I'm exhausted... but so so happy & satisfied!
My first home show/party was last night & it was a huge success!
I was so unprepared & really had no clue how it was all going to happen... but my hostess, Shawn, had done plenty of home parties & lots of entertaining, so she had it together on her end... God bless her. :o) She also had lots of friends & neighbors who loved to socialize. Shawn gave them my website to check out w/ the invite & said that when they called to RSVP, they were telling her that they'd never seen anything like it. They were excited to see it in person. I can't tell you how many showed up... had to be 30 or so.
A little panicked before hand, I had plenty of utinsils.... but still had lots of beads & not a ton of "complete" jewelry... so I wasn't sure how it was going to work. While I was taking a shower about an hour before I had to leave, I realized that this wasn't a typical home party anyway... I was pretty sure that they didn't know what to expect any more than I did, LOL. How cool would it be for them to be able to pick a bead or two & have me wire up a pendant or make a complete necklace w/ them right there helping me design it for them? So, that's what I did.
My biggest issue (other than the fact that I wasn't completely ready when people started showing up ON TIME... I like late people!) was that I didn't get a chance to price all of my beads. Some were priced from a show a few weeks ago, but not the newer pieces... so I basically let them know the price range... a range of about $20... told them about designing a piece together, etc...
It was fun... people were awesome. They came so quickly & even though I wasn't completely ready, they were pretty cool about it. I hadn't even set up my checkout table before people were coming up to me w/ their hands full. It was great! After 45 minutes or so, I finally had a minute to breath, so we decided to get everyone in the same room so I could tell them a little bit about me.
I told them that I was completely overwhelmed. I didn't get a chance to clarify that it was that so many showed up & their response that was overwhelming, ... not that I was mentally & emotionally overwhelmed (not that I wasn't!!) They knew it was my first home party, so I told them that I didn't have it completely together & they let me know that it didn't really show... & they didn't care. I let them know a little bit about me, about the fact that I had been making beads for just less than 2 years... a bit about lampworking, etc... & they asked me questions. It was pretty cool. Several of them also spoke up & said that they'd love to do a party, too. I said "after the holidays!" I can't wait!
Anyway... it worked out great! I think I would've sold more jewelry if I had it worked out a little better... more completed pieces, probably displayed a little better (I only have 3 necklace displays), etc... but the utinsils were a HUGE hit... especially the bottle openers, stoppers & cheese knife/cutting board sets. I have orders for several more pieces. I think I made up 4 or 5 pendants.
But they loved it.... they "got it", too. They knew that what they were seeing was one of a kind little works of art... & they didn't seem to hesitate. Awesome.
Friday night seemed to be a great night to do it... not a work/school night... they could stay late, have some wine & awesome food & hang out w/ friends. It started @ 7pm...the last guest left around 11:30pm, then Shawn got a chance to shop! (she put a few pieces aside beforehand) I headed home around 1:30am.
I'll be doing many more home parties. Definitely. It was a great first experience... & I sold more in those 4 1/2 hours than I did in any of the other 2 & 3 days shows I did this fall!!
I'll figure it out...work out a system... it'll just get better from here. What a great first experience!
I took today off... I slept till 1pm, LOL... (did I mention that I had a total of 4 hours of sleep the 2 nights previous?? I'll figure it out someday.) ...went & saw
Madagascar 2 w/ my youngest... chilled out @ home for the evening. Now I have 5 1/2 days to prepare for my next show that starts a day after we get back from Thanksgiving in Colorado.... then my final holiday show is a few weeks after that... so I have work to do!
Geez, this is way too long! I do go on, don't I?? If you stuck w/ me & made it this far, thank you. :o)
It's late... time for bed... gotta get up & get torching again...
Till next time...
~ Julie
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