Getting Back in the Swing

I was told summer is tough for direct sales marketing.  I don't know because I, along with those I would be selling to, took off for the summer.  Honestly I got slammed with my web design business and then add to that my full-time job, which I recently (as of Tuesday) changed to a new position within the county where I work.  My focus was kinda shot.  Funny enough I still managed to sell a few things and book an online party and an in person party that I need to seal the date, and acquired a member of my team.  All of this without even trying.  So it just goes to show you that Origami Owl really does sell itself. At least in my experience.  I'm really excited about the new catalog and once I get settled in the new job, and get this other web design done that I have recently acquired I will be looking to rock the new takeout menu!

Sum-Sum-Summertime

Hello blog!  It's been a while since I've posted.  You know how it is, free time is spent doing fun outdoorsy type things and you skip over the inside sitting behind the computer things.

While I did not attend the Origami Owl convention this summer, I did get a glimpse into what is coming for the fall.  It's so exciting.  I really believe this is going to jump my business into high gear.  Aside from the lovely lockets, dangles and tags that we already carry we are now going to add charm bracelets to our repertoire.  But not your average ordinary charm bracelet.  We're talking about a glass locket charm bracelet!  That's right, our regular size origami owl locket will attach, much like a watch to an silver rollo chain that allows for attachment of all sorts of dangles!

Aside from that HUGE deal item (because yes folks have been begging for bracelets for a long time now), there are also new "window" plates.  These are beautiful items that can be added to your locket that do not fully block the "see through" effect of the lockets.  I'm particularly fond of "love"!

Of course there will be new charms and dangles added to the mix as well.  So fall, and the Christmas shopping season, is going to be incredible!

I'm loving this business.  I love the jewelry.  And despite the little hiccups in shipping around mother's day over the spring, we've bounced back better than ever.  Every single customer who has purchased from me has been completely happy with their items.  The only return I've had was the classic ball chains because they didn't work for what the person ordered them for.  I only had one issue with a customer that wasn't happy about service.  She was treated poorly by the newly-untrained customer service, however designer care got involved and took care of that with a quickness! She's totally happy with her purchases (yes plural, as in repeat customer).  Since that time our customer care team has had a lot more training on the vision of Origami Owl and and O2 has amped up their shipping team and hours which means orders are arriving as scheduled.  I'm also noticing a lot less items on back order from the get go which is fantastic.

Yes, loving Origami Owl!

Loving the New Lockets

I received my chocolate locket, black locket with crystals and my mini gold lockets and I'm in love.  I am even more so in love with the variety that I have to offer my customers. I am getting back into having parties again after taking a slight break, waiting for the waters to settle from the huge demand Mother's Day had put on the company and I cannot wait to see the response to the new items.  Based on the questions and comments I receive from total strangers regarding my black locket, I think they'll be a huge success!  I love Origami Owl!

Origami Owl Backlash

I posted some time ago and mentioned my fear at the backlash that would result due to Origami Owl's current problems with delivering orders on time.  Aside from the dock worker's strike, which created it's own mess of problems, there was a tremendous influx of orders for the Mother's Day holiday.  I'd go so far as to guess, and with good reason, this is "the season" for Origami Owl.  Who wouldn't want to give their mom a cherished piece of jewelry so uniquely fitting?  This created an ordering demand of almost double what was placed in the entire year of 2012 - in one month alone.  That is staggering.  I can't imagine any company that would be able to predict or compensate for such a large increase in orders and need for production.  I did not expect Origami Owl to come through this unscathed.  Especially when you throw in the constant and unrelenting barrage of emails and phone calls they received from designers and customers asking where their orders are.  It is safe to say Origami Owl was dealt a near crippling albeit temporary blow.  As a designer who still has some items that haven't been delivered, I've tried very hard to wrap my head around the numbers aspect of it and could only come up with the following analogy.  What would you do if you were suddenly handed a years worth of work times two?  And what if you were expected to complete this work in the span of one month, would you be able to do it? Even if you had been permitted to bring in help, you'd still need to train and instruct your new staff, and that takes time.  Plus figure you'll need to have an entire team devoted to answering calls and emails because your servers are being pushed to their limit and your phone lines have blown up.  I wonder though, how would you feel about your job security at this point?

