Creating Sample Bags for Parties

My current goal for my daughter's winter break is to make 50 sample sets ready for my January parties.  Then, when I complete a party, I will make as many as I used.  There are three main goals behind my sample sets:

1. Your guest has everything she needs (minus a cuticle pusher, scissors, and heat) to put on her samples and doesn't have to fight for supplies.
2. Everything is individual and sterile eliminating any fears that guest might have about sharing nail tools.  Now, she'll still have to share scissors and cuticle pushers, but those keep cross-contamination to a minimum and are easily sterilized after a party.  (Microbiology really makes you think about these things.)
3. They look really cute and professional

Here is a picture of all of my supplies.  I'm going to list them all out and where you can get them and why I use them:

To make exactly what I do, you will need the following:

1. A stapler
2. Business Cards
3. Samples.  I cut mine into individual samples and let them drop into a small Ziploc Bag.  That allows me to "randomize" them more.  Yes, the samples I'm using are from the last sample set, but who cares?
4. Individually wrapped alcohol swabs 
5. The set of 3 application instruction in your workstation under Documents.  I fold them in quarters so that the Jamberry logo shows.
   
6. Orange Sticks cut in two.  I buy these by the gross at Sally's and cut them in half with wire cutters.
7. A pack of 6 x 8 scrapbooking paper.  I cut each piece in quarters to make them 4 x 3
   
   
8. Individually-sized nail files.  These are probably the hardest to find and possibly the hardest to justify.  You can also use emery boards you buy at the dollar store that you cut in half like the orange sticks.  If you're interested in why I invest in these puppies and want to know where to get your own, I'll put it after the instructions.
   

Now on to the construction method to create my sample packets.

1. Put a business card in your treat bag.
   
2. Flip over the bag (so that you can see the back of the business card) and insert an alcohol swab, orange stick, and file on top of it.
   
3.  Place your instruction sheet on top of the tools.  I always try to make the Jamberry logo show out the back.  I'm sure that this is my obsessive-compulsive showing through, but that's what I do.
   
4. Hold your treat bag up and slip 2 samples in front of the business card.  At parties, I always have 2 different samples per person so that she can see how the different sizes allow her manicure to be customized.  I also don't want to leave out a ton of samples because that's a great way to lose your samples.  I never make my samples match in this method.  If your guest wants a matching Jamicure, she can buy one!
   
5. Fold one of the quarters of your scrapbook papers in half width-wise.  If you hold it up to your treat bag, the long side should be the same length as your bag.  Fold it on the short side.
6. Pinch the very top of the bag (which is about 1/4" of empty space) between the folds of your paper.
   
7. Staple the paper topper on your bag.
   
8. For the final touch, you can use one of your Jamberry logo stickers from your sample sets and put it over the top of one of your staples.  If you are somehow out of these stickers (seriously, I still have the old style of these things), print out some of the Mailing Labels under marketing in your workstation and use those.
   

Okay, short and sweet reason I buy the individual-sized nail files.  I don't like how the cut emery boards look.  Yes, they are an inexpensive solution, and I would highly recommend it, if you're just starting off.  I also love the idea of giving every guest something to take with her in addition to whatever she buys.  I feel like, someday, she'll be digging in her purse, find her tiny little file and think "Hey, I got that from that Jamberry lady, I should order some more of those!"  I'm probably crazy.
For a while, I used Revlon's Box of files, but the cheapest I ever found those was $4 for 6 files which is about 67¢ a piece - way too expensive in my book.  So, I scoured the internet and found NailFiles.com which has 4 different buckets of business-card sized files.  When I ordered my bucket of pink files, I paid $30 for 100, including shipping and handling.  That comes to 30¢ a piece, which is way more acceptable, especially if they give my customers something to remember me by.  You can buy your own in the following colours:

• Pink
• Blue
• Black
• Zebra-striped

Using Polyvore

If you're anything like me, you see these neat little pictures that get posted with clothes and accessories that coordinate with Jamberry shields and think, "How did they do that?"  As usual, I decided to try to figure it out. It took me an hour to figure out how to add Jams to my picture and save it to my computer, so I decided to help you out and show you how I did it.  If you have a better way, please make your own tutorial.  For now, this is how I made this picture:

To start, you're going to need a few things.  I recommend using a browser that has multiple tabs so you can switch between websites easier.

1. You'll need a membership to Polyvore.  This seems pretty obvious, but I figure I should mention it.
2. You'll need the Polyvore Clipper.  Follow that link.  It has really good instructions.
3. You'll need a Pinterest account.  We'll get to that shortly.

Okay, on with how this works.  Polyvore is a community powered social commerce website. Members curate products into a shared product index and use them to create image collages called "Sets".  That's what you're going to create.

Log into Polyvore and click "Create" and then "Set."

This part is up to you.  Select a dress or a top and pants that you can see coordinating with a Jamberry design.  You place them on the board by dragging them from the right panel into the left then resizing them to work with your scheme.  As you see here, I chose a shirt with Peacock accents and black pants.

You can stop here, but most of the designs you see around social media have some accessories that also coordinate.  Create a complete look, but leave room for your Jams!

