Help Needed: Struggling to Sell Art and Get Out There

[milkangel]

i am so having a hard time in finding any one to have a show letalone buy not from a show. have contacts but no one wants to book or order. there is someany consultant around here and i do not know what to do. i want to get out more and were logo but we do not get to sioux falls SD much. Any other ideas?Please HLEP ME:cry:

 

[princessmeshelle]

have you tried buisness pampering?i just started, but i actually have gotten a show from one and a 100$ order off another. theree is that thread new way to pamper buisness with lots of ideas for how to go about it. i'm just starting myself, but i feel i'm doing better than i expected. good luck!

 

[merego]

Good luck with pampering a business, I have tried so many times with little success, but have known people who have had great success. Maybe it is just the area I live in, people are so snotty They eat my food, but don't order. I am struggling , so I feel what you are going through.

 

[Mr. Pampered Chef]

I am struggling as well, I am doing all these nice flyers and e-mails and...and andand...nothing. I had nothing in July and I am doing a show for my little girl doing a kids show so we (wife & I) can get the canadian host deal. other then that...nada. lots of us are finding it hard. The HIGH gas prices are becoming more and more of an issue...i wish us all luck.

 

[baychef]

Part of the what is going on is the time of year. But I am already talking up the host specials with people.

The best thing to do is to try to build relationships with people outside of your circle too. Are there any fairs or public gatherings where you could get some interest and new names to work with.

There may be a many consultants in your area, but think of this...are they all doing the most they can with their kit? And sometimes, no matter how good we are, there are those ocassional hosts that would prefer to work with a different consultant than the one they know.

The reflection in your voice is so easily detected so pretend you just booked 100 parties before you speak to anyone. Offer your name for them to contact if they ever need any additional recipes or help with their products, whether they bought them from you or not. This will perk people's ears up (and ofcourse, follow through with what you say you are going to do).

Good luck and keep trying. In just a few weeks we will start turning the corner to the fall season and business will be booming again.

 

[janetupnorth]

I agree with Ann - I'm actually having a great time suddenly. August and September were EMPTY as of 7/16. Now I am sitting at 7/31 with 3 cooking shows for August, 2 for September and a third July show I wasn't expecting, closing over $700 hopefully tomorrow, she is at $650 now with orders to still pick up.Why do I feel I am doing well?1. I got motivated in May/June to build a little - you'll learn what you do now affects 2-3 months from now...see #5 for some reasons...
2. I didn't get discouraged when August/September was empty, I walked into my July show determined to have fun.
3. It's all in the attitude. I could care less what the economy and gas prices are. I show up at your house, we work together and make something great and we have fun and I tell you how you too can get stuff for FREE!!! I don't tie that to current economics, they do that in their head. I just tout the benefits.
4. I'm not afraid of no. Like recent training dictates, we pre-write scripts in our head before we even go out. We set ourselves up for failure. I make that phone call excited. If someone turns me down, I figure their loss! I'd LOVE to have host benefits for a show so on to the next person who deserves it!
5. We stop calling when we get the yesses we want when we should keep going. We want 2 shows on the book for a certain period of time so we grab our list of lets say 50 and we start calling. When we get to those 2 shows, rather than continuing to see if we can get 6, we stop...and know what? Those people don't hear from us until later when we want something again. It's better to call them and get a no and offer them a recipe and then next time they may say yes than to ignore them and ask later. It takes asking 4-5 times to get a yes usually so we might as well work to knock out those first 3-4 times.By the way, I just figured my show average. For 2008 overall, I am at $300 average...sucks huh? Well for July I am at a $630 average! I have that 1 show to close still that will fall in August for $700 so I'm starting good and determined to keep that average up!