CM Advice? (Kind of Long)

[wtpclc]

I'm thinking of becoming a CMC, mainly as a hobbiest. My good friend, the CMC who is trying not to push me, doesn't understand why I'm dragging my feet. So, as opposed to frustrating her any more, I'd like to get some more un-biased opinions from people who have nothing to gain or lose by giving me their thoughts.

I was thinking I could have family and friends purchase from me and maybe do a couple monthly/quarterly workshops.

Here are my good vs. bad things

Good:
1. I love the products.
2. I love to scrap.
3. I love, and trust, my friend who thinks I'd love being a CMC.
4. People that I have introduced scrapping to have asked why I'm not a CMC (they are now CMCs, so would not buy from me).
5. This would force me to take more time doing something I enjoy.
6. I'd get a great discount on products.

Bad:
1. Not much time.
2. Very few friends/famliy to buy from me.
3. Coming up w/$500 retail every 3rd month seems huge.
4. Would have to manage as a business for tax purposes even if if I made very little profit, back to the not much time thing.
5. This one may seem bad, but please bear with me - I work as a professional in a very conservative area. I feel that I have had to work extra hard to get the respect I have in my career and that if the higher-ups at work found I was doing this, even as a hobbiest, I may lose some credibility. Mind you, this is the mindset of these people, not my mindset.
6. I will not push anyone into having a party/workshop. This has happened to me too many times and I can't do it. It will be hard for me even to ask people to do this wihtout feeling that I'm pushing.

But, I'm still leaning towards it. Any advice? For those of you who were CMCs and gave it up, why did it not work for you?

Last question:
If I signed up, bought the kit, and put in $500 worth of orders and then could not get that much in the next 3 months how would I re-activate? Would I just need to have $500 worth of orders lined up? Could I just continue to submit orders whenever I had $500 worth or is there a limitation to the amount of times you can re-activate?

Thanks in advance for any advice yuu may have!

 

[Franne]

I am a CMC, just became one March 28th. I too was hesitant like you but I wanted to get my stuff at a discount. It took me 2 months to actually sign up. I had the same concerns as you too, but let me tell you, it's great!

First, I was worried about having parties and finding people to come to my house for workshops.
I have had 3 parties already, and have 2 more scheduled. All have done over the $300 average that they give you. (Mostly, the hostess spends the most) I am not the pushy type and would never harass people to have a party. One of the parties was a family member, the other 2 were people I worked with who I didn't even knowwere into scrapbooking. We now have more in common. You'd be suprised at how many people are interested in learning.

On the other hand, my workshops haven't gone too well. I guess I need to get a client base first. Mostly they are my friends that attend but that's ok because they buy items.

I have just acheived my 30,60,90 Success Plan and got my free cart yesterday! YAY!!! I will say that about a fourth of the items are in my house as inventory. I was just committed to having that cart!I am planning to step it up over the summer since I teach and I will be off. I'm hoping it will take off.
The only bad thing I see is putting out the money to make the minimums. I only buy items I know I can sell like the cutting system. You do have to remember that $500 worth of product, only costs you $350 and that's not too bad for 3 months. I don't know anything about reactivating more than once so I can't help with that. Maybe your friend can.
I hope I didn't confuse you more and helped you to decide if it's right for you.
Franne

 

[Tink&Belle's Mom]

I have been a CMC for almost 6 years, and I would say that you have a pretty good handle on the pros and cons of signing on. You sound a lot like me, in not really wanting to "push" people into having classes, etc. Initially when I signed, getting classes wasn't hard; I had several family members who were interested in scrapping and wanted to earn free stuff.

Due to some circumstances right now, I have kind of dropped/cut back to essentially a hobbiest at this point. I do have a few faithful customers, and several intermittent customers, so I am still ordering the minimums currently. But, my husband is pressuring me, so to speak, to do more to bring in business or to stop as I am not always coming up with the $$ to pay the bill.

You have to decide whether you think that you can come up with $350 actually each quarter, plus tax and shipping. It generally works out to about $400-425. It doesn't hurt to try, and it might not be a problem for you. I would highly recommend buying things you would use, above and beyond what you KNOW you can sell. If you decide to deactivate, you don't want a bunch of things you really don't need to have to sell.

One last thing--it does cost about $50 to re-activate once you have gone inactive. I know you are not limited to one time on this (I have had a couple friends who have done this more than once), but I do not know whether there is any maximum number of re-activations allowed. If you are inactive for I believe 6 months, you do have to pay the full start up cost again.

I have really enjoyed being a CMC, and if you think you could make it work, you really have nothing to loose.

Good luck--
Kim

 

[wtpclc]

Thanks for your responses. I really appreciate your taking the time to share your stories.

Franne - I can't believe you did the 30, 60 , 90 successfully. That's huge! Way to go!

Kim - I hope things get better for you soon! I can see myself becoming even more addicted to CM than I already am. My friend the CMC is in another state. SHe has a womderful room where she does crops and sotres her stuff. That's where we stay when we visit her. My DH thinks it's an evil plot on her part! LOL. But it's harder to be addicted from the other side of Lake Michigan! Even witht eh 30% discount, I know it will put a dent in my wallet! I figure that if it gets the pictures out of boxes and into books that we will actually look at, though, it will be worth it.

Thanks again you 2!

