Stigma

New Logo and Packaging!

I feel as though I've been posting a lot about Tastefully Simple lately but hey, it is a side business and I do think about it a lot so why not share my thoughts?

Tastefully Simple just did a rebrand of their logo and packaging. They announced it along with their new fall seasonal line of products at an event called Party Palooza which was held in Minneapolis where the TS headquarters is located. This event filled my Facebook timeline from Thursday to Sunday with excitement and new product info. This is an event where great achievers in their business get recognized. My sponsor was one of them. She is awesome and continues to surprise me with her dedication to TS.

What I really wanted to talk about in this post though, is the stigma associated with businesses such as Tastefully Simple (like Pampered Chef and Thirty One, etc). I hate it... the stigma that is.

Tastefully Simple is exciting to me. I love food! I love making food! I love making food from scratch and I love making food that's easy to prepare from boxes! I love dips! I love party food! I love going to parties partly because of the food! This is mostly why I love Tastefully Simple. It makes it so freaking easy to make food and it tastes good. I would eat all my inventory right now if I could.

Now here are a couple of things I don't understand.. (I just want to preface that this is not directed at anyone, this is a general thought/feeling and trust me, i've had it too about parties in the past before I became a consultant for TS)

1. Why host a party if you aren't excited to host a party?

Now I'm still learning how to properly coach my hosts into success. I think in the future I might approach hosts by asking about their excitement level of eating food, making food, having get togethers with friends and earning free stuff. I can only hope that they are honest with me. It's tricky because back before I did this (and I know i've mentioned this a bit before) I had a pretty successful Pampered Chef party and as the host I was excited about most of it. Once the consultant got me to agree to a date to set the party and I sent out the invites and got the RSVPs, I was excited to have people over to my house to eat food, chat and offer them a chance to order stuff from the catalog. I knew most of them hadn't been to a party before or hadn't been to one in years so this was perfect. The thing I wasn't super excited about was the stigma. The stigma that I was only inviting people over so they could buy stuff so that I could get free stuff. The 'pressure' that they may feel to order something just because I was having a party and just because they were my family/friends.

I want my Tastefully Simple hosts to be excited about the products. I want them to feel so excited that they want to share these things with their friends and give them an opportunity to get excited as well. I don't like the stigma of the 'pressure' associated with purchasing something just because someone asks you to look at a catalog. I'm a pretty honest person in life and if I don't really want something, I don't buy it. I may look at it but I don't buy something just because she bought something from me at my party. That can be a vicious cycle.

One more thing, this isn't just for women.. men like food too. Get your male friends, boyfriends, husbands involved.

2. RSVPs

We live in a different world now. A world where the RSVP doesn't mean sh*t. Excuse my language but seriously, it means nothing! People used to care when they couldn't attend something and would have to call and verbally tell their regrets to the party host via phone. Now we have text and email and Facebook. If you can't go to a party or event that someone invited you to, cool.. that's fine, why wouldn't it be fine? Just RSVP no if they ask for regrets OR RSVP yes/no if they just ask for an RSVP. I understand that things come up and sometimes a yes becomes a no at the last minute BUT these days it seems like people do a lot based on how they feel that day. "Oh we'll see how I feel that day about going.." "Eh.. I don't really feel like it, and even though I RSVP'd (or worse, didn't even respond!) I will just go about my day like I was never invited to anything in the first place"

Can you tell this is a sore area for me? :) This is definitely a direct correlation to events I've hosted in the past. Sorry I'm not sorry. See, honesty! Feels good, right?

