello... I promise I'm not totally dense.. quarters... every 3 months, not every 4! Oops! My brain just got so excited it stopped processing the "details". ;)
Thanks Diane for the info... I'm going to go get out my catty and do some thinking. And hello... I promise I'm not totally dense.. quarters... every 3 months, not every 4! Oops! My brain just got so excited it stopped processing the "details". ;)
LOL! I didn't even "catch" the 3 vs. 4 month thing. My brain is partially frozen due to the cold weather in the Midwest, so processing here isn't all that great either!
I know that demos are allowed to pre-order sometimes... does that count towards your $300 a quarter? What about hostess sets... are demos able to outright purchase these?
Ohh heck! I thought of something else! This promo runs all the way through Sale-A-Bration?? So, could I sign up March 1st and take advantage of "trading" stamps in my kit for things out of the March mini?
Also, if anyone finds out about the 20% discount carrying over to the add-on let me know!
Yes, the pre-orders count (except for the pre-ordered SAB sets...those were on a supply order). And sometimes you can pre-order a hostess set, but we can't just buy whatever ones we want. But any demonstrator orders we place for ourselves can qualify for hostess sets! (except supply items)
Ohh heck! I thought of something else! This promo runs all the way through Sale-A-Bration?? So, could I sign up March 1st and take advantage of "trading" stamps in my kit for things out of the March mini?
Also, if anyone finds out about the 20% discount carrying over to the add-on let me know!
Thanks a mill!!
The answer to your first question is yes. you could wait until April and substitute sets from the mini. However, if you are thinking about running a Stampin' Up! business, it's generally a good idea to choose sets from the main catalog and ones that are guaranteed to not retire (any set that is new in the Spring Summer Collection) so that they will be current and you'll be able to demonstrate with them longer.
The answer to the second question is no, there is no discount on t he stamping memories add-on. But it is still a fabulous value, even without the additional discount, and you're already saving nearly $50 on the starter kit so getting the add-on makes total sense!
Thank you everyone for you words of wisdom. It has given me more to think about. Part of the reason I'm thinking about signing up right now is that my first born is turning 1 in a month and we are planning on having a second not too long from now. With the cost of babysitting now a days I'm not sure if it will be finacially feasible to return to work after having the second one but I also want to remain a contributor to the family if at the very least to pay for my habit so I don't feel guilty about keeping my papercrafting hobbies. I figure if I start now maybe I will have enough of a cutomer base that when I'm off work I could actually make a little bit of money out of my house.
One of my concerns however is that I really don't know anyone where I live. My husband's job required us to move to this area a few years ago for his job and althoguh we have made some friends none of them are into this sort of thing. Also I work for a very small business with only 4 employees so I won't make any contacts this way. I'm just worried that I'm going to have a really hard time meeting ppl and making this work. That's also sort of why i'm thinking about signing up right now b/c it's not that much money and if thing go for a flop at least I will love all the stuff from the kit.
Sorry I'm rambling I guess I just needed to put my worries to paper...or screen in this case ;)
Thank you everyone for you words of wisdom. It has given me more to think about. Part of the reason I'm thinking about signing up right now is that my first born is turning 1 in a month and we are planning on having a second not too long from now. With the cost of babysitting now a days I'm not sure if it will be finacially feasible to return to work after having the second one but I also want to remain a contributor to the family if at the very least to pay for my habit so I don't feel guilty about keeping my papercrafting hobbies. I figure if I start now maybe I will have enough of a cutomer base that when I'm off work I could actually make a little bit of money out of my house.
One of my concerns however is that I really don't know anyone where I live. My husband's job required us to move to this area a few years ago for his job and althoguh we have made some friends none of them are into this sort of thing. Also I work for a very small business with only 4 employees so I won't make any contacts this way. I'm just worried that I'm going to have a really hard time meeting ppl and making this work. That's also sort of why i'm thinking about signing up right now b/c it's not that much money and if thing go for a flop at least I will love all the stuff from the kit.
Sorry I'm rambling I guess I just needed to put my worries to paper...or screen in this case ;)
I imagine as a new mommy pretty soon you'll be meeting lots of other new mommies for play dates and such and they would make great customers. They also probably know other people. Everyone you know knows people you don't know -- the key is to get them to introduce you to those other people and to grow your network.
