Halloween Marketing Ideas

Here are a few great tips to get your name out this Halloween:

1. When the moms come with their children, to your door, give the kids the candy and then give a treat or sample to the mom. Say, "I have a treat for you too!"

2. If you are going around the neighborhood with your children, hand the gift or sample to the mom, (or ask if she is there) and give her the "treat." 3. If your neighborhood, school, or church does a "Trunk or treat" be sure to participate and give your samples there. Everyone loves to get a "treat," even the moms and dads.

4. Give a "treat" at your parties during the month of October. Tell your customers that this is a great time to get started in the business because they can use "Halloween" as an opportunity to tell people what they do. Plus, the holiday season is a time when people are buying gifts, so their sales get off to a great start.
Gold Canyon offers some great tealight samples- they come with little boxes and a place to put your business card. You can order them on Supply Order. They offer Ginger Lime, Fresh Orange, and Clean Sheets. The cost is $10.98 for 30 boxes and tealights. What a DEAL!
Halloween is a great time to jumpstart your Holiday business, so take advantage of the opportunity!

5. Send out an email to your customers with a special offer. This one will boost your monthly totals but will cost you your commission on minimum orders. "TRICK OR TREAT! Gold Canyon only Treats! Spend $30 and receive a 5oz FREE! Hurry, Offer Ends 10/31 at midnight"

Have a great weekend! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Demonstrators

We have a new teammate that is on fire! Raquel (AZ) stirred up interest in the business with a friend at her first party. She brought the friend, Chrissy to our team meeting and she signed up just after. Raquel helped Chrissy sign up a demo after her first party as well! They've been working together to market their businesses. Raquel is great to update me on her new team's success by email, "She is doing great and excited as ever. I'm helping her with her second party tomorrow. Her recruit is doing great, too and I believe her party is coming up very soon too. We are all pretty much an excited bunch of demo's. We let our excitement SOAR. :) We're tryin to burn some pounds by marketing twice a week in the mornings. It's nice yet I've bumped into 2 old friends in this manner. One gal is going to do a catalog party and the other I need to check in with." I just love hearing about it and feeling inspired by her enthusiasm. Raquel and Chrissy both recently attended the Tucson training meeting with me. She reports, "I encouraged myself to invest in the tealites. The tealites have helped me be stronger in the way of speaking up about Gold Canyon. In order to be successful I have to be out there with my team. We market twice a week utilizing flyers, but when I we see a individual walking into a store, or heading towards their vehicle I get there attention and let them know how wonderful our products are by giving them a brochure, and a free tealite, and I end my conversation by collecting their name, address, and phone number so I can follow up with them in a couple of days. It's a powerful little tool to utilize. From marketing Christy has received one party, and I have received one catalog party. We make action happen every week without out we will not succeed."

Another wonderful demonstrator also attended our Tucson meeting. Megan brought her good friend Eli with her.... who claimed she was just there for moral support. I really enjoyed meeting both ladies and hoped I could get Eli on board, she would be a great demonstrator!! I have since talked to Megan and Eli really is considering joining... come Eli, DO IT!!! Anyways, I asked Megan what she brought back from the meeting and she replied, "it helped me to just refocus and put more time into my business. I have 2 parties scheduled for October 3 and October 4! I have only done one party so I didn't really have anything but the samples to show. So I ordered some things a couple days ago that I think people would buy if they could see it in person. I also have another two parties in the works but one of them wants to have the party in their new home so we are waiting till that gets finalized! If I can get a good base of customers from these parties then I am going to get my website back up and running! Also, I think that I am going to try to make the toffee for the parties coming up! It was soooo tasty and would be a great way to sell the candle!" I can feel her excitement and I'm happy that she has reignited her flame with her candle business.

Thank you Raquel and Megan for sharing your stories with us, and for the amazing work you are putting in to your candle business! We all have a few things to learn from you!

