Should Be Called the "I Think I'm Insane Show!"

[ShelbyMichalek]

Yes, I think I'm insane for hosting this cooking show.We're moving on Tuesday. Not far, just a few streets over. From our 2 bedroom house into a 4 bedroom house. Same subdivision (privatized housing for the military).I'm hosting a cooking show AT MY NEW HOUSE exactly 7 days after we start moving. I had planned to do the show before I knew they would have a house for us to move before Christmas. Then since I hadn't yet sent invitations, I said, "what the heck, I can do it there!" No problem! It'll be a huge blast!Yea, I think I need a huge blast right now. Like the "WAKE UP SHELBY YOU'RE INSANE!" kind of blast.Yep, so now: I have 5 days to move and unpack a whole house.
Did I mention I also start school this Monday? Yep. 6 hours a day, Monday through Thursday.
Also, did I mention that on Friday evening I'm committed to a huge "tea party" social gathering one of our mil spouses groups does. Yep, I'm attending, co-hosting a table for 6 ladies, donating $60 in gift certificates and a predecorated trifle bowl (new of course) centerpiece to the drawing/giveaway.ALSO I'm doing a table at a vendor event on Saturday. (Going to pass out invitations to the cooking party there as well!) ALSO doing a Jewelry party AT the new house next Monday (day before cooking party) for a few close friends and a "favor" to the jewelry lady.AND THEN doing my cooking show next Tuesday. Yep. Certainly I'm insane. I've written out over 50 invitations and will write out another 30 to hand out at the vendor show. Talk about incentive to organize my new house quickly! Oh what have I gotten myself into!?On a plus side I'm looking at the fullest December I've had since I started which looks like it will turn into the fullest January & February I've had ever and you know what that means? No? WELL! It means I'm using the end of this year to make NEXT year BOMB! Yep. Let's just hope I don't burn out before the 19th. (At which point I AM NOT taking a two week break because silly me decided to host Christmas for our friends)

 

[CRuff]

They say busy people are the best sales people! You go girl! Keep us updated in your SPARE time.

 

[Sheila]

AND you have 2 little ones at home! LOLYou can do it girl. I have confidence in you!

 

[wcsis]

WOW! I hope that I can become that busy!!!!!!!! WhooHoo to you for a great start to 2012! Insanity at it's best for sure.

 

[ChefZee]

I'm exhausted reading your schedule! You must be Super Woman! lol Looks like a good excuse to have a lot of the Christmas Starbucks drinks

 

[pampchefrhondab]

Wow, crazy!!! I thought I was busy. How exactly do you have time to post on here (lol). I guess the first thing to unpack is your Pampered Chef items. At least your moving into a bigger house. You will have more room to just put boxes in one of the bedrooms! Do you celebrate Christmas too? Good luck!

 

[Becca_in_MD]

You will get it done! You do not have to unpack the whole house. Sounds like you'll have an extra bedroom and space. Just put everything in those rooms and close the doors. You're probably a pro at moving at this point.

I'm having a busier Dec. than the past couple of years. January is looking GREAT!!!! We're gonna kick it in the New Year!!!

 

[ShelbyMichalek]

Yep, with 2 little ones. I find time to post because I'm a ninja The extra room will be my office, so as terrible as it sounds it will NOT be the one with boxes all over. It will be the one organized 2nd (after my kitchen). The master bedroom can wait.And yes, we're hosting Christmas this year.

 

[aPamperedBride]

So how did it all go?

 

[ShelbyMichalek]

So how did it all go?

It went.... well! :thumbup: Lots of craziness but I'm not done yet for the year!!

We're all moved into our new place and I have my own OFFICE! It's been SO productive to my business! I don't have to worry about kids screaming in the background when I'm making calls, which has DEFINITELY helped me get my butt on the phone!!

My cooking show at the new place had a good turnout, but I had already booked shows for 3 of the ladies. No orders at the cooking show.

School is going well. I love it

The vendor event the Saturday before my cooking show went okay. 1 recruit lead. Booked 1 new show. Got a few new contacts that have been called and I got a few "call me back end of January and I'll schedule" Which is good because in the meantime I booked my January FULL! I called all the leads from an event I did in October and I booked NINE parties in just a couple days. Won $50PC in the booking blitz! :chef:

Jewelry party...eh... went okay. Got a half price item. NEW WATCH!! Yea...I'm not a big jewelry girl. I also bought a necklace that I think is classy and girly but not distracting that I can wear to my cooking shows.