3. Facebook Events and Specials

I recently ran a July Special because there was a sale of 20% off the Tastefully Simple large drink buckets and I wanted to incentivize people to buy them or other products they might've needed to stock up on. I'm just going to be honest on here and tell you that only one person took that offer. ONE! I'm not disappointed because I couldn't make money off of orders that were placed. I'm disappointed because those drink buckets are DELICIOUS and because they were an AWESOME DEAL and so many people missed out on them. Now, lucky for you all, I happened to stock up on some so if you're interested, I do have some I can sell you at the 20% discounted price which is $7.99 BUT I have to charge shipping on top of that because.. hello, I paid shipping, and tax actually. So that takes the price from $7.99 to $9.49 ..... original price (if purchased direct from me) would be $11.86 so you're saving $2.37. It's like a sale at the liquor store only better, and tastier. Samba Sangria Slush is yummy, trust me and perfect for parties. Sheesh! This gets me all kinds of hyped up and I really don't even know why but a deal is a deal, people!

Take advantage of specials, that's the bottom line. I create them to offer you something, not to take your money. And if you aren't interested in them, RSVP NO! to the event. You WILL NOT hurt my feelings, I promise!

If you're interested, 'like' my Facebook Page. If you see the value of marketing, share some of the posts that I put up so that your friends may have the opportunity to see them. I'm not going to lie, this would help me tremendously and only takes a millisecond to click 'Share'.

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This is getting long.. probably too long but I needed to get all of that out. So thanks for reading if you've even made it this far.

I would LOVE to hear your comments on this, if you don't want to log in, just comment anonymously, I will never know who it is but will at least get some feedback. All I ever want is honest feedback. Think the products are too expensive? Tell me! Think they taste like poo? Tell me! Think hosting is dumb? I want to knooow! Thanks in advance!

Life as a Tastefully Simple Consultant

So i'm not sure if anyone is really curious about this or not, but since I care about it I'm going to go ahead and write about it.

Back in October (as I believe I wrote on here) I was looking for something to do in my free time that would generate some income. My mom mentioned Tastefully Simple, which I had heard of very briefly. I looked at their site and decided that people like food, right? How hard could it be to sell that?? After writing about it on here, my now sponsor Tracy contacted me to see if I wanted more information and after talking with her, I joined up!

I started with a Grand Opening Party in November which went very well and I had a great time making the easy to prepare food, explaining it to my family and friends and then I chose a winner for the rewards the party generated. I have learned a TON since that first party and at each party I learn a little bit more.

I've done a handful of parties for friends and family since that time, one fundraiser for Relay 4 Life and one event, which was a community yard sale. Some parties weren't super successful and some were. All great learning experiences for sure! I have an event coming up on Saturday at Seven Valley's Winery in York which I'm very excited about. I know I will learn a lot from this too and I really hope to book some catalog parties for the months of July and August as well as some possible Fall Tasting Parties.

A Tasting Party is where the host prepares food samples for guests to taste before ordering. A Catalog Party is where the host takes catalogs and order forms around to family and friends over a longer period and collects orders to earn rewards. I set up Catalog Parties to also include two samples for tasting purposes. Facebook is pretty big right now with these types of parties because family and friends can just go online and order directly if they cannot make the Tasting Party or won't see the host in time to order for the Catalog Party.

Like I said, I have done one fundraiser so far. I am very interested in doing more but it's a little bit hard to get my name out there currently since I don't have school aged children. There are ways to do it that I plan to look into but for now, I send out messages to people I am interested in working with to see if they're interested in working with me.

Overall, the experience has been very positive and fun! My sponsor Tracy is amazing and she answers any and every single question I have and is a great role model because she has a ton of fundraisers going and sponsors a large number of consultants and that number keeps on growing! I'm part of her team's Facebook Group which is extremely helpful. There are plenty of TS Facebook groups that are helpful for sure, it's a great place to get new ideas from other consultants.

I have one recruit so far and hope to have more in the future. I currently have a coupon code for $100 off the Business Blast Off Kit. I've been told this is the first time they've ever done this (you end up paying about $70) and I'm hoping it's been successful so that they run it every year. My code expires July 10th so the clock is ticking. If you've ever thought about doing a business like this, now is the time. It really is easy and it's actually fun.