 

[cobbler]

I actually just signed up a month ago myself. I mainly did it because the first time I went to the cm lady I bought 300 worth of stuff. So basically for me it was to get my stuff at cost and support my habit.

I did make the 30 day success so far. I had enough in sales where I only had to come up with like 200 I think to make the 30 day, but I got the inventory I need to use for the couple of classes I have booked so it shouldn't be a big deal.

I know it is hard to want to get people to do classes and shows. I find what I do the most so far is shows because of that 10/fee thing.

I even told my "upline" that I am not interested in recruiting or anything like that. I just thought it would be neat to make a little money on the side since we live off hubbys income and basically my profit will go towards getting my items.

Good luck.

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

I have been a CMC for two years and consider myself just a "hobbyist". I'd been using CM products for years and decided to join to support my habit with the discounts. I love CM albums although I do use other stickers, embellishments, etc... on some of my personal albums.

I only order the minimum amounts at the quarter period and have stocked myself up on the supplies that I will use and enjoy. Sometimes, I give CM gifts for Christmas, birthdays, etc... from my wonderful supply of items. I also have a few close friends and family members that order from time to time and we get together for scrap parties at my house just to work on albums. It's all very laid back and there is no sales pressure from me.

I don't have regrets about signing up. The quarter minimums cost around $400 after discount with tax and shipping. My DH is very supportive of my hobby and appreciates the memories I'm preserving for our children and family. He even helped turn an extra bedroom into a fabulous craft/scrapping room.

The only negative side that I sometimes encounter is from my upline. Sometimes, she gets all gung-ho about trying to push me into getting my business going. I just have to remind her that I signed up to enjoy my HOBBY. I am not, nor ever will be a sales person. Plus, my DS and DD are still very young. The time I spend with them is precious and will be gone in the blink of an eye. So, while some women do work CM as a home business- I choose not to.

If you like the products and have the money to spend, you really can't go wrong with your decision.

 

[Alice28]

I was a CMC for about 9 months. I will say this: if you have the money to do the minimum every 3 months- GO FOR IT! This is where I got into trouble: I would have about 2-3 people sign up for a class or show. So I would order in the supplies for the show (plus a few extras) And then the show never happened or got post-poned, etc. I had so much inventory, it was sick. I did sell about $3,000 worth of stuff in a short time, and then I got ahead of myself and figured I would keep the ball rolling....it sputtered out and I then I had about $2000 in inventory sitting in my office with no parties being booked. Then I went to the Regional Convention and I just was sort of disgusted with the amount of pushing they did; I'm sure it was just me, but it just rubbed me the WRONG way---it was all about recruiting and making lots of money, which made sense, but it wasn't what I was looking for.

So, long story short, if you don't pressure yourself to do more than you are comfortable doing, and you are able to afford the $500 every 3 months, GO FOR IT!

 

[Franne]

I don't charge the $10 fee. I feel that no one would come to the party then. When I had my party, before signing on, we weren't charged a fee. I have always wondered about that in other parts of the country and if you got people to actually pay. Especially new scrapbookers who aren't sure if they want to start. I don't know, I just feel funny charging for the party. I do charge for workshops, well I will when I actually get people other than my friends to come...lol
If you had success with the fee, I would be interested to hear. Thanks!
Franne

 

[Alice28]

I always did a home show, with no fee, as people were hesitant to do the class for $10 a person.

However, my first introduction was at a $10 class. I was already a scrapper, but was interested in what CM entailed. I think the reason this CMC was successful at her $10 classes was cause she gave away freebie after freebie! Everyone got a 12x12 gift box, two of each color of strips and triangles, the catalog, several handouts & idea sheets, a congratulations sticker/diecut pack, a 12x12 page to work on, a sheet of ABC123 stickers and then she did several drawings and 2 of my 4 guests won something cool and worth at least $5. She really did a great job feeling like you spent your $10 on something worthwhile. She wasn't stingy at all and she told me (she was later my CMC) that she made sure she broke even on that $10, that it wasn't a profit for her. Other CMC's are all about profit.

 

[Fire14]

I'm speaking as a customer on the 10.00 fee:
I personally can't see paying 10.00 a workshop to my neighbor.
I am using my personal CM Addesives, cutting systems, punches, book etc. So other than time I'm not taking any cost away from her.

Now I know of a girl who didn't charge for workshops and if she didn't live so far from me and hadn't fallen off face of earth I'd probably still go to workshops.

I also am aware of a UL/CMC that offers her home and Supplies every SAT afternoon and uses that time to work on her scarpbook also.

I guess I personally would have no problem paying for supplies of CMC that I used or if I got a "free" gift for coming to workshop.

 

[Alice28]

As far as workshops go, I charged $5 and this is what I provided: *Tools for customers to use (including the latest)
*A thank you gift for coming- usually whatever the latest promo with CM was- either a Congratulations sticker pack or for example, the Croptoberfest sticker sheet- something that cost me under $1
*Snacks and drinks
*A door prize usually worth $10-15 retail

At my workshops I usually had 3-5 ladies attending, but I had several planned and then no one came. Just depended on the month I guess. For Croptoberfest I did a $10 cover charge, but everyone walked out the door with a prize retailing at least $4, plus the Croptoberfest stickers, Crop Talks and a fondue dinner.