I'm also the queen of hosting Pampered Chef parties. I was talking to Sheila about this. You know how we ALL want hosts to get outside orders before and after their party!? Well when I did my first cooking show ever, it ended with $100 in sales at the show and ended up being a $700 show. Because I ROCK! And this one I got no orders at the cooking show but closed it at a $450 show!!

The vendor event I should've done on the 17th got cancelled because 3 of the women (it was only a 6 vendor "super party") had last minute emergencies. (One newborn in NICU and one other baby in ICU, don't remember the 3rd lady's issue.)

I'm going to get the free for all prize for 2 shows. But I haven't reached my goal for the PC Dollars (which I badly need! I can't afford to pay out of pocket for catalogs or Spring Launch so I'm going to NEED to get to $1500 in sales this month)

I have one more catalog show for December. It's looking to be a $300 show at least (which is not great because I need $1000 more in sales for my goal, but at least it's something)

I have NINE cooking shows for January. Two catalog shows for January. 1 cooking show for February and 2 cooking shows for March. I'm thinking this next year is going to ROCK! Especially since FIVE of those cooking shows are during the 6-10 for TRIPLE POINTS!!!!

I also have a fairly motivated recruit that will hopefully qualify in time for me to get another bonus PC$. And she's going to submit a catalog show for her mom on the 1st so she MOST LIKELY will qualify for the 2012 incentive trip points. YAY for me AND her!

Yea, so overall my very insane December is turning into a very insane January and I'm LOVING every minute of it!! :chef:


(Oh... and we're STILL hosting Christmas. So this weekend is going to be BUSY busy too!!)

 

[Sheila]

You rocked the booking blitz! That's for sure!!!

 

[ShelbyMichalek]

You rocked the booking blitz! That's for sure!!!

I like to think so! I "blame" it on this new office thing. I guess I'm not as "afraid" of the phone as I thought. I just hated calling people knowing a child would start screaming as soon as I did!
Also, I have two role models to help me reach my goals this year. CK is my sales motivator and you're my recruiting motivator. I'm so excited for this next year, I don't care if the incentive trip is to the moon, I'm GOING!

 

[Sheila]

LOL The moon would be fun!

 

[ShelbyMichalek]

LOL The moon would be fun!

HAHA I know, right!!!

 

[heather223]

Shelby, what did you say to get the January bookings? I want to do what you are doing in the new year!!

 

[heather223]

I so wish I had my own office! I have an "office" in the open part of our basement, but it isn't closed off! The one room I could use as my office is our sun porch and it isn't heated. My husband offered to frame it in and insulate it for me, but we just don't have the money for this right now. Incentive for me to book more shows!

 

[ShelbyMichalek]

Shelby, what did you say to get the January bookings? I want to do what you are doing in the new year!!

Well, I just picked up the phone and called everyone and said (and this varied from call to call, especially if it was someone I knew personally versus someone I met at a booth event)

"Hey Tiffany! It's Shelby calling! (chat for a minute, I personally know Tiff) Well I was calling you for a couple reasons actually. I first want to wish you a Merry Christmas! Are you all ready for the holidays? Also, I've been challenged to schedule 10 cooking parties for January and I'm wondering if you wanted to host next month? (Her answer was no) Oh that's fine! I can call you in a couple months so see if you're interested then, right? (She said, yes!) Last thing, I'm putting in a cooking show order, the last one before Christmas, is there anything you wanted? (She placed a $140 order!!!!)

Conversation was simliar with other friends I have. 7 booked shows between Jan thru March, mostly January. I also got another $100 in orders and a catalog show scheduled for December that she's going to close on the 26thWhen it's someone I don't know well it went more like

"Hi! Is this Jessica? Hi Jessica! This is Shelby Michalek, with The Pampered Chef. We met at the vendor event in October. (she says something to confirm that she remembers) Well I'm calling you because I'm just making sure I get in touch with everyone before the holidays. I'm scheduling my cooking shows for January and I just wanted to see if you wanted to have your own party? (She says, Yea, that would be fun.) Okay Jessica, well my calendar is filling up quickly, can we set your date right away? I have the 24th and 11th available. Doe either of those work for you? (She says she'd love to take the 24th) I say Okay Jessica! I've got you down here, let me just confirm your email, it's [email protected] right? (she confirms) Okay watch for an email from me with details about your show! It's going to be great, I'm excited! I'll talk to you soon! You have a Merry Christmas!!"