A couple years ago, I had a Pampered Chef Party and the consultant was very nice but used all the sales cliches you can think of to try to get me to sign on. I have absolutely nothing against PC.. I have tons of products from that party that I use all the time and I love them! I just thought at that time that I could never do that. I could never be a consultant like she was. She was very very nice but I didn't enjoy the extra pushes, though I now understand she was probably just following the playbook. If you don't talk about the opportunity to join, you'll never know if they would've said yes.

In conclusion, lol .. I am very happy to be a Tastefully Simple Consultant. And though I may not talk about it much, I am working on that. To be completely honest, my target demographic is older than I am so it's more difficult to get into those circles but I'm working on it. I want to be successful and I know I can do it!

If you ever have questions related to it, please let me know! I'd be happy to answer them!

If you want to order, you can go to my website at www.tastefullysimple.com/web/mbrubaker OR send me a message. I offer great incentives for hosts as well if you're interested in that. I try to make it as easy as possible for you to have a successful and positive experience while earning free stuff!

I'm baaaaack!

So lots has been going on around here lately so I'll start by explaining the absence!

 Last fall, work started getting pretty stressful and in addition to my part time hours, I started working at home as well during Scarlett's nap times and sometimes even in the evening. This contributed to the slow down of posting to the blog.

In November, I got pregnant (found out in December) plus the holiday season which seemed busier than previous years, probably because I had Scarlett to think about and plan for! I also started as a Tastefully Simple Consultant, so that took up some of my free time as well.

In the beginning of 2013, we had Scarlett's birthday party which was a blast, then in addition to working my part time job while at home, I also started a freelance project that also took more free time. Work was still pretty stressful so Alex and I started thinking about August (our due month) and how we were going to handle having two children with me working part time and if it would be worth it to look into me staying home.

Alex got a new job April 1st which has been a huge blessing. He is about 200x happier in this position and I really feel that he is now on a career path instead of just having a job. He has been loving it so far and I just know that will continue!

In May, we made the decision that I would stop working mid-June right before our vacations with our families. I put in three weeks notice after Memorial Day. My lovely coworkers threw me a surprise baby shower/best wishes party prior to my departure and it was all very bittersweet. Working at the same place for almost six years was such a great experience. I learned so very much and I'm thankful for all the great people I met there.

I went to OBX with my family a couple weeks ago and then met Alex and his family in Bethany Beach the following weekend for a few days there. I will write separate posts on those fun times with pictures! Returning last week and not going back to work on Thursday was a bit strange, and this week will be my first official full week without a steady job.

It's exciting (and a little scary) but I just know this is the right decision for our family and I am so thankful that we are in a position to do this. Plus, I can get back to writing here and documenting our life, if not just for myself, for my family and friends as well!

I definitely feel that our little boy hasn't gotten the blog attention that I dedicated to Scarlett over her time in utero but I'm going to write a couple of posts on it now and then definitely keep up on it when he arrives. Having a blog like this is like having a baby book and I love going back and reading about Scarlett and my pregnancy with her. I can't wait to do the same with him.

So stay tuned.. !

This past weekend

This past weekend was pretty eventful. Friday during the day I went up to see my mom and sisters with Scarlett and also saw my grandmother. Later, I got my niece from my oldest sister and brought her back home with me for a sleepover. We had grilled cheese for dinner and watched The Smurfs :) Went to bed early bc we were tired and I slept most of the night hugging the edge.

Saturday, I had a Tastefully Simple party in the afternoon, so we all hung out in the morning, we watched one of the Narnia movies, Scarlett napped, I prepped for the party and soon enough it was time to go. I took my niece back to my sister and headed to the party. I learn more and more each time I do one of these and I think/hope that is making me better at it. My least favorite part is heating up the hot beverage and the soup.. neither of them really stayed hot for me or even warm really. I made new note cards though which helped immensely. It felt like we flew through the tasting part. I think next time I will engage people more, go around and introduce ourselves and if we've ever been to a TS party before, etc. Just to get people talking. A lot of people knew each other so that was good but I will remember this for next time. The party went well and I headed home around six. Hung out with Scarlett for a bit then put her to bed. Alex and I didn't do much after that, I enter orders plus we did our usual tv watching and also heading to bed early.. we're pretty early to bed these days with a 6am wake up call each morning.