Happy Birthday to You

A good friend of mine had the cutest idea for her birthday party that we can all utilize in our businesses! She is having a home party and inviting all her friends to come buy themselves a gift and she'll use her host credit to get herself a gift! It is going to be so much fun!

Decorations, invitations, games and refreshments for a Birthday Candle Party are "a piece of cake"! The possibilities are endless.

If you haven't already, start noting your host and guest birthdates in your customer database, then give them a call a few weeks ahead to plan their Birthday Candle Party with you!

Another idea is to mail a card to your hosts/guests on their birthday with a discount coupon and/or a free tealight, Auto Gold or other small gift. Have fun and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Candle Confections

Well, I have another party tomorrow night and I was sitting here wondering what I should do for customer appreciation gifts and door prizes. I had the idea to make some little tealight treats and they turned out very cute!

Woops, I didn't notice one of those is upside down and you can see my ugly tape job. Oh well, nobody's perfect!!!

I used a package of Caramel Ginger Strudel tealights that have been sitting on my shelf a while. I love the brown color - it's just like real caramels or toffee. I used some clear cellophane and curly ribbon to trim them, wrapping like candies and tying both ends. They are so cute, if I do say so myself. I'm going to put them in a candy tin and they're perfect for a Christmas party - not to mention inexpensive, gotta love that.

One of the demos (Megan, was this you? I can't remember) shared that she brought treat bags to give out because she didn't want anyone to leave empty-handed. I loved the idea so I picked up some Santa bags, bite-sized snickers, Andes mints, mini-candy canes and marshmallow reindeer. One of each per bag and voila! I'm sure everyone will feel like kids again. I made 12 and I hope there's one left over for me :o)

Here's some miscellaneous pictures I had on my camera, this is from a show I did on Saturday, see how I put the red bows on each package of Auto Golds in the basket? Those things come in packages of 12 at the dollar store and you can tuck the wire in the fold of the envelope and they just stay on there. My price tags were ugly this day because I ran out of my usual stickers. Not sure if you can see in the upper left hand corner, there are a set of the ceramic songbirds from our Spring catalog. I tied red & green ribbon around and they sold quickly! Also, each of the 5oz candles has a small satin ribbon and jingle bell tied around the neck. I sold a dozen in the first hour. Not sure if you can see the baking line candle there, I had a new wooden spoon I tied on there with wired ribbon, I've also used cinnamon sticks in there and it looks good.

Below I have a pyramid of boxes, usually I would drape some fabric over but I was using it for different things, so I took extra wire ribbon and just laid it around. It helped things look a little more festive. I also sat out my scent pods on a holiday goody tray. You can see the little polar bear holders in a cello-bag with a vanilla mint votive and peppermint taffies. I also put bows on the Emerge products & Homeology. I notice the things with bows on them always sell quickly, maybe there's something subliminal about that... I also try to use holiday table cloths to put everyone in the mood.

And lastly, I love this sweater basket and it fits my winter catalogs perfectly. I sat them in a window sill with a box of pine cones. Don't you love the green light wire draped by it..... oh well.

Any and all of these ideas can be adapted for future parties if you Christmas parties are already wrapping up. Just use other seasonal decor. Please share some of your pictures, too!!!

