10 Hostess Tips for having a Successful Lia Sophia party

I don't sell Lia Sophia but I have hosted 2 parties and attended 3 others. To help hostesses out there earn lots of great free jewelry I figured I'd share what I've learned.

1. Guest list - it is my experience (and two advisors have confirmed this) that no matter who you invite only about 25-33% will actually attend.While these parties are a fun excuse for a girl's night out, people feel pressured to buy so usually won't attend unless they want to buy the products. To maximize your freebies and bonuses for Lia Sophia you need to 10 people to place orders and 2 people to book shows.  To hit that 10 order minimum invite at least 40 people.

2. The second part to earning your 40% is having 2 friends book their own show.  At both my shows only 1 person booked their own show.  The first show was pretty small though.  The advisor I worked with recently mentioned that in her experience younger women book shows, but don't buy as much and older women buy more but don't book as many shows. This has been my experience too.  If you don't get two bookings at your actual party, encourage anyone who can't attend to book their own show.  Emphasize the perks and bonuses.  If you have a friend who is on the fence ask your advisor if she's willing to sweeten the deal with a bling card - aka a Lia Sophia gift card.  My advisor offered to give one piece valued at $100 or less for free for my friend if she booked.

3. Choose your date carefully, obviously you want to pick a day that works well for you, but think about the people you are inviting and their availability. We have a lot of Greek and Eastern Orthodox people in our area and I booked my party on their Good Friday without realizing it - and lost 5 potential guests right there. 2 others had their children's communions that weekend. So 7 people were already out due to planning their own parties/family gatherings.

4. Consider hosting with a friend. Increases your guest list and your chances of getting that 2 shows booked.

5. Hype your party before you send invites. The advisor will usually send your invites for you about 3-4 weeks before the party. As I mentioned mine included mini-catalogs with the invites so people could easily see some of the jewelry. A link to the full website is a also a good idea so they can see everything, but the mini catalog was a good teaser to get them interested enough to check out the website. Create an event on Facebook. My advisor did this and posted pictures of jewelry and notice of specials as the party got closer.

6. Send out your invites early enough that you can move to your B list if necessary. As I got closer to the party I realized there were other people I would have liked to invite but it was too close to party day for it not to be obvious they were B list. 

7. Be a walking advertisement - assuming you already have some pieces wear them leading up to the party (preferably current pieces, but even retired ones will give people an idea of the styles available).

8. Depending on how many respond yes, you may want to open up the party to more day of. The day before my party was raining and miserable. So I posted on FB, that the best way to fight rainy day blues was with some sparkle - join me for cocktails and Lia Sophia jewelry.

9. Have fun with the party but don't go so overboard with drinks and food that you spend more than you earn. You also don't want your friends to think they have to go to the same level or above to host their own show, and feel intimidated to host a show. You can still have a theme and have fun but set a budget and stick to it.

10. Your advisor will most likely leave your show open for a couple of days after your party. This gives you time to figure out what you want to buy, but also gives those who couldn't make it a chance to purchase online through your advisor's page - and contribute to your earnings. Promote that option through email, Facebook, Twitter whatever.

Have fun!!

Invites Are Out

Less than a month til my Lia Sophia party so I'm getting in to the details of the party planning The advisor has made the invitation to go with my theme - Bubbles & Baubles. She's sending them out with a mini catalog so people can see the jewelry (and hopefully get motivated to come). I love that she's doing that. The last time I had a party the advisor just sent out those tiny 3x4 generic invites and sent them 2 weeks before the party, so turn out was pretty low.

I came up with a list of 37 people to invite - friends, neighbors, and people I know from my kids' schools who I'd like to get to know better. Now is when I start to get anxious. Aside from our Super Bowl party we don't have any parties, partly cause our kids are still little, partly cause it stresses me out, and partly because I am pretty insecure and always wonder if anyone will show up. As much as I know some people hate these home parties, it is a good excuse to get people together. I mean there are people who hate these home parties and never attend, there are those (like me) who will attend if they like the product because they know they want to buy something, and then there are those who will attend any party if they are available.

The advisor is sending me some of the invites to hand out myself (to neighbors) as well as a few extras if I come up with more people. I plan on just dropping them in the mailboxes as we walk to school. She is also setting up an event on Facebook for me and will send little teasers and pictures of popular pieces and notices about specials as we get closer. She's already tons better than the advisor I worked with last time (who to the best of my knowledge is no longer working with LS. She also doesn't do any cheesy ice breaker games, just one easy one kind of a good "hot potato" where you pass boxes of jewelry based on a text she reads about Lia Sophia and every time a celebrity is mentioned, you pass the box. Whoever has the box when she's finished wins what is inside. She does a couple of demonstrations of some of the more versatile pieces and then leaves people to shop and chat.

My kids are excited cause it means that they get to go out to eat just with their Dad, and will probably watch a movie when they get home to keep them out of the party area.

I have no idea how best to set up the party in terms of flow and seating for the presentation. But I guess I'll work that out once I have a final count. I am having fun trying out new recipes though to figure out what I am going to serve.

So far I'm planning
- raspberry swirl mini cheesecake cupcakes

- baked brie bites (in phyllo dough)

- Cheesecake stuffed strawberries

- Kahlua chocolate cake

- Raspberries with white or dark chocolate chips

I'll probably also include a cheese tray and fruit tray and maybe also Katherine Hepburn's brownies or Nutella fudge

Drinks - All sparkling for the sake of the theme

- Limoncello champagne cocktail (I've had a bottle of Limoncello in the freezer for ages that I used a small amount for a recipe and since no one liked the meal, never touched it again, time to dust it off)

- Bellinis

- Prosecco - probably Cupcake
- St Hilaire sparkling wine (recommended by a friend who like me loves Veuve Clicquot) This is not officially champagne so is cheaper, but still French
- Regular red or white wine
- And just in case there are any pregnant ladies (I think at least 2 on my guest list are), I'll have raspberry ginger ale or sprite

Obviously the final menu will depend on how many people plan on coming, but I figured since the party starts at 7 and most of the women I am inviting have young kids they may eat dinner before they come and just want some desserts or savory treats.

Anyone have an suggestions to add to my planned menu?