Opportunity is knocking

Opportunity is a very interesting thing. I’ve heard many people say that “you need to be prepared for when opportunity comes a knockin’ on your door”, as if there’s no telling when it’ll meander your way. It seems to me, however, now that I’ve answered that proverbial door several times to find opportunity smiling broadly at me from my front porch, that it has been there all along. It has actually been knocking all along too, but my ignorance has kept me from knowing what to listen for. Though many would probably disagree with me, I would contend that it is also completely an unbiased and non-discriminating visitor that knocks on almost everyone’s door on a regular basis. If this were not so, what other explanation could we give for the fact that multi-millionaire business owners, popular celebrities, famous authors, influential inventors, successful entrepreneurs, recognized athletes, and powerful world leaders have come from both affluent and poverty-stricken backgrounds alike? Yes, a good deal of their success CAN be attributed to talent, but as Robert Kiyosaki said in his book Rich Dad, Poor Dad, “the world is full of talented poor people.”

Timing also plays a significant part in the achievement of those afore mentioned, but even timing is just a companion to opportunity. In fact, one might even say that opportunity is always punctual for its appointments. Opportunity has many such companions. Ambition, patience, humility, tenacity, ingenuity, faith, imagination, hope, diligence, wisdom, curiosity, and experience are just a few of opportunity’s many friends. Opportunity, itself, is a perspective…a method of observation. It is said that once you learn HOW to recognize opportunities, you’ll never STOP recognizing them. It’s like putting on a pair of night vision goggles after stumbling around in a pitch black room, and suddenly seeing EVERYTHING you’ve been bumping into for years. Finally, you can not only see what you’ve missed out on, but also what lies ahead of you. It’s a paradigm shift from ignorance to enlightenment. You’re able to see what others miss. You can see others stumbling around in the dark, feeling blindly and aimlessly on a path that might or might not lead them to a safe and profitable place.

It’s important to note that not all opportunities are equal either. Some are very small and have as little an impact on our lives as what we wear to work from day to day. Others are can be utterly life-altering in potential. Regardless of their magnitude, though, all opportunities are good things. That’s why they’re called “opportunities”….they’re opportune, fortuitous, timely and favorable in nature. Ever heard of a bad opportunity? No, those would be accidents, mishaps, mistakes and misfortunes.

The other day opportunity knocked again on my door. This time it happened with some new friends who were invited over for dinner. While eating dinner and getting to know this couple better, we discussed some of our similar interests. One of these interests was art. Michelle, it turns out, is a very talented photographer. She’s in the beginning stages of her new business and, like me, is always looking for great new ideas. While asking her about her photo shoot process, she said some things that struck a cord and caused me to recognize the knock of an old friend. Yes, opportunity had just made a surprise visit. Over the next few minutes, I proceeded to present my new idea to her as it unfolded in my mind. I felt more like a conduit for the arrival of this new immerging idea than a recipient of it.

This blog entry is supposed to be about the nature of opportunity, itself, and not the idea that it handed to me on this occasion. However, if I were you, the reader, I’d probably be irritated at read about an alluded idea, and not the idea itself. So, to appease your curiosity, here’s the idea in a nutshell.

Michelle’s photography is, in her own words, “images created [to] truly give a depiction of your relationship with each other and the love you share.” I’ve often referred to my own Tyed Art Name Designs as artistic reflections of the family’s love for each other and their sense of togetherness. These two ideas seem to really compliment each other well. The two talents that we have, photography and artistic design, collaborated in my mind in the form of a piece of combined artwork. My Tyed Art Name Design surrounded by the photographic images of family members and then framed within custom matting and framework. I created a virtual prototype of the product to show her and she seemed to like it. I took one of the Name Designs that I had already done (didn’t want to crate a new one JUST to get my point across), and combined it with a bunch of pictures I had on file.

I’m excited about the idea, and hope that it doesn’t become a mere member of the “lost-in-the-sea-of-ideas” club that resides in my brain vomit book. I don’t know the magnitude of its potential opportunity yet, but I suppose hindsight alone will afford me that perspective. For now, I’ll have to depend on opportunity’s friends, motivation, imagination, and curiosity.

Customizing a proven formula

The other day I had a customer express an interest in hosting a Tupperware-like party for LittleLDS. I thought it was very interesting because LittleLDS parties don’t exist (yet). The most interesting part of this is that it isn’t the first time someone has brought this up to me. The first time I had someone show interest in the idea, I was merely flattered. It was at one of the tradeshows that I was doing in Salt Lake City. The second time I thought was a bit coincidental, and the wheels started to slowly turn. I passively considered the details of such an idea, but never really did much about it amid all the other projects I’m currently working on. This time, however…with a THIRD request….a pattern has been formed, and I can ignore this issue no longer. There is obviously a market for the idea. It might be small, but it obviously exists, and, being the opportunist that I am, I MUST try my hand at it.

This could actually be just the system I have been longing for. It would be a way to sell, without doing all the work myself. I could set up the system, introduce it to the interested parties and then let it take off (Okay, that’s a little over simplified, but you get the idea). It would be like having employees without out the hiring, firing or technical tax issues!