Party Prep

I was just getting a few things together for a party tomorrow night and I thought I'd post my preparations. It's always fun to see what someone else is doing, so feel free to copy. Hopefully, this will spark something in your own creativity to share with the rest of us. This first picture is my "on time" drawing prize. I do a drawing to open every party - it's a fun way to get everyone gathered so I can start my presentation. Only the people who are there on time get to enter, and I obtain the guests' name and contact information little entry papers. You may recognize this elegant keepsake box from our Boutique Chic line. This is the pretty blue-green box from my FAVORITE candle in this line, the brand-new Woods & Vanilla Romantique. I burn that candle in my bedroom and I always have the cute boxes leftover..... so tie it up with some satin ribbon and voila! an adorable gift box. I had a little bit of paper shred I placed in the bottom along with a car freshener. I applied vinyl lettering spelling "Simplify" to dress up the votive glass. The two tealights in the glass were leftovers out of my own package. It is simple, cute, easy low/no cost, and I think it will be a fun keepsake for whoever wins tomorrow! Use whatever you have laying around to create unique prizes & gifts. Take some pictures and share with us!
These are the gifts for my booking game. After my short presentation, we'll play the game outlined here on the blog under Karen Phelps' convention lecture (find the instructions using the labels in the right column "booking"). I wondered if all my demos knew how cute these bags are, and if you knew they're available to you through the supply orders! On Essentials, click Action/Order Entry/Supply Order and use item #96351, Small Floral Shopping Bags. You'll get a package of 20 for $5.00. They are sturdy and cute and have the Gold Canyon Logo on them so you'll look professional and all. I've also used lunch sacks tied with pretty ribbons and tissue, or reused gift bags when I'm out of the Gold Canyon bags. For these gifts, I just picked items off my shelf that were out-of-date, or that I received for free or discounted prices from previous party orders. So all 3 gifts plus my host gift didn't cost me anything out of pocket - it's stuff I had on hand. Keep your eyes open for good deals so you can do the same. For example, one of these is Emerge Start Clean Body Lather. That would cost the customer $14.98 - but I got it on a promotion about a year ago for buy 1 get 1 free. Since I had stocked up so much I decided to get it out there. It didn't cost me but she'll not only use and fall in love with it, but she's going to think I really went all out for her!! Another bag contains the Garden Sparrow Set from our spring catalog. I used them in my living room all year, but I got bored and they still looked as good as new, so instead of donating them to charity, I dusted them off, put a fresh, new tealight in each of them, wrapped them in tissue paper, and badda-bing, another booking gift. Again, these are a $15-20 value, so the guest is going to feel spoiled. This is all stuff I had on hand by chance this time. You can get by with less if you need, in fact, send me good & cute ideas for inexpensive gifts and prizes, please!

The last thing I was putting together - well it was kind of already done I just had to update a couple of things - is my guest folders. At back-to-school time every year I stock up on these pocketed folders for 10-cents apiece at Wal-Mart. I keep a page protector in it and insert the current monthly promotional flier. For this party, in the left pocket, I put Gold Canyon's Holiday Wish List (.pdf file available through email) along with the second page of November's print quality promo file (available on Essentials, click Current Promotions on home page). I also have an order form - notice it's pink! I hate wasting 1-2 copies of our invoices because I really only need the original and ONE duplicate, not 3 duplicates for crying out loud! So when I get them, I put my contact information on them and then separate half of the copies. (Half of my invoices are white and the customer keeps the canary copy, then the other half are pink and the customer keeps the golden copy.) I try not to be tacky about it - like at this party everyone will have the pink ones. Notice my business card is placed in the front of the folder. If you don't have a business card, make one! Or order through Town & Country (Action/Marketing Tools/Stationary & Logo Merchandise). Flipping the page, behind the flier I poked an invitation card with the picture side facing out. I wrote in a sharpie on the invitation "Book a show with me and receive $10 Gold Canyon Cash". You can give out the actual Gold Canyon Cash guest booking certificates instead (available through Supplies, item #96436, $2 for 20). The post-card is more colorful and candle-ish though. In the back pocket I've placed an Opportunity Pamphlet, which is a recruiting flier that has been discontinued now but I'm using up my old stuff. You could add anything there to personalize it for your guests. I also slide a catalog inside and clip a pen to the front. As guests arrive I hand each one a folder and as they leave they hand them back. Taking eight is usually sufficient, and I always carry extra supplies in case there's a big turn out.

