Mother's Day gift ideas from Stella & Dot

Mother's Day is coming up again (where has this year went?!) on Sunday 6th March, so I've pulled together some of my favourite peices from the Stella & Dot Collection that I think would make the perfect gifts as a special 'treat' for your mum. 

All of the items come in a lovely gift box, and those at £40 or over are free delivery! (Standard delivery is £3.95)

If you would like to treat your mum to any of the items below, please email me on melissareilly3@gmail.com to order before Thursday 26th February for guaranteed delivery ahead of Mother's Day. 

Flowers wilt and chocolates go too fast, treat your mum to sparkles that will last!

Melissa x
My online Stella & Dot shop
My Stella & Dot Facebook page

Stella & Dot does Pantone Fall 2016!

Pantone have just released their Fashion Colour Report for Fall 2016 - or Autumn 2016 for those of us across the pond! The collection of colours have calming blues as a base, with some gorgeous new stand-out shades including 'Spicy Mustard' - a beautiful yellow colour, and my personal favourite 'Bodacious' - what a great name (and a beautiful purple colour).

I've picked out my key Stella & Dot pieces that match these new Pantone shades, and that will keep you high in the fashion stakes right through until the end of the year!

If you would like to order any of the items please email me on melissareilly3@gmail.com :)

Melissa x
My online Stella & Dot shop
My Stella & Dot Facebook page

My Stella & Dot Launch Party!

I mentioned in my last blog post that I'd recently signed up to become a Stella & Dot Independent Stylist and that my starter kit had arrived - all very exciting!

To kick-start your business it's recommended that you hold a 'launch party' event with family/friends to let them know about your new venture and to start booking in Trunk Shows. 

It wasn't suitable to have my party at my house, so I contacted a local bar and arranged to hire their upstairs 'lounge' area which had the added bonus of being free and letting people go to the bar to get their drinks if they wanted!

The room is fairly small, so I knew I couldn't have too many people at the event - not that I was expecting a huge crowd anyway! I planned a list of everyone I'd like to invite (mostly friends, my theatre group members, family & close work colleagues) and set up a private Facebook event. I was thinking if 8-10 people showed up I'd be happy! 

I didn't have many samples at this point, so I knew I needed to 'bulk out' my display and the content of the evening to fill the 1-2 hours time slot. 

I have quite a few mirrors /  display items / jewellery holders in my room so I used all these within the display as well as nice candles and fairy lights. I also made up 'Fabulous 5' boards which I included in the display and then spoke about during my 'group hello' - more about this later!

I set out the tables with brochures, booking forms and Customer Information sheets. When everyone arrived I gave them a special goody bag containing lots of 'dotty' themed goodies (nail file, candle, lolly pop, mini brochure, business card & welcome letter) and said they could sit down and feel free to start looking through the brochure or the display in the centre of the room. 

Once everyone had arrived (about 40 minutes after the scheduled 'start' time) I stood up and gave my 'group hello' which ended up being a bit longer than the recommended 5-10 minutes of a normal Trunk Show! As this was my launch event I thought it was okay to go into a bit more detail, but I would probably refine it for future Trunk Shows. I spoke about: how I found out about Stella & Dot, the history/background of the company, ways to order, the Fab 5, ways to order tonight, the stylist opportunity & the Trunk Show opportunity - all in all this probably lasted about 25 minutes!

I then gave everyone the chance to try on items from the display. They were a little reluctant at first so I actually took most of the items out their boxes/displays and passed them out to different tables and then asked them to send on to the next table etc. 

At this point I also stated the final call for orders (in about half an hour's time) and that i could help anyone fill out order forms etc. I also collected in the Customer Information sheets which allowed the person entry to the raffle! I didn't have too many raffle prizes (some fizz, perfume, chocolates etc) but had also included lots of 'Free catered jewellery party' vouchers and two 40% off vouchers which I only included once I knew the orders had taken the Trunk Show over the £300 qualifying limit. Instead of buying more supplies for myself I thought they would be great prizes to incentivise buying from Stella & Dot and to help people fall in love with the collection!

The event came to a close after about 2 and a half hours, and everyone seemed to have had an enjoyable evening. In the end there were 16 people there including myself which was a fantastic crowd and more than I could have hoped for / ever expected!

I placed the majority of orders first thing the next morning so the items could be delivered as soon as possible, but a couple of ladies had requested that I not process their orders until payday (a week later) which I was more than happy to do. I think it's a good idea to offer this flexibility!

I'm really excited for next week when I'm taking Stella & Dot to my first Wedding Fair and then to a Craft Fair. My friend is holding a Trunk Show on 18th March and I'll hopefully get another couple planned in March to share the new Summer Collection! 

Melissa x
My online Stella & Dot shop
My Stella & Dot Facebook page

Becoming a Stella & Dot Stylist

So! It's been a while but I'm back on the blog, mainly to talk about my new venture Stella and Dot and hopefully to get back into some beauty blogging :) I came across Stella & Dot just by browsing around Google, I can't even remember what I was looking for - but an advert for S&D popped up! I paid £169 for their January exclusive 'start up kit' which includes basic business supplies and £300 worth of jewellery samples from the site. The photo above shows most of my current samples! A week after buying these samples I get 50% off further samples so I've just ordered some more necklaces and a bracelet. 

Stella & Dot is mainly sold through Trunk Shows at peoples homes (basically jewellery parties like Body Shop, Avon, Ann Summers etc!) and through individual Stylist's online shops.

You can find out more about becoming a Stylist here, or please feel free to message me and I'll tell you everything I know! 

I have my first party booked in for 18th March, so looking to get a few more booked in between now and then. I've already created my own Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, so using these to build awareness of the brand and connect with people who seem interested and offering them more information about hosting a party.

Below is my basic marketing shpeel (sp?!):

Introduction

Hi there! My name's Melissa Reilly and I've recently started working as an Independent Stylist with this amazing company, Stella & Dot. We are an American boutique jewellery & accessories company who sell online and at exclusive 'jewellery parties' in homes. Our beautiful collections are handmade in New York using the highest quality materials like gold, silver, crystal and semi-precious stones. For the amazing high quality, our range is incredibly affordable with half the range costing under £40. Celebrities like Katy Perry & Jennifer Anniston love the brand, and we know you will too.


Free jewellery parties at your home

I would love to introduce you to Stella & Dot by running a free jewellery party at your home with your family and friends. I'll come along for 1-2 hours with my collection and style you and your friends. You can all then shop from our brochure or online for up to 3 weeks after the show.

The best part is that you can earn free and 40% off accessories just by hosting!

If you're interested in finding out more I'd be delighted if you'd contact me on melissareilly3@gmail.com or 07815677936

Want a sneak peak? Visit my online shop here: www.stelladot.co.uk/melissareilly

Facebook.com/StellaDotMelissaReilly
Twitter.com/StellaDotScot