Natural Baby Boutique?

I have been to one of the parties. The advantage, IMO, to this from a home sales perspective is that you do have to order this stuff online because mainstream stores do not sell it. Also, your customers...probably SAHM or moms who wish they did, are more willing to support a WAHM, so if you do a good website and generate a good email newsletter, I think you could do well. I get alot of attention just by wearing my babe, so you probably have the advertising already. Good luck!

There will always be people who want to find the absolute cheapest price out there. They are probably not your customers. You can find other audiences and it sounds like the deaf community may be yours.

First, you can find NFB products elsewhere, but rarely can you find all this stuff in one place with one S&H charge.
Second, you won't be hosting parties, but people who want to get the hostess rewards will be and THEY'LL be the ones asking people to come. Your job is to get the hostess excited and then that'll infect the guests.
Third, People ARE willing to be retail price for the customer service that comes with it. I've been selling diapers are retail price for almost two years now. Yes, perhaps some people found them cheaper elsewhere. But many stuck with me b/c I walked them through their journey. I was always there to answer questions and help them choose what would work best for their families.
Fouth, the advantage of direct sales is that you have a model that works and people to help you succeed. The other advantage is that that is a model and you can take your own spin. For me, I focus on diaper registries and parenting classes (diapering, potty learning, slings, etc). I get to meet moms and build a relationship with them and that is invaluable in this business. Since in my community, I'm the "Diaper Lady," I now get referrals! Relationships are everything. That's why I don't consider myself a "sales person" but I can do well. B/c I really focus on the mom and her needs and she usually ends up buying accordingly!
Last, you won't have to order a bunch of stuff to start. Your kit will contain a ton of stuff to get you started. After that, if you really try, you'll earn incentives and each month with NFB you have the opportunity to earn items at huge discounts! You can build gradually that way.
I've personally found it best to find your niche within the NFB products. Some people do well with the toys, others with the bodycare line, etc.

I hope I've helped some. Pls feel free to ask any questions!

Oh.....I always say, "direct sales will work if you work it." It's not instant, but if you dedicate yourself to it consistently (2 hours a week? 4? 6?) you'll see results!

Hey Yitlan, thanks for the great advice! BTW, I remember you from that Mothering article. Do you ever work with the Deaf community? Are you near NMSD?

I like your thought about having parenting classes also, and meeting moms and building a network through that... that's exactly what I hope to get from NFB- the opportunity to present AP ideas and concepts and natural living materials to my community. My niche may be a bit limited in that I could mostly present to Deaf or signing families, but I am where I am.

And these ARE products that I use, and love! So I feel I could do this.

Some random thoughts..... I also craft, knit, sew a lot of great stuff- Waldorf dolls, knitted longies, felted balls, etc. I was thinking about also having my handmade stuff available at parties and expos, etc, for immediate purchase. Would this be a-ok?

Also, if I were to gather some great NFL/AP books from secondhand sources, maybe I could sell them alongside the NFB products- it'd be nice for families to be able to pick up a book and learn more from there....

Would anything from NFB be available for immediate purchase? I know so many people just want immediate gratification- maybe to buy a wee toy or a box of crayons or a cute little cap, but wouldn't want to bother with ordering. Would I have to have my own stock of things if I wanted to do that? I'm thinking more along the lines of expos.

And, if I already had my own stuff that I use, like Stockmar crayons, slings, etc, I could bring them along to parties for people to try out, right? I wouldn't have to buy the whole shebang of NFB products...

Yitlan, you have a website... does this generate revenue? It'd probably be beneficial for my Deaf friends across the nation- to be able to check out a website, so it'd feel more personal, and do registries. Perhaps just a blog dedicated to NFL/AP ideals, new products, and links to the NFB site? I LOVE the idea of registries, I wish I had known of this site when I was preggers and was bombarded with all the mainstream junk at our baby shower. Ech!

So many great questions

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You remember me from that article? Wow! I am not ASL fluent, so I mostly work with hearing families. I am s...l...o...w...l...y increasing my ASL education, but not until my kids are older will I be able to focus on it as I'd like. NMSD is in Santa Fe, which is about an hour or so north of me

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Yes! You already know, love and use many of the products so your learning curve will be far less than others'. I had a pretty large selection of items I already owned and they did go into my show kit. Some I have to repack every time b/c my kids still use them and some they've grown out of.

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You have to be very careful to keep the businesses separate. People, most importantly hostesses have to fully understand what is NFB and what is not. Hostesses have to understand that only NFB items can go toward their party totals.

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You can hold stock to sell.

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It mostly generates revenue from friends/customers I already know or associated with a registry. Very rarely from someone I don't know.

