[Working Moms Blog] Your Opinion ~ New Ideas For Working From Home
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MomBlogger
Oct 13, 2008, 6:57:51 AM10/13/08
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For the last 4 weeks I have been racking my brain for ideas to make money from home. Now with the economy the way it is, it is especially hard, as I would guess that people are less likely to spend money on things other than necessities.. (I know I am)
So, I visited the usual suspects and found some great opportunities... but frankly, I have already tried a great deal of them.
Avon: Avon is a great company and a lot of fun... but I found it hard to juggle the kids and my avon schedule. As a single parent, my children were always with me, so we would walk door to door and drop off catalogs and if someone wanted to chat about products... that was invariably when the kids just HAD to tell me something (SMILE). I enjoyed avon and if I could have made more money I would have really really enjoyed it. The way is work is this: As the AVON rep you have to purchase ALL of your advertising material. All of the catalogs, inserts, special promotions, little giveaways... everything, including the avon trademark white paper bags. All that got to be pretty expensive, and took a while and a bunch of sales to actually break even... and it seemed like just when I broke even, then I had to purchase the next months catalogs.
I think with dedication, perservierance and the time available to really sell... This is a good opportunity, I would give it 1 chubby thumb up.
Discovery Toys: I also enjoyed discovery toys, The main vehicle for selling discovery toys is the Home Party. Once I ran out of friends, it was really hard to get anyone to have a party. The toys were great, but expensive, the profit was not exactly what was advertised by the mfg. I can't remember the specifics, but I seem to remember thinking I would be making more then I was, and there was some fine print. PLUS, you had to purchase the starter kit, which consisted of the display items and all the order forms and all that jazz... it was fairly expensive to start up, and honestly, not many people in my circle of friends really wanted to spend the money on expensive toys when they could get the same thing at Target or Walmart for 1/2 the price.
I think that there are people that make money selling these toys, I wasn't even close. I give discovery Toys 1 chubby thumb down.
Consulting: I have been a software trainer/consultant for a while now. When I get a job it's very lucrative, but the jobs are few and far between. My primary goal is the teach people how to use software. Most people taught themselves how to use today's productivity software, and although they can get their job done... they may not be doing it the easiest or most efficient way. many times I can come in just to address the most frequent stumbling blocks and everyone walks away enlightened... however many business owners don't see the value of the training. They feel that since the job is getting down, they don't really care how.
In terms of ease, consulting about something you know is great fun and fullfilling, but it ain't easy to get people to pay for information. I would give this 1 chubby thumb up
Candles, Home Goods: I will be honest with you. I have never had a candle party, a lingerie party, a home goods party, a americana party... I'm not into spending money on that stuff (as evidenced by my interior design style which is a mix between your parents basement and your neighbors garage sale. I just can't bring myself to spend $80.00 on a basket. (Longaberger) Honestly, I did attend several parties and the ones I liked the best were the candle parties, because I like scented things... and atleast when I ordered the box of 9 votives I felt like I was getting something for my money. Now, however, I have kids and candles have gone the wayside. I don't have any experience with selling candles and I would imagine unless they are hugely more popular than avon, that it would be about the same.
Pocket Book Parties: I wouldn't know where to get the products. really. I don't know a think about designer pocket books, I wouldn't know how to tell if the purse is really a coach or not... honestly. However, the purses sell themselves. I went to a pocketbook party, and saw that the person just laid the purses out in the living room and told everyone what the prices are and people just threw the girl money. I would NEVER spend $80.00 on a pocket book even if that was $200.00 off the regular price, I just don't have that in me. (however, I would register 25 domain names at $6.99 a pop just because) So I guess to each his/her own.
In terms of hosting the party and getting a discount on purchases I would say this is a 2 chubby thumbs up... however, I don't know how you would become a seller of these purses. If anyone knows I'd be itnerested...
Now... the fun part of this blog entry. A POLL
If your neighbor or sister in law or acquaintance from the gym invited you to a "home party" to sell a product please rate these products in the order that you would enjoy and look forward to.
