Which company is best- to be a consultant ???

I have been scrapbooking for 7 years. I started with Creative Memories (my sil was a consultant for awhile.) I have had brief encounters with Stampin up and CTMH, but mostly I get my goods from Hobby Lobby or Michaels. (SALES!!!)

I am currently considering the possibility of becoming a consultant for one of these types of companies, but I am weighing my options and trying to get as much info as I can.

I am moving 8 hours from home to a new city and I am hoping that if I have a home business in scrapbooking that I will be able to use it as a tool to meet new people and make new friends.

What do you think?

I'd like to know what the benefits are of each company! What is the discount? How much do you have to sell, how often? ETC!

ETA: I am editing because the more I think this through the less possible it seems to run a business like this with any hope for profit. Does anyone actually make a profit with any of these companies???

I'm glad you posted this. I'm thinking about becoming a Creative Memories consultant but would love all the info about other companies as well.

i pm both you ladies...

If you both PM me your emails, I'll send you the information I have on being a CM consultant. If you don't have someone you're looking to sign up under, I'd be more than happy to be your upline...

My favorite is Close to my heart.. but thats my opinion! I have been thinking about becoming a consultant for awhile with them because I love what they offer..... Just haven't had a chance!

LOL! I see that you live in KC. I am moving to KC after Christmas!

Hello, I too have been thinking about being a consultant, but havent met anyone with informaton yet.

oops- I need you to pm me so I can pm you my email address. I don't see how to send you a pm!

I would love to share info about Stampin' Up! with you. Stampin' Up! is a great comapany to work for, for a lot of reasons and one of them is that you can be as involved as you want. Each year is split up in to 4 three month quarters. Each quarter you are required to have $300 in sales. This can be demonstrator orders for yourself, customer orders, or workshop orders. As a demo you get a 20% discount on all merchandise all the time. I love that part! The projects that you create for you workshops can come from a TON of places. First, as a demo you have access to the demo website where there is tons of info. When I am exploring the site, I still find new things every time. There is a section where all the demos post projects they have done and that is a very helpful tool. There is also a "Workshop of the Month" which gives you new project ideas every month and it usually has a theme attached to it.
I could go on with the places on the website, but there are just so many. Also, as a demo you get a magazine every month from Stampin' Up! called "Stampin' Success" and this also has TONS of ideas. This magazine has new workshop ideas, inspiration from other demos, new techniques, and so much more. I look forward to that every month.
The starter kit is $199 and you get so many things and essentially it has everything in it that you need to start having workshops. The starter kit also has a magazine in it that has project ideas in it that use just the starter kit items. You can also choose to do the Stampin' Memories Add-On which is a great choice for those who want to showcase Stampin' Up!'s scrapbooking line of products. This is an additional $50 and you get an album, a jounaling pen, 12 x 12 paper, alphabet stamp set, another stamp pad, and a Simply Scrappin' Kit. I did the Add-On and I thought it was worth every penny.
This is really a GREAT company to work for because you feel so supported, you are doing what you love (and making money too), you get a pretty cool discount, and you get so many useful things at your fingertips like the demo website and magazine. You can also sign up to have a website of your own which is something like $14 a month and Stampin' Up! manages it for you with updates and stuff.You can see mine at **Edited per board rules. I LOVE doing what I do and I know you would have tons of fun too.
Stampin' Up! has a number of different tools to train you as a demo. They provide you with all kinds of literature with your starter kit and a training DVD. They also have a section on their website specifically for new demos. Then, every year we have a convention that is about 3 days long and you learn SO much. Also, they have Regional Seminars and there are about 6 or 7 locations they do those through out the U.S. The Regional Seminars are like a mini-convention. Whew... that is a lot of info, I know. I think I covered all of the most important stuff. Let me know if you have anymore questions. Oh,... I almost forgot. We are having an amazing special right now where you can receive a mini-starter kit for $99, instead of the bigger one for $199. You get less stuff, but it is still everything you need to get started. You can see more details about that on my SU! website under "Promotions." AND, I also forgot to tell you that your very first order after you become a SU! demo is 30% off instead of your normal 20% discount. Okay, I will leave you with all of that. Let me know if I can answer any other questions!

wow, that was thorough! THANKS!

