One more SU! Demonstrator question:
 

Okay, so I'm really interested in becoming a demonstrator right now. BUT, I JUST moved from CO to Savannah, GA and I don't know very many people here. The ones that I do know that stamp already have demonstrators, so I don't want to "steal" them from someone else.

My question is this:

How much does it cost to have a website?

Is it worth the cost? (do you have people that you don't know in real life buying from your site?)

Thanks for your help and insight!

Cost for the DBWS is $12.95 per month. I think you can still get the first 2 months free to see if will work for you. I have one, but haven't had a lot of 'contacts' from it. I have a couple of customers (out of state) that use it to order from me. HTH

I used to be a demo, and didn't think the DBWS brought many leads or sales at all. Most of my sales were from local contacts and sales from my personal blog. I would save your 12.95 a month. You should try it though, if you can get two months for free. After the two months you can decide if it is worth an investment or not.

I highly recommend a DBWS (our term for a website) to everyone in my group. Some have them; other's don't. I like to open every avenue or portal for someone to order. When you join SU you get to try it free for a couple months if you sign up within 21 days of joining. Try it and if you don't think it's worth it then cancel.

Yes, I have oodles of customers who found me and ordered on my website. If you do not have a website, you can't offer online ordering 24/7. That's one motivator. If a customer uses our Demonstrator Locator system and finds you, unless you have online ordering, you may be missing a sale. I am, however, a business demo (top-15) so my perspective is different.

Like I said, if it's free for 2 whole months then you can be the best judge of whether it's something you'd want to maintain once you have to pay for it.

I would give it a try. For me, I do have a few customers that I have never met irl but order from my web-site. Of course, this took more than 2 months to happen, but if they will let you try it free for a time, why not. If you decide it isn"t worth the $12.95 just cancel.One other thing to consider is that unless you have a DBWS you are not included on the demo locator so that may factor into your decision. Good luck !!

Just a follow-up question (sorry, I am stalking several of these threads :-)

Someone can put any demo's name in the demo locator and then the information will come up; correct? And when it does, can't they still order on-line if they have that information?

Thanks for any clarification...

If they do that but you don't have a DBWS, you'll only get 10% from their total instead of 20%.

so if i understand this correctly you would need $64.75 in sales to just recoop the dbws site costs (ok you can write off but, red is red). making profit $0.

otherwise, if you have sales online w/o dbws on a $64.75 order (hope i have an acronym correct) you would only make $6.47 profit.

There are two ways to search. You search by your address and the list will include those close to you geographically. If you want to search for someone by name, the state they live in is required. You can just put first name but state must be chosen. I live in CA so when you type in my first name, I come up. But if you didn't know where I lived then you could not find me without going state by state. Make sense?

Then when you find your demo of choice on that list, you THEN can link to HER website to give her credit for the sale and to get the best prices for you (more on that below).

Another way to find a demo by name is to Google her. Many of us show up on Google searches.

A demonstrator that does have a DBWS needs to have a buyer link thru her DBWS to give the customer the lowest shipping price, the best perks (hostess benefits) and the full credit to the seller. If you go onto the SU site and order by finding a demo it's not exactly the same. I had a customer order thru the SU site and she paid higher shipping than if she'd ordered thru MY SU site. That's a distinction that people don't absorb sometimes. (and being a nice guy, I got her a refund for her overpayment though it was 100% her error).

If you go to the SU site AND choose a demo, you pay a minimum of $8.95 to ship rather than $6.95. You also do NOT get hostess benefits for a $150+ order if you don't buy through a demo's DBWS site. It's an incentive for us to drive our customers to our personal sites.

And if you do not have a DBWS, though you get 10% if your customer uses your name, the buyer pays higher shipping and no chance to get hostess rewards so one reason to have a DBWS is so that your customer gets the best deal and that can be a huge value to one's goodwill between customer and demonstrator.

Recouping value should include the value of having a resource for your customers that is in their best interest to have as well as having a wider audience as a seller.

Just a note of thanks to Stella (Star Stamper) for your helpful information. The online ordering was just being introduced when I left SU so I am trying to be a little more thoughtful in my decision making this time around.

You are most welcome and, believe me, I couldn't repeat all that without looking at my cheat-sheet. When the online ordering began I was confused too. It is easy to understand now especially since SU created this easy chart to show the 4 online ordering options for customers as it relates to the benefits and detriments of each.

I love sharing info :) I've been sort of "underground" and am battling a health challenge right now. Today's visit to SCS has been great for me :) A lot of fun to get "back in the chit-chat saddle".

:)

I don't have a DBWS. But my feeling about the math is this....

If you were getting $200 in orders every month before we had the online ordering, then you need to show an INCREASE to pay for the DBWS. Otherwise, you're spending profit you used to keep!

Does that make sense? People can email their orders to me, and I don't have a monthly fee.

I think if you have a big business, then OF COURSE the DBWS makes sense. But for anyone like me, I just don't see it as being worth it.

pwnmom_ Welcome to Georgia! Sounds like you got a lot of great advice. I also think maybe try it for 3 months, and let all your potential customers from where you came from know and see if you can get orders that way, when I moved to KY for a couple years I still had customers/friends order here from GA, and I really WISHED I had and used the DBWS for that would have made long distant ordering easier, plus they would have felt more comfortable ordering with a Credit Card too.... Just my thoughts, once again welcome to Georgia!