I booked 3 shows this way. I also got several, "Please call me back in mid January and we can set a date for February." I also posted this to my facebook page on Monday before the booking blitz.

I've accepted a challenge put forth by The Pampered Chef company to schedule TEN (YES!) more cooking parties for January. And I have to do it by Tuesday.
So I'll be making some calls this week but I thought I'd give you the chance to save me some time.
If you message me before I got to bed Monday night to schedule your party, I'll be rewarding you with an extra FREE GIFT at your show!! This is only for those that message, text, call or email me before Tuesday! (So, tonight!! I'm going to bed around midnight! call, text, email, or facebook message before then!!)
January hostess can get $100 MORE free products! Also, if you host your show on one of my two magic dates you'll get to choose the food chopper or the simple slicer FOR FREE!!! Awesome right!?

The "magic dates" were the before the 10th dates. I have FIVE shows between the 6th and 10th for triple incentive days. It CAN be done! Especially with those free gifts! Also, the "extra free gift at your show" I offered, I put it on the hostess order of a cooking show I did and ordered sets of the bamboo dishcloths. I might split up the sets to have twice as many hostess gifts, but they were free for me as the host of my own show.
You don't have to offer anything extra! The host program is great! I have 9 shows on the books for January and I'm only giving the dishcloths to the three people who responded to that post and called/emailed me.
Remember also, it's okay to "blame" the company or your director for "challenging" you. Did you see how I said "The Pampered Chef company challenged me"? It's non threatening to me because it was a challenge, not an order. I don't make it all about me though, because it's about the host - not about my goal. Okay, I think I covered everything I meant to say. Let me know if there's something I can be more clear about.

 

[heather223]

Thank you! I am doing my own personal booking blitz next week. I NEED 10 shows on my calendar for January and currently I have 2.

 

[scottcooks]

Shelby, you ROCK! That is stunning - great job!

 

[ShelbyMichalek]

Shelby, you ROCK! That is stunning - great job!

Thank you Scott! I've never felt more accomplished with my business before this month. It's been great. My two shows are in for this months free-for-all, I'm not close to the $1500 but I'm working my butt off for it. As far as January, now all I have is host coaching! No worrying for my schedule! And I've been listening to the training MP3s from Conferences past. It's been wonderful! Instead of music while I work, it's conference sessions!

 

[esavvymom]

Hey Shelby! I think that is awesome, and I am going to be using your very REAL wording to help get some stuff on my calendar! I'll try calling next week (between the holidays). Good luck and congrats!

 

[ShelbyMichalek]

Hey Shelby! I think that is awesome, and I am going to be using your very REAL wording to help get some stuff on my calendar! I'll try calling next week (between the holidays). Good luck and congrats!

Thanks! I was really uncomfortable using the scripts given to us - especially since there's some people we don't know well and some people who are friends. We can't ever use the same script for every single person!

I hope it works out for you! Remember to only give two choices at a time when scheduling your show.
"I do shows Tuesdays and Saturdays, which one works better for you?"
"Okay, Tuesday it is then! I have the 10th and the 3rd, which is better?"
"Okay, that day I only have an evening 6pm time available, is that okay?"

I truly think the "two at a time" give YOU more control over your calendar. And NEVER book a show on a date you don't have highlighted. If they want that show, they'll have that show, and they WILL work with your calendar.

 

[Sheila]

I agree with highlighting the dates & times in advance. That's what I do too. And when someone tries to talk me into a different weekend, I'm quick to let them know that the best part of owning my own business is that I get to pick & choose when I'm going to work & when I'm going to spend time with my family ... and that THAT weekend is one of the family weekends where I don't work & enjoy doing things with my hubby & children. I've never had anyone not understand that theory. They always just pick a highlighted time slot.