Is shipping and handling a flat rate or is it determined by size or cost of your individual order?

**Edited per board rules. its 59.99 including shipping and taxes and you only need to spend 75.00 a year to be active..all name brand companys...20% off plus they have a kit of the month club...also run specials..and once you join you can join there forum and check out there gallery.....you just get the basic consultant kit and bag to start....i like it because there is no monthly or quarterly obligations to make...just 75.00 year to stay active....

I am new with Close to My Heart but I love love love it!! The % is 22 and the quarterly min is 300. The new consultant kit is FANTASTIC!! It is only $99 with a card maker add on for 50 or a scrapbooking add on for 60. In October they are having a new consultant special and you get another 100 in free product! Great deal! The support is fantastic and the product practically sells its self. My email is [email protected] if anyone wants more info.

• theyaremysunshine Said:

The S&H is $6.95 or 10% of the order, whichever is higher.

• theyaremysunshine Said:

You go to that person's profile by clicking on their screen name to the far left here. Then when you are in their profile you look to the far left and there is a section to send PM's.

i'm glad you posted this. i am interested myself.

tera~is the 22% your discount or how much you earn? also, does anyone know anything about the angel company?

i want to compare start up cost, what % of sales you earn and discount between each of the companies. also, do all of these companies ship to APOs because i am currently in okinawa.

tia!

i love close to my heart stuff...but sign up is to high for me and meeting the quota for the quarter is high....usually just order stuff for me so i would prob never meet the quota for 3 months...

Good morning!

Thanks for all of the responses. At this point I feel overwhelmed with all of the different companies and options!

which companies condone allowing the consultant to act as a hostess to reap the benefits of free or discounted products after a certain amount of money is spent?

In other words, if I do not have any parties, but I order some products for myself, or my customers, can I put the order in and get the discounted or free products along with my order?

This can be a big bonus of being a consultant and I'd like to know how this is handled.

Stampin' Up!'s workshop (or hostess) orders are anything over $150. This means that if you as a demo spend over that, you can receive all the regular hostess benefits too. Also, if any of your customers spend over $150 they can also receive hostess benefits. This is a big incentive for your customers to get a couple more things to reach that goal. At %150, you get to choose one free hostess stamp set and spend $15 in the catalog.

Okay, I have been doing research on what HDSue talked about, and I have found that they dont push you for sales, or to have a downline. You can receive discounts on your orders. Signing up is the cheapest I have found. If I decide to have a party or host one..yeah for me on a bigger discount..but really with the economy...would rather not ask anyone to spend money on scrapbook stuff. So, as said..I am sold on what HDSUE goes through. If you have any questions, you should pm her, I am sure she would love to answer them. I wont be able to sign up until next week (PAYDAY).

spot5194- I am glad that you made a decision. I am leaning more towards SIU or CM but my head is still spinning with questions about CTMH too.

I am new to this board and all of the PMs are making me dizzy. If someone could answer in this thread what CM and CTMH charge on orders for shipping and handling that would be great!

I like SIU's hostess program, but their discount is only 20% and they get 10% more on their s&h charge. I can't see making much profit after spending money on all of the demo stuff and then having to pass on such a high charge for s&h to customers bothers me.

CM gives 30% discount, but I do not know that there is any hostess benefit. Does my hostess benefit come out of my pocket? Also, I love the idea of learning/teaching/selling digital scrapbooking . Is CM the only company that offers that?

Thanks again for everyone's input.

Also, I think that my overall gut feeling to want to go with SIU or CM is because of my experiences with them. They both seem like great companies.