Sunday, we had all day to relax until a Super Bowl party later on. We did our usual stuff. Alex has been re-seasoning some cast iron skillets for family members so he worked on that a little bit. I went to the grocery store for some supplies and made a yummy salad for this week's lunches. I posted the recipe here.. I got it from Pinterest and it's so easy and delicious! We headed to the super bowl party around four and had a great time as we usually do with our friends. It was so fun watching our girls play together.. or beside each other. And it's awesome to watch them all grow up. We went home at halftime and Scarlett went right to bed. Alex stayed up to watch the game and I headed to bed around nine thirty.

Overall a great weekend. I love the mix of relaxation and plans. I think our coming weekends will be more of the same and I'll do my best to take more pictures of these events! :)

Tastefully Simple - Update!

So I just wanted to give an update of how this has been going for me now that I've been doing it for a couple months.

First, I have to say, I could've done more in the last couple of months but having a toddler is a time suck (in a good way). I wanted to get all kind of info out to local businesses to try to get them to use Tastefully Simple as a gift option for their customers and it just didn't get off the ground. I have had a total of 4 parties and a fundraiser for Relay for Life.

My most recent party was the best yet! I totally attribute that to the host getting out there and talking to her friends and family and getting orders. She did amazing! And February was a great month for her to do amazing because she ended up with over $140 in free product. See how easy it is!

Anyway, I really want to be successful with this but it's hard with so little free time BUT i'm happy to say I have more upcoming parties and I would like to do more fundraisers so if anyone is interested in earning free Tastefully Simple goodies just by sharing these products with family and friends, please let me know!

I think once the new product line comes out (very soon!) I may have another Mystery Host event at my house to introduce the new line. I want to do something at my work too but i'm not exactly sure of the stipulations regarding selling products within the workplace. I need to look into it more before doing it. If I turned it into a fundraiser it might work better but I'm not sure.

If you're interested in looking into Tastefully Simple, as a consumer, as a host or even if you're looking for a new opportunity to make some extra cash, check out my TS website or email me: brubaker.michelle@gmail.com .. It's so easy and the food is delicious!

Next time I will talk about my favorite products!

I did it, i'm a consultant!

I signed up with Tastefully Simple and I am NOT looking back. I am going to take this opportunity and do as much as I can with it. For the first time, I feel like I have complete control over something and I plan to make it successful. It's obviously hard starting out, I don't want people to feel pressure to support this little business that I'm creating, but I do still want the support of my family and friends. I am getting it in some places which is great. Sometimes it's hard to see past myself and I'm working on that too.

I need to remember that this is a marathon and not a sprint. I have a lot of ideas and I really need to put them to paper and get a strategy in place. This coming Saturday is my Tastefully Simple Grand Opening party! I hope more people will come out than have so far RSVP'd because I want it to be successful, but also because I want to introduce my friends and family to some delicious food and most importantly for people to have a nice time!

My husband said it best, what I want people to take away from this party is that they had a good time and think it could be easy to have a fun time like that with their friends too. I hope that can work. I want to get started with fundraisers and finding venues to sell product at and having an open house for my neighborhood and marketing to other neighborhoods/communities. I feel like I've been so busy lately that all I can do is think about it and not actually plan it out. Hopefully soon!

I'm nervous and excited about being a consultant. I'm confident that I can be successful because businesses like these are what you make them, and i'm going to make it as great as I can.

I'll be sure to post about how the launch goes! Wish me luck :)