That is basically what you are getting when you become an Independent Phoenix Trader. And let's face it, most households buy greetings cards and gift wrap etc at some point.
Products you can buy at trade from Phoenix include:
Cards (for all occassions)
Gift wrap
Gift bags
Organiser boxes
Reward Charts
Babysitting Charts
Notepads
Invitations
...and more!!
If you would like a free information pack (which includes a full colour brochure of the products available) please email me at bev.morley@live.co.uk with your full postal address and I will have one sent out to you.
Sunday, 26 June 2011
My stall at my son's school's summer fair...
My saleable stock hadn't arrived in time for the fair, which I thought would make my stall look bare, but thanks to the help I received from my sponsor and another Phoenix Trader my stall looked full and very colourful!
The help came in the form of the loan of the card racks on which I displayed my sample cards - all of which I received in my £30 business kit! That's right - every card you can see on the display here was in the kit! I had enough samples to fill 3 card racks, which gave everyone who visited the stall plenty to look at! In addition to orders, I handed out several catalogues, had 2 provisional bookings for coffee mornings, and 4 people filled in the cards for an information pack on becoming a Phoenix Trader!
What did I learn from my experience? Well, the main thing was that I want to buy card racks etc of my own, as having a wide display means it is far easier for people to see what you have available. My plan is to have 3 racks (as shown in the photo) with the sample cards on show at the front, and the sealed stock to the back of them. I will also make a pile of catalogues readily available so people can help themselves.
I feel motivated to put together baskets more quickly now, for distribution to businesses for their staff rooms etc, as I know that will be a great source of sales and coffee morning bookings etc.
The verdict; Being a Phoenix Trader is going to be a massive amont of fun, and give me the additional money I wanted to cover those treats we have to really think about and budget for at the moment! It really it the ultimate part time job for me as a writer, student and mum, and I am looking forward to telling you all about it on here over the coming weeks and months!
Are you a Phoenix Trader? If so, how did you get started? How have you made the business work for you?
Please leave your comments below!
Thursday, 23 June 2011
Joined Phoenix Trading on Monday...
Found my first recruit today!!!
That's right, I have been a "Phoenix Trader" for three and a half days, (only received my business kit yesterday!) and someone has already signed up on my "team"! They had seen one of the posters I'd printed out (from the Downloads section on the Trader Website,) and put in a shop window and asked for more info. The really remarkable thing is that I only put the poster in the shop today! Once I'd shown them the sample cards and the contents of the sponsor pack (mainly the catalogue, supplement and Trader Reward Programme info) it was "Fabulous - what do I do now?"
I can see this Phoenix thing is going to be fun...
That's right, I have been a "Phoenix Trader" for three and a half days, (only received my business kit yesterday!) and someone has already signed up on my "team"! They had seen one of the posters I'd printed out (from the Downloads section on the Trader Website,) and put in a shop window and asked for more info. The really remarkable thing is that I only put the poster in the shop today! Once I'd shown them the sample cards and the contents of the sponsor pack (mainly the catalogue, supplement and Trader Reward Programme info) it was "Fabulous - what do I do now?"
I can see this Phoenix thing is going to be fun...
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Phoenix - Up to and including day one...
OK. So I'm sat waiting for my Phoenix Trader goodies to arrive, and have been since I ordered it on Monday! Not being one for sitting around doing nothing, I have filled some of my spare time thus;
I'm guessing that the rest of my free time today will be spent reading through everything I receive from Phoenix (Business Manual etc). However, in the event that I get any enquiries/orders from my initial activities I shall post an update on here!
Now, Where's that van?!
- I have booked a stall at my son's school fair this Saturday
- I have printed out and delivered approx. 500 flyers advertising the fact that I will have a card stall at the fair on Saturday (the school is in the centre of a really nice area so I delivered them there)
- I have printed out several hundred flyers with details of the Phoenix Trader opportunity - I will deliver these in areas which are too far away from where I live for me to do brochure drops.
I'm guessing that the rest of my free time today will be spent reading through everything I receive from Phoenix (Business Manual etc). However, in the event that I get any enquiries/orders from my initial activities I shall post an update on here!
Now, Where's that van?!
The Rise of the Phoenix...
Writing, as most writers know, can be a little hit and miss where income is concerned: at least it can be when you are first starting out!
It is because of that, coupled with my stubborn attitude towards getting a "real" job, that I made the decision to find an additional source of income - not necessarily related to writing. So I looked at what I considered to be viable options. My youngest son is still at school, so I really wanted something I could fit in around school hours and holidays etc. I also feel, as a Mum, that I should be available to my family if there is ever an emergency, and didn't want to be in a situation whereby I would potentially have to send my son to school if he wasn't feeling too good, just because my employer couldn't get cover for me. Jobs which award 13 weeks holidays a year seemed to be hard to find (unless you are a teacher) so again, things were pointing more towards a self employed role.
I think you see where I'm going with all of this... I wanted income, but not a job!