CLICK HERE TO TAKE MY POLL
http://www.polldaddy.com/s/A1EA8336ACCD6E1E/
--
Posted By MomBlogger to Working Moms Blog at 10/13/2008 03:04:00 AM
So, I visited the usual suspects and found some great opportunities... but frankly, I have already tried a great deal of them.
Avon: Avon is a great company and a lot of fun... but I found it hard to juggle the kids and my avon schedule. As a single parent, my children were always with me, so we would walk door to door and drop off catalogs and if someone wanted to chat about products... that was invariably when the kids just HAD to tell me something (SMILE). I enjoyed avon and if I could have made more money I would have really really enjoyed it. The way is work is this: As the AVON rep you have to purchase ALL of your advertising material. All of the catalogs, inserts, special promotions, little giveaways... everything, including the avon trademark white paper bags. All that got to be pretty expensive, and took a while and a bunch of sales to actually break even... and it seemed like just when I broke even, then I had to purchase the next months catalogs.
I think with dedication, perservierance and the time available to really sell... This is a good opportunity, I would give it 1 chubby thumb up.
Discovery Toys: I also enjoyed discovery toys, The main vehicle for selling discovery toys is the Home Party. Once I ran out of friends, it was really hard to get anyone to have a party. The toys were great, but expensive, the profit was not exactly what was advertised by the mfg. I can't remember the specifics, but I seem to remember thinking I would be making more then I was, and there was some fine print. PLUS, you had to purchase the starter kit, which consisted of the display items and all the order forms and all that jazz... it was fairly expensive to start up, and honestly, not many people in my circle of friends really wanted to spend the money on expensive toys when they could get the same thing at Target or Walmart for 1/2 the price.
I think that there are people that make money selling these toys, I wasn't even close. I give discovery Toys 1 chubby thumb down.
Consulting: I have been a software trainer/consultant for a while now. When I get a job it's very lucrative, but the jobs are few and far between. My primary goal is the teach people how to use software. Most people taught themselves how to use today's productivity software, and although they can get their job done... they may not be doing it the easiest or most efficient way. many times I can come in just to address the most frequent stumbling blocks and everyone walks away enlightened... however many business owners don't see the value of the training. They feel that since the job is getting down, they don't really care how.
In terms of ease, consulting about something you know is great fun and fullfilling, but it ain't easy to get people to pay for information. I would give this 1 chubby thumb up
Candles, Home Goods: I will be honest with you. I have never had a candle party, a lingerie party, a home goods party, a americana party... I'm not into spending money on that stuff (as evidenced by my interior design style which is a mix between your parents basement and your neighbors garage sale. I just can't bring myself to spend $80.00 on a basket. (Longaberger) Honestly, I did attend several parties and the ones I liked the best were the candle parties, because I like scented things... and atleast when I ordered the box of 9 votives I felt like I was getting something for my money. Now, however, I have kids and candles have gone the wayside. I don't have any experience with selling candles and I would imagine unless they are hugely more popular than avon, that it would be about the same.
Pocket Book Parties: I wouldn't know where to get the products. really. I don't know a think about designer pocket books, I wouldn't know how to tell if the purse is really a coach or not... honestly. However, the purses sell themselves. I went to a pocketbook party, and saw that the person just laid the purses out in the living room and told everyone what the prices are and people just threw the girl money. I would NEVER spend $80.00 on a pocket book even if that was $200.00 off the regular price, I just don't have that in me. (however, I would register 25 domain names at $6.99 a pop just because) So I guess to each his/her own.
In terms of hosting the party and getting a discount on purchases I would say this is a 2 chubby thumbs up... however, I don't know how you would become a seller of these purses. If anyone knows I'd be itnerested...
Now... the fun part of this blog entry. A POLL
If your neighbor or sister in law or acquaintance from the gym invited you to a "home party" to sell a product please rate these products in the order that you would enjoy and look forward to.
CLICK HERE TO TAKE MY POLL
http://www.polldaddy.com/s/A1EA8336ACCD6E1E/
--
Posted By MomBlogger to Working Moms Blog at 10/13/2008 03:04:00 AM
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