I've heard a lot of people speculate that Origami Owl won't be able to make it.  Some designers have even gone so far as to quit, selling off their stuff and moving on.  I on the other hand feel nothing but excitement over the growth of this new little company that I've been fortunate to stumble upon.  I have SEEN the "I've gotta have it" response when my customers first see an Origami Owl locket. (I had the same reaction!) So I'm not worried that designers are quitting--I'm happy to take their customers--though a long list of Designers in Waiting are chomping at the bit to take their place as soon as the hiring freeze has been lifted.  So I don't think my optimism is unfounded.

It has been almost a month now and shipping seems to be getting back on schedule. More and more items are dropping off of the back order list.  So from an honest, first hand experience from a real Independent Designer with Origami Owl, I can tell you, while there have certainly been some aggravations, it hasn't been the end of the world.  I've been able to keep my customers informed and they have been understanding - for those designers who have had difficult customers, I've said all along, do what you can to make them happy, including giving a refund.  Because ultimately, this is YOUR business and YOUR responsibility.

For those customers who have been afraid to order for fear their jewelry will be sitting in limbo forever, I can tell you that I've had at least 25 orders in the past month, all of those orders have arrived in a timely fashion, there were only four creations where items were on back order. I was able to purchase a large number of these items from my fellow designers and I have completed all but three of my orders (and these only because the customers are holding out for certain charms that they absolutely cannot live without).  Most of the Origami Owl Designers I've had the good fortune of knowing, will bend over backwards to make sure you're going to get what you want within the time frame you need it.  So don't be afraid.  There are no conspiracies.  Just a lot of hard working people trying to keep up with the tremendous demand of some amazing jewelry!

Dock Strikes, Back Orders and Mother's Day Shipping OH MY!

Thank goodness I became an Origami Owl designer before all of this blew up, or I'd probably be very concerned.  For those of you just signing on, all I can say is... Do NOT be afraid.  It WILL get better.

Origami Owl has been making huge strides.  Sales have increased an unprecedented 450% for the last half of April, and we're ranking in the top three (behind Mary Kay and Pampered Chef) in the home party industry.  Couple this with dock strikes, mother's day, a new lower shipping rate and brand new products that had designers all waiting until that magic time to order (and let's not forget a new shopping cart system that, while probably aggressively tested, was not quite ready to be introduced into the wild that is a 450% sales increase) and you've got a recipe for crashed phone systems due to tremendous call volumes and servers close to exploding over the email volume.

The result?  Some back ordered items that shouldn't have back ordered, some seriously long wait times and emails that took forever to be answered.

The good news is, the dock strikes are over and the Nest has done everything from increasing man power to increasing work days and shipping things overnight at their expense to try to make everything right.  It's far from perfect at the moment, but it's getting better.

So why should you be excited if you're a new designer?  Why wouldn't you be? Aside from some snafus, are you getting the bigger picture here?  Do I need to repeat it a third time? Say it with me... 450% sales increase in fifteen days... 

I am VERY excited to be a part of this!  I cannot wait to see what May and June bring for me.  

Putting Out Origami Owl Fires (byline: Growing Pains)

I fear there is going to be a lot of backlash from frustrated designers and negative people.  Origami Owl is a new company and going through some growing pains.  I agree they may not have thought out the process of launching a new party tab, doing it at the same time they changed shipping rates, launched new products and did this all right before Mother's Day (a huge jewelry business holiday).  But it is what it is, and we're having to navigate the mine field as best we can as designers while keeping a professional and positive attitude.

I'm constantly amazed at people who don't know how to "Push away from the keyboard" and think before posting negative comments.  Listen, I found myself vascilating from tears to shouting at my monitor when trying to close out my launch party the other day.  The new cart was not functioning quickly enough, everyone was on line at one time trying to place their orders with the new line, new catalogs, new reduced shipping and new hostess rewards all being released at once.  I had to put in my party from scratch at least twice and still was having issues applying the new shipping.  All of my items are still sitting in a posted (aka not yet shipped) status and I'm hoping everything will get here and be ironed out for my party next weekend.

