Because without a foundation, you can't have a stable structure!!!
It's been over 2 months since I last posted about this. I'm happy to report that I have been doing SOMETHING, and I have many plans to do more. Sometimes, you know, a person can get to a point where they really don't feel like they've done much in the way of anything to get anywhere. So I will take this time to chronicle what will perhaps end up being my groundwork :-D
Well, the first thing I did was finally go COTM. I had planned on being able to do it at the beginning of this month, but we were lucky enough to have just enough extra from a loan for our car repairs (which only ended up being replacing tires---everything else we fixed was taken care of by the warranty---if only we could get that kind of "insurance" for our bodies instead of our car!!!) to start it midway through May :-)
To go COTM, I got myself a Penny Saver route---I live really close to an office, and I was able to get the route my house is on!!! This will pay for the Candle of the Month shipment each month, with some extra left over for maybe another shipment of things I will need here and there. As always, I have other things in the works that can help with that too ;-)
Next, one of the shipments I ordered right after first getting to COTM status included two of my FAVORITE candles---Bella Buns!!!---and 2 sets of catalogs. The first bundle is GONE, and I broke into the second today!!! Now I have to make up more scent samples and staple those onto more catalogs, and stick the labels with my name and numbers on the backs :-D
As for footwork...
I have handed out all those catalogs. Most of the candles from the first COTM shipment went as free samples---which is fine because even though I ended up having to burn the jar candle because I dropped and broke it (it has a nice wrapper so very little escaped, and it can still hold the candle---when hard. It oozes out a bit when lit, LOL!!!), I'm not the biggest fan of that smell. Oh well, I'm sure someone else is!!! :-D Any one of the people who I handed catalogs to could end up being my next customer---all it takes is them having a need and seeing my catalog still sitting on their desk or in their purse, or in their car :-) I've handed out several business cards...I printed up maybe 30 several weeks ago, and I'm down to about 3 now. I also had the 20 or so I had printed up before that, and those have been gone for weeks. I'm waiting on new business cards, ordered from VistaPrint :-) I also have postcards through there that will be coming in, with my OWN DESIGN, that I plan to send out to realtors in the area. These candles would make EXCELLENT housewarming gifts, open house items, or closing gifts. In that vein, I'm also planning to send some off to local car dealerships (we got cookies when we got our Grand Am, and I would have MUCH rather had a candle!!!!!), RV dealerships and local prefab home companies! Several catalogs also got handed out when I went yard saling this weekend!
I've sent about 5 fundraising packets off to different local organizations---schools so far, though I plan very soon to branch out to other organizations! I also met up with a girl at the Weight Watchers meeting today, and gave HER a catalog to pass on to her teacher at her dance class. I saw her jacket, and thought "well, why the heck not???" :-D I then ended up talking to 2 other ladies at the meeting who I had not yet talked to before about the biz, and gave both of them catalogs. I left the house today prepared to give them to people!!!!!