In my defense, I did apply for quite a few "jobs", but the employment market is, it would appear, very competitive theses days, with literally hundreds of people all desperate to sell their lives off for £6 an hour...
The conclusion was that I needed to look at the Direct Selling market. By that I mean the likes of Avon, Betterware, Kleeneze etc. I trawled through the Internet looking for information on a whole range of catalogue and party plan options, and the company which seemed the most appealing to me was one called Phoenix Trading. They specialise in the manufacture and sale of greetings cards, gift wrap, invitations and stationery amongst other things. I liked it, and could instantly see how I could make it work for me as far as time commitment was concerned.
I contacted the company, who put me in touch with someone who lives locally to me. I spent about half an hour with her on Saturday, going through how she operates her business. It gave me the opportunity to see the brochures and a lot of the product samples, and I was really impressed! The quality is superb!
So... On Monday (20th June 2011) I registered as an agent. It cost me £30, for which I get a business kit (should arrive today!), which contains absolutely everything in it I need to get started. I could have left it there - there are 25 brochures in the starter pack so I could have just given those out to start the ball rolling, but no. I decided that I am really going to go for it!!
I have booked a stall at my son's school's summer fair this Saturday. In addition to the £30 business kit, there are "Starter Kits" you can buy so that you have things to sell straight away if you are looking at working your business in ways other than just through brochure orders. The biggest kit they do contains over £300 worth of stock and costs £150... that should be here this week too! I didn't have to buy it, but I really do want to make a go of things, so I intend to do Fairs, Coffee Mornings and Parties as well as put brochures out.
So here I am, sitting waiting for the van to turn up with my goodies!
I decided to keep a record of my progress from day one, and thought that using my blog would be a good way to do it! So, everything I do with my Phoenix Trading venture will be recorded here... I've even created a Label so that anyone who just wants to follow my business's progress can click on the Phoenix category and read away!
It would be great to hear from other Phoenix Traders, so if you have a Phoenix Trader story to share please either add a comment below, or, if you would like to do a Phoenix Trader post, get in touch with me (email bev.morley@live.co.uk) and you can be a guest blogger!!
Hope y'all have a great day!
Bev xx
It is because of that, coupled with my stubborn attitude towards getting a "real" job, that I made the decision to find an additional source of income - not necessarily related to writing. So I looked at what I considered to be viable options. My youngest son is still at school, so I really wanted something I could fit in around school hours and holidays etc. I also feel, as a Mum, that I should be available to my family if there is ever an emergency, and didn't want to be in a situation whereby I would potentially have to send my son to school if he wasn't feeling too good, just because my employer couldn't get cover for me. Jobs which award 13 weeks holidays a year seemed to be hard to find (unless you are a teacher) so again, things were pointing more towards a self employed role.
I think you see where I'm going with all of this... I wanted income, but not a job!
In my defense, I did apply for quite a few "jobs", but the employment market is, it would appear, very competitive theses days, with literally hundreds of people all desperate to sell their lives off for £6 an hour...
The conclusion was that I needed to look at the Direct Selling market. By that I mean the likes of Avon, Betterware, Kleeneze etc. I trawled through the Internet looking for information on a whole range of catalogue and party plan options, and the company which seemed the most appealing to me was one called Phoenix Trading. They specialise in the manufacture and sale of greetings cards, gift wrap, invitations and stationery amongst other things. I liked it, and could instantly see how I could make it work for me as far as time commitment was concerned.
I contacted the company, who put me in touch with someone who lives locally to me. I spent about half an hour with her on Saturday, going through how she operates her business. It gave me the opportunity to see the brochures and a lot of the product samples, and I was really impressed! The quality is superb!
So... On Monday (20th June 2011) I registered as an agent. It cost me £30, for which I get a business kit (should arrive today!), which contains absolutely everything in it I need to get started. I could have left it there - there are 25 brochures in the starter pack so I could have just given those out to start the ball rolling, but no. I decided that I am really going to go for it!!
I have booked a stall at my son's school's summer fair this Saturday. In addition to the £30 business kit, there are "Starter Kits" you can buy so that you have things to sell straight away if you are looking at working your business in ways other than just through brochure orders. The biggest kit they do contains over £300 worth of stock and costs £150... that should be here this week too! I didn't have to buy it, but I really do want to make a go of things, so I intend to do Fairs, Coffee Mornings and Parties as well as put brochures out.
So here I am, sitting waiting for the van to turn up with my goodies!
I decided to keep a record of my progress from day one, and thought that using my blog would be a good way to do it! So, everything I do with my Phoenix Trading venture will be recorded here... I've even created a Label so that anyone who just wants to follow my business's progress can click on the Phoenix category and read away!
It would be great to hear from other Phoenix Traders, so if you have a Phoenix Trader story to share please either add a comment below, or, if you would like to do a Phoenix Trader post, get in touch with me (email bev.morley@live.co.uk) and you can be a guest blogger!!
Hope y'all have a great day!
Bev xx
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