Now that you've got a look, it's time to add your Jams.  The problem is that Polyvore doesn't have Jamberry shields already programmed in, and you can't import them directly from the website.  However, you can import them from Pinterest.  So, here's what we're going to do.
Open your website (or the generic Jamberry one) and choose a nail shield that coordinates with your outfit.  Click the "Pin It" button to the right.

This will open up a dialogue where you choose the image you're going to pin.  Choose the Jamberry design.

Now open the Pinterest board you just pinned to and open the same image.

Click the "Clip to Polyvore" link on your bookmark bar and (again) choose the Jamberry design from the dialogue.

Once you've done that, you're going to head back to your Polyvore set creation.  Click on the tab that says "My Items" and it will open to show any and all Jamberry designs you've imported in this way.

Now drag the design you want into the left panel like you did with the clothing and accessories.

Click the blue publish button and give your set a name and description.  I'm not very good at those yet.

This set will automatically share to Facebook if you keep the check box checked.  However, saving the picture can be difficult as the elements are still separated in Polyvore.  To fix that, I pin my creation to my Pinterest board and save it from there.

There you go.  How to create and save Polyvore images with Jamberry Nail Designs!

Follow up Scripts!

This time of year we do a lot of events and have lots of shows! Follow up is key and you MUST follow up on the phone! Most people don't because of fear of what to say. Here is a basic script I follow when I make calls:

Have to leave a Message?

Hi ____________________, this is ____________ with Jamberry Nails from the __________________________

I just wanted to follow up with you because I know you were thinking about hosting your own Jamberry party to earn free and discounted wraps. I JUST saw the September 1 release and OH MY GOODNESS are the new wraps AMAZING! I have a couple of dates left in September and a few in October, so get back with me quickly and let me know what day of the week is best for you so I can get you on my schedule!

My number is ____________________.
Looking forward to talking with you soon!

Did they answer and you get to have an actual conversation?

Hi ____________________, this is _____________ with Jamberry Nails from the __________________________. Do you have a quick minute to chat?
I just wanted to follow up with you because I know you were thinking about hosting your own Jamberry party to earn free and discounted wraps. I JUST saw the September 1 release and OH MY GOODNESS are the new wraps AMAZING! I have a couple of dates left in September and a few in October. I wanted to touch base and see what day of the week is best for you so I can get you on my schedule! Do you prefer weekends or during the week?





(Go from there)

How to Schedule Your Facebook Posts

Now, we all know how important having a great Facebook fan page can be for your business.  You can direct your customers to "Like" you so they can be kept up to date on your specials, exclusive offers, and so much more!  However, the downfall of many (or at least me) is that we can forget to post something on our page at least once a day.  Even if you post an inspiring quote or a funny cartoon (nothing political or sexual, mind you), it keeps people seeing that you are posting and that keeps them interested.
Recently, I logged into my Facebook fan page for the first time in "I don't know" (Note:  This points out my major problem, I can always think of something to promote, but I often forget to do it!) and I noticed a new feature - Scheduling!  I leapt for joy.  Now I can make my page work for me!
The ability to schedule your posts is going to change your page if you actually do it.  A little research tells me that posts can be scheduled up to 6 months in advance, but you don't want to be doing this.  Jamberry changes too often to do more than 2-3 months without checking in and adding things.  Even then, you should expect a few hours if you're going to schedule that many posts!  This is a great way to keep customers aware of products, even while you take a holiday break!  So, here's what you're going to do the next time you have a couple of hours.  It doesn't take a ton of concentration, you could even watch a movie!

1.  Navigate to your Facebook fan page.  Note:  This is different than your regular Facebook profile.  If need be, I'll post a tutorial on how to create your own page sometime in the future.
   
   
2. Create the post you intend.  I put a tip for you in the box.  No matter what you're putting up, whether it has to do with Jamberry or not, ALWAYS give your client your website.  That way, they always have a link to it on their timeline somewhere.
   
3. After you've created your post, click the clock in the lower left-hand corner.
   
4. A new line will appear with scheduling options!
   
5. Click the date and a calendar will pop up to help you schedule your post for someday in the future.
   
6. Once you've selected your date, you can specify a time for the post to go out.  This can be determined at 5 minute intervals.  Two things to keep in mind:
   The time you choose is your own time zone.
   If you don't schedule a time, it will automatically schedule as the same time you create the post on the date you chose.  For example, if you're typing your post at 10:45 AM and schedule it for Christmas day without a time.  It will post at 11:00 AM on December 25.
   
   
7. Notice above that, if I type "5" into the box, Facebook assumes that I'm referring to 5 PM instead of 5 AM.  Good guess on Facebook's part, unless you have a ton of friends who don't sleep.  If you want to change whether the post goes out in the morning, keep typing and, eventually, you'll be allowed to select between AM and PM.
   
   
8. Now that you've created and scheduled your post, all that's left is to Schedule it!
   
    
9. A neat little box will come up telling you that you have successfully scheduled your post and that you can find it any time in your Activity Log.  Your Activity Log is available from this notification or at the top of your page under "Edit."
   
10. When you look in the activity log, you'll see all of the posts you've scheduled and the last few you've actually posted. In the upper-right hand corner of each post, you'll find a carrot.  I drew it in because I could not for the life of me get it to actually appear in a screen shot.
    
11. Clicking on that carrot will give you options for that post such as changing the date and time, publishing right now, or deleting the post all together.