Creative Memories is the original scrapbooking direct sales company. I had the pleasure of interviewing a CM consultant and here is the rest of the fabulous details she had to share about the company she is proud to work for!
Nicole: What does the start up kit include?
Lori: Business tools such as catalogs, order forms, announcement postcards, party postcards, delivery bags, hostess gifts. But they also give you great products such as a personal trimmer, the cutting system mat, blades and pattern, album, album pages, stickers, adhesive, straight trimmer, tools tote bag, mini power sort, and pens so you have stuff to play with. Then you get a bunch of training tools such as DVDs and literature with suggestions on how to start your business and run parties, manual, etc. Contents of the kit vary as different products are released, but it is usually the same general gist.
Nicole: Are you required to carry inventory?
Lori: Required? No. But one thing I (and my friends) have loved about our consultant is that she always had on hand just what we needed. I like to carry inventory in consumables like tape runners, album pages, basic paper colors, etc and then to always have some new/fun stuff on hand to show current customers. It’s so much more fun to touch & feel a new product over seeing it in the catalog.
Nicole: I totally agree! Are you allowed to have a website or sell online?
Lori: Yes, you can do both. However, it has to be one through the company – Creative Memories offers. No homegrown page is allowed. They all have the same look/feel. They will be adding direct shipping to online orders via the website in November of this year.
Nicole: Lori, what is YOUR personal favorite product?
Lori: That’s a really hard question! It changes as my scrapbooking skills grow and change. I used to LOVE the short cuts because they made scrapping really easy for the beginner. Now I love the straight & wavy trimmers a lot since I love to make my own accents just so. The huge assortment of pens I love to use all the time to enhance my pages and I know they will not run or bleed. The new power palette system is great and I just love the album kits and new paper colors that are all coordinated together. I guess I didn’t answer your question very well!
Nicole: Actually, you did a great job. I can hear the enthusiasm for the products in your voice!
Is there anything else you’d like to share with people considering signing with Creative Memories?
Lori: One of the great things about CM is how they stand behind and guarantee their products. They also test the heck out of anything they are going to sell to be sure it will hold up. Most scrapbook companies out there don’t bother to do that. I couldn’t get a straight answer out of other companies when I was deciding who to sign with.
For more information on Creative Memories, visit the Creative Memories Website.
More articles and information on home based scrapbook business’ coming soon. Watch the scrapbooking blog or for more detailed information on home businesses check out the home business blog.