What's in a Hostess Pack?

Some people call it a Hostess Packet.

Some call it a Party Pack.

Some call it a Party in a Bag.

Whatever you call it, it's the "thing" you give your hostess to assist her with her party planning!

Here's what I put inside my "Party Pack":

• 3 catalogs (make sure they are stamped on the back with your info!)
• 3 order forms
• 1 Hostess Planner (available with Business Supply credits)
• 1 Opportunity Brochure
• 40 postcards
• Sometimes, I leave the postcards out and print them at home for the hostess.  I still have her mail them out, but I often go ahead and run them through the printer and print out the name, date, etc. so they look a bit more professional.   Plus, this makes it easier for my hostesses!
• For fun, I put a teaspoon of the Tuscan Roasted Garlic Dip in a little bag with instructions on how to make it.  That gives my hostess a little something to serve at the party and hopefully will entice people to buy it at the party!

Using Party Manager

DO YOU HAVE PARTIES BOOKED FOR AUGUST?

Get them booked in your "Party Manager" on your workstation!

Party Manager is available under the "Orders & Products" menu.

Once you "book" a party in the Party Manager, it will give you the option of sending your hostess a pre-done email.  In the email, it will give your hostess a personal password so that she can use the "Host Central" section of your own personal Willow House website.

Once she is in the "Host Central" part of your website, she can create a guest list, send them invitations, make her wish list, etc.  And YOU can see all of her guests making it very easy to do reminder phone calls for her!

The email is nice, professional and looks like this:

It is an easy way to help you manage your business and provide your hostess with a bit of coaching!

It does not REPLACE good hostess coaching, but it a nice addition to it!

So, go book some parties in your Party Manager!

Just Stamp It and a few other organization tips...

Guess what I've been doing?

A whole LOT of stamping!

I learned a long time ago that my party schedule goes much, much better when I have my materials prepared in advance.

So one of my organization tips is this...

The minute you get your business supplies in the mail, get them READY to be used!

I stamp all of my materials with my business information.  I used to print out labels, but I quickly learned that was much more expensive and tedious than using a stamp.  You can have a stamp made at OfficeMax for between $15 and $25 and it will last forever!

So I stamp the back of my catalogs, the back of my opportunity brochures, the back of my Inspiration Guides and my order forms (white and pink copies).

Then I "stuff" all of my catalogs which means I put an order form inside of the catalog.

I get as many of these things ready to go as I can and then I transfer them to my shelving unit.  It happens to reside in my garage so it's readily accessible as I pack my car to leave for a party, but you could do the same thing regardless of where your shelves are.  I can quickly grab as many catalogs as I need as I jump in my car!

I also put a big stack of stamped order forms on the shelf.

THEN...

When I get home, I take any catalogs that were returned to me from the party and put them in the lower shelf.  That way, it's easy for me to pick up the "unstuffed" catalogs, grab an order form from the top shelf and voila!, I have another "stuffed" catalog to put back in the stack!

This system works well for me and helps me keep everything organized.  I also don't end up having to do all this when I am trying to hurry to get out the door!

TODAY I got another stamp at OfficeMax!  It is what I'm going to use for the order forms I give to my hostesses as party of their "party packs".

It says:
Did you spend $39.96?
Choose another product valued at $39.96 or less for HALF PRICE!

I had it done in red ink and I stamped it in the "notes" portion of our new and improved order forms!  This is ONLY for the order forms that will hopefully be used by my hostess to get outside orders.  NO MORE printing different outside order forms... this stamp just seems to be so much easier!

So, I'm ready to go (at least from a supplies standpoint) for my August parties!  I just have a few more hostess "party packs" to deliver...

If you have a great organization tip, please share!

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