Cricut Madness!

My post this week is a bit different, not the format of past posts.  I want to share with you what I've been up to the past 2 weeks and how you can increase your sales with the new Cricut Art Philsophy Collection.

Amy selling another Cricut AP!

I am in LOVE with our new Cricut Art Philosphy Collection!  I have spent many hours of quality time the past 2 weeks with my favorite bug in preparation for the Creating Keepsakes Convention November 10th -12th here in Washington.  It was held at Meydenbaur Center in downtown Bellevue - the Eastside as it's known here in the Seattle area.  It's near the home of Microsoft and Expedia - their offices  tower over the Convention center.  I was invited by 4th downline, Amy Raftery to share the booth with her this year.  We had a great team of consultants and friends helping us with the weekend.  It truly takes a team to work such a large event.  We were like a well oiled machine, each covering an assigned task and everyone sharing CTMH with the attendees.

Our team - Lisa, Shannon, Amy, me and Rachel

The team consisted of:

Shannon teaching the make and take

Amy's friend Shannon (who really should join the CTMH family  hint...hint) she really has a great positive energy and amazing product knowledge as well as a passion for scrapbooking.

Amy Ulen - our resident Studio J guru!  We are so lucky to have her on the team.

Lisa Sargent - an enthusiastic people person who makes connections with everyone!  She is sweet and a real team player.

Amy Raftery - the brains behind the booth.  She has lots of experience doing large CK events with her upline Dr. Phil Wilhelm and Superstars Briana Bostick nad Noreen Petty.

Rachel at the cash register ready
to sell another bottle of Liquid Glass

My daughter Rachel Gonsalves - the newest member of my team.  She is an amazing upseller and can sell the heck out of Liquid Glass and anything blingy - her favorites.  She ran the cash register the whole time, then went to ballet rehearsal and her part-time job at the Container Store!  Oh to be young with that kind of energy!

Melinda Abrahamson - one of Amy's downline from Edmonds - who like Amy and Shannon, has a great positive energy.  She did an awesome job of talking with everyone!

I titled this post "Cricut Maddness" because we sold......61 Cricut Art Philosophy Collections in 2 days!  I think we could have sold 80 if we had had them in stock.  We had 38 to start and had people place orders after they sold out.  I am pleased that customers trusted us to hand over the money before they got their product!  We felt bad that they were leaving empty handed so we gave them an Idea Book and a Pair-a-Phrase Stamp set free for waiting.  We also did a "show special" with free tax and shipping.  By offering that, it gave the sense of urgency.  Here in our area, it means saving about $18.00.  I know it made a difference.  We had many who came back and purchased the second day, after thinking about it because of the special.  Total sales for the 2 days was almost $10,000.00!  As you can see, the AP was a huge part of our success.  If you haven't shared it with your customers yet, you're missing out!

I spent 9 hours the first day demonstrating the Cricut.  The key is to have LOTS of attractive samples to attract attention as people walk by.  I focused on the boxes and 3-D flowers which I had put on to pens.  Our orginal plan was to demo the first hour or so until the early-bird shopping was finished, but I never got a break to make the switch.  It's also important to have the stamp sets, book and the black and white 7 page handout that is on the public side of the CTMH website.  It makes it easy to show just how amazing our cartridge is.  It is the only one out there with coordinating stamp images!  Our booth was hopping with enthusiasum for the AP Collection.

 

A quick and easy board to make - I think I'm going to make another one that features the coordinating stamp sets

Pillow Boxes - the snowflake is covered with Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel - the flower is made with Roxie paper

 

I made up 8 each of these boxes, filled them with candy and randomly gave them away.  The left box was designed by Chris Green  The boxes are cut at 11 1/2 inches.

These are the quickest and easiest of the boxes to demo.  The are also cut at 11 1/2 inches.  The Happy Holiday's label is outlined with Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel.  Notice the colored Bling Brads. 

Stocking giftcard holder is cut at 6 1/2 inches.

Here is how I made the flower pens:
1 - make the flower of your choice - I cut it at 4 1/2 inches
2 - cut 2 leaves 1 3/4 inches
3 - fold each leaf in half and run through a paper crimper at an angle
4 - sponge the edges and ridges of the leaves with a darker ink to add depth
5 - use Liquid Glass to attach a piece of floral wire to the back of each leaf - this allows you to shape   the leaf and attach it to the pen
6 - bend the leaf at a 90 degree angle and attach it to the pen with floral tape as shown
7. glue the flower to the leaves and top of the pen with Liquid Glass



Some cool tricks I know that I want to pass on:  While I was demoing the other consultants in the booth were amazed that I was showing the customers how to color our bling and pearls.  It was something I thought everyone knew.  So I want to share it in case it's new to you too :o)

You can customize our bling brads, sparkles, buttons and pearls simply by coloring the TOP with a Sharpie Marker!   What I said to the customers is it's an excuse to buy that 24 pack of Sharpies you've had your eye on at Costco and Office Depot!    Here is an example - I had let the customers color them in, so they are a bit crazy here!  It turns out a shade lighter than on paper

The second trick is to take your 1/4 of the round sponge and staple on a short strip of cardstock in the color of ink you will use it with.  Makes a great handle and easy to know what color it's for!

I hope you've enjoyed my post this week and it has inspired you to share the newest innovation by CTMH with EVERYONE!  If you have any questions you can leave me a comment or contact me at njsmith@wolfenet.com.