Because I’ve never been to a Tupperware, Pampered Chef, or Mary Kay party, I only had a very generalized idea about what kinds of things are done at one. At the onset of my research into this idea, this is what I knew;

An interested person contacts the company and expresses an interest in wanting to host a party. Invitations are made and sent our by the host, and the company sends a representative to the party to demonstrate the product. The hostess’ motivation for having the party is two fold (I presume). First, she’s hoping that her guests will order something which will help her to earn some sort of pre-established credit toward the company’s products. Second, the host wants to have a fun little get-together with her neighbors and friends (psshhh…..right. Let’s not kid ourselves. It’s ALL about the products).

The other thing that I know about these types of parties (and I’ve also witnessed this one first hand) is the kind of reaction one has at receiving an invitation. There are only TWO reactions. Either you’re thrilled, or you’re totally put out. I’ve seen and heard of the latter reaction much more often. That being the case, I decided to ask Kim some questions about the nature of the “hosted product party.”

Question: What do most people hate most about these types of parties?
Answer: The pressure of feeling like they HAVE to buy something. Knowing your friend invited you so that you would buy something and also knowing that if you don’t buy something, your friend won’t earn enough credit towards what SHE wants to get out of this party.

Question: What do most people like about these parties?
Answer: If they do like the company and the products, then it’s fun to look through the catalogs and find something fun to buy. They also like hanging out with the other guests at the parties.

Question: What is the major motivation for someone to host a party like this?
Answer: Aside from being able to hang out with some friends, as a hostess, when your guests purchase items at the parties, you earn credits toward products you want from the company. Unfortunately, you never know if you’ll earn enough through your guests’ purchases or not until after the party is over. Some companies will even give extra rewards when one of your guests sets up an appointment to host a future party at their home with the company’s representative.

Question: From a corporate perspective, what are the drawbacks to hosting product parties?
Answer: A representative needs to be paid when present.

Question: From a corporate perspective, what are the major advantages of hosting product parties?
Answer: They generate word of mouth advertising, which is the most powerful method of advertising there is. Also, these parties can be self-perpetuating…on party can be the catalyst for a host of others when the party is done successfully. It is a low-cost, high impact method of selling and advertising.

Okay, so, taking a logical and practical approach, I’ve come up with the following assessment of the information that Kim gave me; First of all, if I can eliminate the hassle and pressure away from potential guests of feeling like they HAVE to buy something at one of these parties, I could probably change the initial reaction of receiving an invitation from “Ah, crap!” to “Oh, sweeeeet!” I could do that simply by letting the hostess and the guests know beforehand (through the instructions packet and party invitations) that credits earned by the hostess are NOT contingent upon the purchases of the guests. Easy enough. If I allow the hostess to know ahead of time what she can expect to earn from the party (regardless of purchases), then she might be more motivated to host in the first place. I can achieve this by making the level of credits earned directly related to the number of guests who merely show up (not by how much is purchased). For instance, I could say that in order for a hostess to earn one LittleLDS coloring CD, she would have to have, say, 5 guests attend her party. Those guests could then, in order to be considered “in attendance” provide their contact information for a future follow up letters and email – thus adding to the LittleLDS advertising data pool. Also, because LittleLDS is new, I can’t afford to hire a representative for each of these parties, and heaven knows I’M not going to be attending them! Instead, I could set up a pre-packaged demonstration & party suggestions with game ideas, and activity models that the hostess, herself, could handle. Essentially, it would feel more like a shower than a product party. Most women I know actually LIKE going to showers. Guests arranging to host their own LittleLDS parties as a direct result of the party they had just attended would only be an added bonus for the hostess by earning her ancillary rewards.

After making some of these suggestions, Kim admitted that this modified version of the hosted product party model might be more conducive to a fun outcome, rather than a pressured one. Kim did bring up something that caused me to really think. Right now, I only have 3 CDs for sale. I’m working on my 4th title now, and my LittleLDS Page Keepers, but they’re a long way from completion. I don’t exactly have a catalog’s worth of products to choose from. Say my hostess receives one free CD for every 5 guests that attend her party. If she has 15 guests show up, she’s just earned my entire available collection! Or, what if one of the guests buys 2 of the CDs at the party, and then decides to host her own? She really would only have to invite 5 people to receive the 3rd and final CD. This got the wheels in my head spinning faster. I could spend some time developing my Café Press products and have some on hand to include with this party packages. They could include free giveaways with the LittleLDS logo…things like, mugs, hats, throw pillows, t-shirts (for kids), mouse pads, tote bags, pins, stickers, etc…. Or, what if I were to network? What if I were to contact FHE on DVD or Little Play Dates, or another LDS company to create a joint product party model? What if the guests of the party are able to learn about, win, and buy other products besides just my own at the party? Chances are, this would help to advertise my product further. Not only would I be helping other LDS businesses to grow, but they would be helping me too, and neither of us would need to sell our products ourselves. I might have to formalize this on paper and make a few phone calls…