For CTMH shipping is 4.75 or 7.95% what ever is greatest. If you spend 150 you are allowed to be the hostess or if you have an order for 100 and then add the extra 50 you can be the hostess. The online support and training they offer is fantastic! Really great. They have a super message board that is busy and has tons of great info and ideas.

I don't remember to check these boards enough (I am on the CTHM ones too much but feel free to e-mail me at [email protected] for more info.

CTMH is a really great company like Tera says. With CTMH you can be the hostess and get the benefits, it does requre 2 customers and a minimum of $150.00 in sales, but what I do when I have a big enough order I do most of it in my name and the rest in my mothers name, have it all shipped to me and I get the benefits. My mother does not scrap so I just use her name as customer #2.

One thing I hear is people concerned with the sign up costs of different companies. I know economics is a factor but the deciding factor should be the product line and what you like best.

Good luck with your decisions everyone!


Brandi

That is very true Brandi, it should be about what products your most likely going to enjoy the most. I agree.

Hi Sunshine,

If you go to "my place" here on sb.com , and check out my blog, you will find a comparison chart listing the major party plan companies in America. I got it from my former TLC upline, and you'll see by the date that it was done 2 years ago. I hope it's of some help to you.


I've just been in and ammended the TLC info (TLC morphed into Breezy Design earlier this year), and I also deleted the Leaving Prints info, as they no longer exist.

Consultants - if any of the info about your company is incorrect and\or outdated, please let me know so I can ammend it.

Hey Morty,

Thanks for posting that..I got to take a look at the chart and now I am happier with my choice...its what works for me..(everyone is differnt).

SO, thanks again!!!!

I appreciate the honesty here.

Just to let you know this is an old thread and lots have changed, so anyone thinking about being a demo with any company should research this now with the new terms and company.

My first advice is to be a demo with a company of a products you really like!!!! You can't sell or USE what you don't like!!!!

I don't know the ins and outs of all the other ones, but as a Stampin' Up demo, I love it! And SU no longer limits Demos from posting non SU products on their blog as long as you don't make money off those other products. So if you go to Hobby Lobby and find an awesome product, you are welcome to use it and even can say where you bought it! Lots of changes for demos.
I have been a demo over a year and love it! SU is more about making the business YOUR way....if you want to be a HObby demo- you make your own mins- you can! If you want it to be a business....you can run it as a business.
Feel free to ask me any questions.


Kiwi Lane is also looking to do a demoship and Amuse is another one that is new. Hope that helps~

• bethannf Said:

I just have to say I'm also a former demo. I go back and forth because I use primarily Stampin Up product so it works for me. But their stuff is expensive. I like the quality, blah blah blah but no matter what the reasons are, it's still expensive. It's difficult to encourage someone to buy something if you don't love what you're doing. In my personal experience, and my experience only, if I wasn't ready to fully support my habit of buying supplies, I wasn't going to stay being a demo.

That being said, I do have to say your experience is really based on your upline. I NEVER once felt like a number to Stampin' Up! or to my upline. My upline never ever pressured me to recruit, never pressured me to stay a demo, and never made me felt anything other than glad to have met her. Even though I'm not a demo under her anymore, I still feel like I can go to her if I need help with something.

Yes, there is pressure to use exclusively Stampin Up product in your own work but they've changed the rules so I'd read up before you start selling your products in an etsy store. Some companies don't allow you to sell cards using their designs at all.

No matter what company you design for, there is pressure to use that company exclusively. Same goes for your blog. It's not some evil conspiracy, it just makes sense. It wouldn't make much business sense to promote people going out and buying elsewhere.

Other companies don't have to be some dirty little secret but you want to promote when you can. I think Stampin Up in particular, since that's what I know, is trying really hard instead of shooting themselves in the foot in this department. I think they have missed the boat on some products and trends though. But at least they are trying. I feel like some other companies never even tried and that was their downfall.