Another thing you don't want to forget when you're preparing for a party is to get change! It's a little embarrassing when it's time to take their money and you can't make correct change. So break up a twenty or two, grab a handful of change out of the ash tray, and take it in a bank bag, cash box or envelope so you look like you're organized with your money! And don't forget to take your samples! (Right Traci????) Tomorrow I'm also taking some fall table cloths and fake fall leaves and a few of my other home decorations to make the table pretty. I'll stick my camera in and if I don't feel too conspicuous I'll snap a few shots for you guys!

One last thing I always do before my parties is raid my house for everything Gold Canyon. I have a little basket of my Homeology sprays, my Emerge products and my 1/2 burnt candles in their holders. I take it all with me - there I will share my personal products for testers and if the host doesn't have a candle to burn I'll let her pick one (or two or three) of mine to have going at the party (Don't forget to take it back home with you!!!)

You know, I'd really love for this blog to become a forum! I hope you're not all sick of hearing from me, but this is what I have to do till I get you all on board! Sign up for a Google account (take 5 seconds) and leave some comments, or email me and I'll post your ideas, pictures and comments. THANKS EVERYBODY! Party Hard!

October Party Games

Our newest demo, Megan Moreno, just had her debut party and did a great job! She shared her party experience with me and I really appreciated her efforts so I wanted to share her ideas with all of you.

There were 9 people in attendance and they played two games. I know some of you don't do games at parties, but I feel like it is important to get the crowd interacting and relaxed a little bit. Megan's game ideas were perfect for this goal.

First of all, she provided all the guests with a pencil and paper and they had to close their eyes and draw a jack-o-lantern while she walked them through each step. The one with the best jack-o-lantern wins a prize. You could choose the winner, let the host choose, or let the crowd choose. The second game was getting to know your host. Megan explains, "I had a list of items such as favorite movie, restaurant, country, etc... and the host had to write down the first thing that came to her mind. The others had to try and figure out what she would write down and the person with the most answers correct won." I think that's a wonderful idea and fun for all. One other thing Megan did that really impressed me was making treat bags for everyone who came. She didn't want anyone to leave empty-handed. She filled little party sacks with Hershey's kisses and a tealight for each guest.

Megan, you are fantastic! You really went the extra mile with your first party. Congratulations, and keep up the great work! I hope the rest of you will also share some of your business ideas with us.

While I'm here, I'll go ahead and share some another idea as well. Megan had mentioned to me that she had a guy in attendance. I've heard of "couples" parties, and guy nights where the ladies all bring their boyfriends/husbands and serve "guy" food (meatballs, chips, sodas) and let the guys participate. The game they played was making up the most creative scent idea for a new candle fragrance - like "Steak & Potatoes" or "Mechanic's Shop" or "Burnt Hair". Guys come up with all kinds of crazy stuff women wouldn't think of. And they love to smell and pick the scents their wives are buying. Men are big buyers! And at convention this year there were LOTS of men in attendance - helping thier wives demonstrating when they see how lucrative the business is.

Telight Lollipop Favors

Here's an idea I brought back from conference. These tealight lollipops make great party favors, gifts and prizes. They look pretty with several different colors of candles and ribbons, and displayed piled into our hurricane glass. All you need is tealights, sucker sticks (purchase at Jo-Ann's or Michael's), netting, small ribbon, hot glue. It's easy, just hot glue the sucker sticks to the back of the tealight. Wrap the netting over and tie with ribbon. Your guests will love them!

Tealights - FREE Samples Idea

At a recent training with local leaders, I learned of small ziploc bags you can buy at craft stores such as Michaels or JoAnns. They are in the bead section. The ones I bought came in a box of 175 for about $4. Each is the perfect size to slip a business card and a tealight (with a reorder sticker on the bottom, of course!) Pass them out as "free samples" to potential customers and watch your sales soar! I gave it a try on the 4th of July and made up 25 of them to pass out at the parade. The next morning I woke up to notifications of personal website orders from locals - I'm sure from their free samples! The initial trial paid for my investment. I also did this at an eye appointment, as I left I asked how many ladies worked in the office and left one for each. They were all excited and I got a call with 2 new customer orders that afternoon!