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I have one, in addition to a newsletter I do:
http://naturalfamilyfavorites.blogspot.com

Fire away if you've any more questions!

Just a couple of thoughts...in random order...

I really like the "niche" idea. yitlan's is cloth diapering, mine is babywearing. I decided to sign up with NFB because I'm *always* being stopped for questions about my carriers. Hey, if I'm going to talk them up, I may as well sell them! I'm going to try to sell additional carriers beyond the ones that NFB stocks.

I think it's a great idea finding your niche in the Deaf community and I think it is perfectly fine to combine NFB products with your own products as long as the distinction is clear (and you don't sell stuff that NFB carries - i.e. it's OK to sell AP books as long as they're not the books NFB sells). Maybe you could find someone to share a booth with at the convention to split the costs, like a midwife or other crunchy type?

My upline suggested buying the mini-kit, which is what I did. I have various stuff from the NFB catalog already, but I'm focusing not so much on buying more stuff for the kit but getting a website up and running, giving out catalogs, familiarizing myself with the products, etc. So many people are used to catalog and on-line shopping that they don't necessarily need to see them before they buy, KWIM?

Jane,
I love your website! Very accessible.... the layout is gorgeous! Much more easier on the eyes, and more user-friendly than the NFB website.

I think I will start by networking, hoping to find interest for parties here and there... then think about expos and a website from there, but will probably start a blog first. A website sounds overwhelming! I'd have to do a lot more research before jumping into that. Really great for all those on-line friends, though, and online registries! Awesome!

I'd love to hear from other NFB sellers also... if you're out there!! How much work do you really do? How many parties a month? How much business through your website? How much income do you see coming in?

I figure.... $99 isn't a big investment, and I get actual good stuff. And the discounts! Great reason to join right there. So. I think I will jump in... I just need to work on my confidence and marketing skills!!

I'm a NFB consultant and I love it. I've been doing about two parties per month, one usually being a catalog party, and I've found that I've developed a couple of regular customers. I hope to expand my NFB business even more and I'm going to work on getting more parties lined up for the next couple of month. I enjoy two parties a month, but I have some specific things I'd like to get for our family and I've set a goal of doing extra parties to get the money for those.

I have a NFB website and I get mostly local customers through it, and some of their family living in other areas. I also get a little NFB traffic through my main website which is not devoted to NFB but has some links.

I got the mini kit (also at my upline's suggestion!) and I made back my investment within my first month! I had a wonderful open house

Right now I am using my NFB income to help us pay off debts and for those "extras" that I want for our family (grain mill, yes please! I want to be totally crunchy!) I would like to eventually have more income from it, some more from online selling and I'd like to build a downline (I don't have any right now).

The community of consultants is wonderful and it's a very close-knit company which is nice. The products are also superior and I feel confident recommending them and using them in my home. I really like NFB!

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What is a catalog party as opposed to a regular NFB party? learning the terminology here!

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It's when there's not a physical gathering of friends, but when a hostess takes orders. She hands out catalogs or sends the link to friends and still gets rewards based on her orders collected.

cool, thanks!!

Hey Yitlan- I imagine you have a good connection with the ASL books that NFB sells, and your sign language classes? I was also thinking about utilizing that connection and doing some ASL classes for moms and babes.... I was so glad that NFB carried the right sign language books, not those baby sign stuff. ech!

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Yes, I have been teaching classes much longer than I've been with NFB, but was SO GLAD they carry the Sign2Me products. I have a wholesale account with Sign2Me since I'm a presenter, but if I ever have anyone want to have one of the products shipped directly to someone, I'll probably do it through NFB. It's given me a better option for that. If you are interested in teaching ASL classes for moms and babies, consider becoming a Sign2Me presenter. There are absolutely no sales requirements and as someone already in the deaf community and a strong ASL vs. home signs advocate, you would fit in well:
http://www.sign2me.com/pnbenefits.php
We're having a convention in Vegas in Sept that I am way excited about attending.

Anyhow, don't want to go off track, but NFB does fit in well with that other facet of my business!

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Unfortunately NFB only operates in the US - we don't even ship to Canada right now.

That's a bummer! There is such a need in the expat community for something like this...in the past month, I have seen lots of emails asking for places to buy cloth diapers and cloth training pants...and there are none!...maybe I will look into being a distributor for HH and/or FB....

I'm going to look into this! I REALLY would love to do it....like all mamas here, I think, I LOVE talking about diapers/slings and all that's good and crunchy ....I mean, it would be FUN and for each cloth diaper I sell, a little bit of earth would be saved!