Guess what? I can't control this.  I did my part. I had my party, sold my jewelry and put in my order.  Murphy's law intervened and we have a shopping cart feature that probably should have been beta tested a lot more before releasing it into the wild, and a dock strike causing back ordered and delayed products.  The Nest has temporarily shut down the ordering process and will be reverting to the old cart along with the old hostess reward system until it can be fixed.  To be quite frank, it totally sucks!  But again, there is NOTHING I can do, and being negative and leaving snitty remarks on message boards is going to do more to damage your credibility than the actual issues at hand.

When I couldn't get my shipping to work out, I posted some questions to my up line and the forum. Everyone was experiencing problems.  Huge wait times at the Nest were being reported and I wasn't sure what to do. Guess what I did.  I told myself, the world will not end if I don't get this order placed today.  I took a deep breath. I went and watched some T.V., I came back later and placed my order.  I don't know when I'll get the order. I don't know if I'll even get all of my order (based on some orders having been delivered without newly back ordered items or half orders missing), but again... Nothing... I.... can.... do....

Remember one thing... Nothing is forever.  This too shall pass.

If I need to explain to my customers that there were IT problems at O2, I will. I don't think there is a SINGLE one of my customers who has not experienced some sort of IT nightmare in their lifetime.

Origami Owl is a professional company and are certainly working hard to get this all sussed out.  They're new and they're learning (I know that sounds like a cop out but it's true).  They're going to fix this, we'll move on and look back and the hell that was the month of April and say, "Wow we made it through that."  The question is, will you be proud of how you handled yourself?

Launching Into Success

The launch party was a huge success.  Cool enough, as an independent designer for Origami Owl I have the option to host my own parties. Which means that I get to be the recipient of the hostess rewards i.e., I get free stuff. I will get my commission check next Friday (Yay! to supplementing my income) AND I will have the following items in my stock and some for my personal collection (This includes the hostess exclusive I received for only $40).

Black Locket with Crystals
Black Ball Station Chain
Chocolate Locket with Crystals
Chocolate Ball Station Chain
Mini Gold Locket with Crystals
Medium Flat Black Locket
Large Silver Locket
Flat Oval Chain
Small Black Quadrefoil Dangle
Small Smoke Quadrefoil Dangle
Small Silver Love Plate
Teal Lock Charm
Teal Key Charm
Teal Crystal Puffy Heart Charm
Black Accent Stone
April Birth Stone
Bright Eyed Owl Charm
Chain Extender

I think that's it... :)  but a LOT of goodies to say the least.  Since I can't impose on my friends once a month to keep supplementing my own habits, I do need to book some parties, so I was more than happy when I got a solid yes for a party which will be held next weekend. I also have a Take-Out Party (catalog party) in the works and two possible other parties for the month of May/June. Oh and I booked a vendor event.  I'm hoping this summer will be a success. I do plan on having more of my own parties, but I will space them out.  I think my next one will be a Christmas in July, than maybe one in November.

But the bottom line, the question I get asked, can you make money doing Origami Owl, and the answer is Yes.  Do you have fun? Yes.  Do you get free stuff? Yes.  The other question I get asked, "Are the hostess rewards good?" Uhhhh YES!

Now for those of you already in the Origami Owl biz, or just starting out, the valuable lessons I've learned.

1. While creating a cool video to play at your party to help explain the jewelry and pump up excitement, if you've already handed out the catalogs, by the time you get to your presentation they are already ordering. Not necessarily a bad thing, but look at it this way. You want a captive audience to increase sales and also talk about the opportunity or booking a party. If they don't see your presentation, you won't have a chance to sell these things.

2. Give yourself PLENTY of time to prepare. I was still putting stuff on toothpicks when my first guest arrived.  Thankfully it was my pastor's wife and she helped me out, but it caused me to have more stress than I needed.

3. Encourage all the guests to give you their email address. This will allow you to add them to your newsletter list. (Again something that can be brought up in your presentation).

So, my next party I will hold tight to the catalogs.  I will encourage my hostess to have everyone get snacks, eat and maybe look quickly at the jewelry but when I'm ready to begin, call everyone to the presentation, thank the hostess, speak about the product, the opportunity and hostessing, then at that point press play. After they have seen the presentation, play a game to loosen things up, THEN hand out the catalogs. At this point you can ask if anyone has questions and discuss highlighted items and release them on to the jewels!